Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We just got two baby Southern Painted turtles (1 month ago).
The larger one is about 2 inches long, the smaller maybe 1.5-1.75.
They both are very active and very inquisitive.
The problem we are having is with their food.
I have no idea how much they should eat and what is best for them.
All the turtle books disagree as to quantity and frequency of food.
They refuse any commercial turtle food, we've tried them all.
They love live crickets (small ones), live mealworms, dried shrimp and bloodworms.
They also nibble on the aquarium plants.
We are very worried about the diet issue as many of the books we read say that
Southern Painted babies don't tend to survive until adulthood.
We've already become attached to ours and want to keep them alive and healthy.

I've attached some links to some photos of them.
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/hansjegold

Thanks for all your help!!
Turtle Photo Album

Well as for frequency i've always fed my turtles once a day, but i also like to keep feeder guppies in the tank also. But as for commercial food that can be a pain on occasion. The only way i've ever found that works well is to cut way back on feeding other foods and just offering commercial food. Usually they get hungry and try them after 2-3 days. Because if your offering anything thats alive there going to go for that first and ignore anything else. A pellet is not exactly an appealing food sorce but once they start eating them they're usually hooked