Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 baby RES's and a map turtle about the size of 2 RES shells if you combined them.

The babies were ordered and the Map was given to me by a friend.

He fed the map freeze dried Plankton daily. My 2 baby RES's will not eat pellets yet..neither will the Map. They only eat the plankton...is this ok to feed them daily, or is it more of a treat?

Also..how do I get them to start eating the reptomin pellets?

What should I feed the babie RES's until they start to eat the pellets? I may try some romaine and meal or earthworms tomorrow...please help me out.

Thanks.

Break reptomin in half for babies. Sometimes the water is too cold for turtles to eat too. Try to feed them a variety if you can. Since they are not eating some things, keep trying different things. Cuttle bone is sometimes a good choice especially for babies because it has lots of calcium. Feeder fish work well and keep the turtle busy, but too many can lead to parasites. Keep trying reptomin though.

These turtles are young and as such will respond better to small LIVE foods. I wouldn't worry about pellets and the plankton is not bad but far from an ideal food source. Go to an aquarium or pet store and get live blackworms or live bloodworms. Get tiny crickets between pinhead and 1/2 inch in size. (if they have several sizes get a dozen or so of each). Get some guppies or rosy red minnows and kill them and place them in with the turtles. Boil some chicken and cut it into tiny pieces. Try tuna (not soaked in any oil) or any fresh or frozen fish that you would eat. Go to a bait shop and try to get red wiggler worms (some times availbale at good pet shops also) and offer these.

It easy to get mnay turtles on pellets later; its more important to get them eating something when they are little.

As they age you will likely have to start using fruit and greens and water plants for the sliders and the map, depending upon what kind it is, may need more insects or snails, clams, shrimp, crayfish and other "shellfish"

good luck