Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone, I keep 4 RES and one of them will not eat any pellets, I offer him Reptomin, Zoo Med's, Kaytee, Nutrafin Max Turtle Gammarus Pellets, and Jurassi Diet all of them aquatic turtle food of course. And all he would eat that is not alive is Zoo Med's Turtle Treat, and Fresh Salmon.

What I do is, since they are hachlings still, feed them every day a little bit of all the pellets. Also every now and then (two or three times per week) I give them Zoo Med's Turtle Treat. And every sunday I give them live food. I try to cycle them like one sunday guppies, and the next one mealworms, and the next one crickets and so on. And I also try to make sure that when they get salmon (the wich they get once a week not on sundays) they also get some veggies like carrots and romaine with it (so they relate them to good and tasty). And on top of that when they get crickets I shake them in the bag where I buy them with some Jurassi Cal a calcium supplement.

3 of them are getting really big, but the one that will not eat any pellets ends up eating only once a week and a little bit of Zoo Med's Turtle Treat and salmon during the week therefore is not growing as fast.

I just read Richard Lunsford's article Feeding Turtles: How Much, and How Often. And I do not know what to do. They told me at the petstore to keep doing what I was doing (feed them pellets everyday except for sundays when they get live food) and that he would eventually start eating pellets. This sounds like a good idea however if any of you has read any of my posts before, you may remember that I "rescued" a turtle from a little girl that had him in very bad conditions (no space, lighting, heating, not even enough water as a matter of fact) and this is the guy that will not eat any pellets.

I am afraid of two things, one not feeding him enough especially if he has not recovered 100% the which I doubt because he can swim very well, basks a lot and begs for food all day as opposed to the other three that as soon as they see me run away and hide. And the other thing is pyramiding because Zoo Med's Turtle Treat is really high in protein (61.8%) and Richard Lungford's article says not to feed turts what my turtle would only eat (live food and salmon) more than once a week.

And even though him not growing as fast as the other three is not a big concern especially after reading the article, I do not think that feeding a less than an 1" hatchling once a week is a good idea, right?

What should I do?

Just feed him in a diff container. And give him water plants, crickets, mealies, and fish. He will do just fine without pellets. Pellets should not be the staple anyway. I think you should feed pellets only on Sundays, and feed crickets, fish, and mealies the rest of the week. Most pellets are not nearly as "healthy" as most people think, they have way to much protien.
Chris D.

I agree with Chysemys.

Forget the pellets. feed small crickets live red wiggler worms bloodworms and blackworms (live) small fishes and freshly killed guppies.
Do not starve a recentely ill or mistreated turtle. Much better for him to eat live foods (even at the risk of vitimin deficiency) than to starve. Give him two months of anythinh he will eat then play with his diet. At this rate he will weaken and may become sick. Also a separate container (from the others) is a good idea.

Hey cihidalgo,
I know the factory food is easy but like everybody is saying, go with the live food until he comes around. Have you tried krill? My guys love it big time. Don't buy it at the pet shop though. It's 3 or 4 bucks an ounce. Turtletown sells it for $15 a pound, and that pound bag goes a long way. Even though my turtles are on an every other day feeding schedule. If I come across something around the house or out in the yard, an earthworm, housefly, termites, ant larvae, lawn grubs, I just toss it in. When they find it, they find it. This way, they're constant search for food isn't always a fruitless endeavor.
As far as your guys running away all the time, just give them time to adjust. I've got Maps, which are supposed to be notoriuosly skittish. Well at 9 months old they bask with impunity. I can walk past them, stand there and watch. They don't run anymore unless you purposely spook them. And when they're hungry, they're right up at the glass when you walk up.
Later, Bob.

If you want him to start eating something, just stop feeding anything else. Feed in a separate container, and only offer pellets for the next 3 weeks. I've never had anything but one spotted turtle make it beyond 2 weeks before they started eating what they were offered. The spotted made it 3 weeks.

Then once it's eaten pellets for a few weeks, go back to a nice mixxed diet.

Turtles will naturally pick the best food source and eat that until it's gone before moving on to other things.