Reptile & Amphibian Forums

have 2 hatchlings (that we know of, although I suspect that's it)
1 is very agressive and will take red worms longer than herself. I have not yet witnessed the other little guy eat anything. I'll drop some sowbugs and small red worms directly in front of him and he will walk right over them! I did notice him Hunting in the water pan saturday after it rained.

2 question: first, are there any other food items that junior might find irresistble ? and is it a good idea to start dusting their food with a bit of the calcium powder???

thanks JOE

I dust a cricket a couple of times a week for the ornate hatchling I have. Baby loves that, also likes wax worms, a bite of nightcrawler, baby roaches, small June bugs even a bite of strawberry, mulberry, or banana now & then.
The only thing I've found that the baby can't seem to handle is mealworms. This one can't seem to digest mealworms ...they come out the other end intact. I stopped giving those to the baby.
Try everything you can think of that's turtle appropriate & you'll find it's favorites.
-----
PHRatz

Thanks Ratz for advice. I'm going to try some small slugs that i gathered last PM, maybe add a little bit of dust.
where do you come by your crickets?? also, do you/did you keep baby segregated from the adults???

Thanks JOE

I can't keep a large number of crickets at home because they stink so I just buy a few at a time at the local pet store.

Yes I do keep the baby alone & away from the adults.
Slugs, that's something I didn't think of because we don't have them in the wild around here but I think that would be a good food item to try.
Let us know if they are a hit with the baby.
-----
PHRatz

what is the reasoning behind the segregation??

this may be one of the reasons..... went out back this evening to check on everyone and found Junior upside down in the shallow end of the water pan. He was really struggling and was able to breathe only by lifting his nostrils above water level----pretty scary. He seems to be OK now. I have lowered the water levels in both pans and I am strongly considering placing the babies in a small box for awhile

JOE

>>what is the reasoning behind the segregation??
>>
>>this may be one of the reasons..... went out back this evening to check on everyone and found Junior upside down in the shallow end of the water pan. He was really struggling and was able to breathe only by lifting his nostrils above water level----pretty scary. He seems to be OK now. I have lowered the water levels in both pans and I am strongly considering placing the babies in a small box for awhile

Yep that's one of the reasons.
I've seen older turtles go after smaller ones- in attack mode & nipping at them. I just don't think a hatchling is safe among a group of adults so that's why I keep this baby away from them.
It's all about safety for the baby.
-----
PHRatz