Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi i'm new here and I hope you can help me. The food issue is she will eat anything all the time! I'm not sure i'm feeding her right,she's a Central American Wood turtle. She will eat anything, pinkie mice, worms, all kinds of veggies and fruit, and any type of meat, and she also has a sweet tooth, and loves mashed potatoes. I put those herptivite(sp) multi-vitamins on her food a little bit each time I feed her, and liquid vitamin A like once a month. I guess I just need general instructions, the vets we have around here don't seem to know alot about turtles. None of her food is pre-made turtle food. How do I tell if she's getting fat? Please help me sort this out. Thankyou blinkymac & Ivy the turtle.
Turtle_Talk

We should all have such issues!

Since you're concerned with the amount she eats, reduce her feeding schedule---if you're feeding every day (and, she's an adult), feed every third day or even every fourth day. Sounds like she's getting a good assortment of food!
Are you supplementing calcium? RepCal with D3 is good. Keep cuttlebone (available in bird section of pet store; remove backing) in her habitat all the time. I doubt you **need** the Vitamin A drops at all but if you continue with it, do so carefully; more likely to overdose with A than to have a deficiency. I **think** this is the vitamin supplement you're referring to: Rep-Cal's HERPTIVITE provides "Beta Carotene, is an anti-oxidant that is converted into Vitamin A in a regulated way, so no threat of Vitamin A toxicity." If so, dump your Vitamin A drops!
"any type of meat, and she also has a sweet tooth, and loves mashed potatoes" Some meats (fatty) can be problematic; a bit of boiled chicken **occasionally** is OK. Not sure what you mean about "sweet tooth" but it sounds most turtle **unnecessary!**
I **think** mashed potatoes have little benefit for her; sweet potatoes, on the other hand, would be great---yet another source of Vitamin A!
"How do I tell if she's getting fat?" If she's unable to retract both back and fore legs into her shell at the same time, she is likely eating too often...

Thankyou for your response yes it is Herptivite, so out goes the vitamin A. What is the cuttlebone for?
Turtle_Talk

Cuttlebone, produced by a squid-like critter, is given to caged birds to keep their beaks trimmed; natural product, high in calcium, incredibly easy to use!
Turtles use it just like birds, nibbling to get that crunchy calcium and work on their beaks at the same time!
Soaking the cuttlebone for several hours or overnight helps when chipping off the backing, which should be removed before the turtle tries it. At first, a turtle newly introduced to cuttlebone may ignore it; then, just when you think it will never be touched, the edges are nibbled away! Regardless of where you place it in the habitat/tank, the turtle will move it to a more appropriate location...stupid human!
Usually cheaper on the web than in the petstore (just my bias).
Kim at [no connection, happy customer] and [offers bulk] are two sources.
Cuttlebone is so simple that it's a shame if not used.

blinkymac,
i agree with everything pako has suggested. I would however, further suggest, that you dump the mashed potatoes.

The vit A situation is serious. In the old days when it first became widely known theat vitimin A deficiency could be a problem for turtles, all sorts of things were recommended as supplements. And vets started to give oral/injectable vit A a little too liberally. the result has been a large number of cases of vit overdose. So be careful. Its better if the turtle gets it from a natural source anyway, like the carrots and sweet potatoes already suggested (especialy if the turtle is as good an eater as you say).

I'd also recommend occasional use of earthworms (instead of meats) as these are very popular with this species and may be a significant portion of their wild diet. Try to obtain the worms from a clean source and/or raise your own.