Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How do you people feed your turtles when you're away on vacation, other than asking someone to help? Is there some sort of pellet dispense system out there that dispenses pellets periodically? Just curious... Thanks for your input!

Hi,
There is such a thing as an automatic feeder, but they are quite pricy. Last time I checked, 20 - 30 dollars were the cheepest prices and that is out of my budget for sometihng I will use only ocasionally. What I do when I leave my turtles for a vacation is leave veggies! Even if they're babies, they'll still eat them one they get hungry. Also, turtles are very hardy and can survive up to a month without food(of course it won't be healthy not to feed them that long). Well,Hope this helped.
Kevin

Thanks for the info! I just went to the website of Drs. Foster and Smith and searched for automatic feeders. Sure enough, most of them are in the $20-40 range, but NutraMatic 2X Automatic Feeder is selling for $14.99. Sounds like a good deal! Anyways, I'll keep this one in mind when I do go on vacation. ---Kiwiturtle

If you are going to be gone less than two weeks, just toss in some handfuls of anachris and some feeder fish. A little exercise for meat and some snacking on healthy greens for two weeks will do your turtles good and you will not have any problems.

Hello All, This is exactly the info I was looking for. I'll be gone exactly two weeks. I was planning to drop off the tank and turts to my parents but I am antsy about doing that.

1. For two weeks, would a couple of anacharis be enough for two 2" res to survive without supervision?
2. How do people deal with water evaporation? There will be no one to refill the water and I know it does evaporate a lot after two weeks. I could overfill it at the start but then the ramp may be too high by the end.

put a brick or two near the ramp to make steps....

another option... turn OFF your heat lamp. Just leave on the flourescent, and cover most of the tank top with plexi or glass, leaving venting at one end. For two weeks this will do just fine if your house is kept reasonable temps. Anachris will do them just fine, toss in a dozen guppies for giggles and chasing for them. You should do super.

thanks a lot! Now I can seriously consider doing that before I go.
as far as feeder fish, I was told at a pet store that my turts are too young for feeder fish. They are hatchlings so I didn't want to choke them or something.

I guess a lack of a basking area (I'll turn up a water just a bit to keep them warmer) is OK for 2 weeks.

Would it help to feed them a bit extra a couple of days before the big trip to tide them over? Do you think it would be worse to get that Nutramatic 2x day feeder that kiwiturtle mentioned? It could get the water dirtier with no one to clean it.

I would do nothing different right up until leaving, then prep the tank to be safer while you are gone (cover it to prevent evaporation, remove hot light and tank heater, make basking spot more accessible in case water level goes down) then I'd take off and enjoy my vacation.

My turtles living in the yard in pens just get their water cleaned and other than that I leave without doing anything additional for them. A week or two does them no harm without food or with nibbling of things that are not their favorites (just about any normal aquatic turtle will prefer sticks or fish or any kind of meat item to plants, but hey, plants are fine too)