Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I still have hatchlings that have shown no interest in food. I figure I have two options. The first is get some live insects to see if that stimulates their appetites. I would like to try that first. Can anyone suggest something hatchlings would just go nuts over? I figure if they still show no interest, I will hibernate them and hopefully the spring will be more successful. Thanks in advance.

Hatchlings eat live food almost exclusively. They should be kept warm. Extending the photoperiod (the number of hours of light each day) to mimic Spring summer may also help. Sow/pill bugs, small crickets, and earthworms should all be greedily eaten. Small "pond" snails, small slugs will also work. Worms are my favorite, freshly dug, the worms guts are filled with additional nutrients and minerals which also benefit the turtles.I like to feed mine while they are in shallow, warm water. They STUFF themselves and eat far more food than I would imagine would be physically possible. At 12 weeks, my current two hatchling EBT are almost doubled in length and doubled in weight (7.5 to 15.5 grams).

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I agree. worms, worms, and more worms. In north Texas where I live we can turn the soil over and find these very small earthworms all over. They are about an inch long. Hatchling box turtles love them. Thats dare I say all mine will eat for the first few months. I have never had luck getting one to eat packaged foods and only a few times have I gotten one to take vegetable matter in the first 6 months or so. Also make sure they are plenty hydrated with a moist substrate.

In terms of option 2, I don't think hatchlings will make it through hibernation on empty stomachs, so I would keep trying with live bait and a spring light cycle.

I hibernate my hatchlings each year. They hatch in late August to early Septermber. I hibernate them outside, more or less the same way as I haberante there parents. I do keep them seperate so that i will be able to find them in the spring. They come out of hibernation in mid to late April. They do not eat anything from the time they hatch till the weater warms up in May. Thats like 8 months with out food, but they all come throught in great shape and will now eat just about anything that moves. I find it much easer to hibernate them, then to try to feed them all winter, when all they want to do is hibernate anyway.
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Jack

Tried out waxworms, and 3 of the 5 went after them and each enjoyed three. I just tried again today and got one interested, but I'll try again when I hadn't just soaked them (think this may stress them abit). If those two don't eat I'll hibernate them (will give them about three more weeks to change their minds) with my yearlings. It's really strange, I got all 6 hatchlings started on pellets last year, but only three out of 8 this year. Just FYI, pellets only make up a portion of my turtles' diet, with plenty of vegetables, some fruits, and all the bugs they can find (plus what I catch for them).