Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been keeping turtles my whole life, every turtle that I had or have eats/ate turtle sticks at one point or another. In 2000 I got a hatchling Red-Eared Slider from a local pet store, the whole time I had it I fed it turtle sticks. In July 03 I traded it to a friend for a snake. In December I got it back,my friend had only been feeding it worms and it grew about 2 inches! The back of the can of turtle sticks says that turtle sticks have all the vitamins and nutrients, etc. to keep a turtle healthy and to help shell growth. The whole time I had the turtle it never grew till it only ate earthworms. Anyone wanna help me out.
Michael

Eh, I assume the question is "why didn't my turtle grow as fast with just food sticks?"

I think worms are good because they provide a high protein diet to increase growth. However, just because the turtle grew faster doesn't mean it's healthier. I read in the long run, too fast growth can lead to shell problems and organ damage. Plus, there are other factors too...the temperature that the turtle was raised in. Higher temps often lead to faster growth. And whether the turtle was hibernated, etc. Was the turtle ever sick? I don't think it's accurate to give a reason for the difference in growth rates just by comparing the type of diet given.

I'm sure worms contain lots of stuff food sticks don't have and vice versa. But as a rule, I'd offer variety over any staple food item (despite people having success with just feeding foodsticks).

Johnny

Don't RES live 25 years? Whats the rush if it doesn't grow fast enough? You should have fed that snake of your friends all hamburgers (? I don't know anything about snakes, just guessing what'll make them "fat" hehe) to see if it would grow like crazy.

RES in the wild don't go out and live on earthworms.. they would eat it if they saw it but how often is that. For the most part they eat vegetations... the RES I've seen in the wild (near a man made lake by me) are really large and healthy. So it looks as if eating other stuff besides worms is the correct way

I would get your RES back to eating pellets.. try to throw in some veggies, and sometimes a treat of worms, crickets, fish, etc won't hurt. But growing 2 inches a year is a bit too fast which isn't very good but I wouldn't be concerned about it. Maybe that year was just the year it was going to grow regardless

There are many factors that could influence the growth rate. It depends on how much and often the animal is fed and also environmental conditions (air and water temp). Ideally a slider should grow an inch a year (perhaps a little more but not much). Overfeeding causes rapid grow and can lead to many problems (like shell deformities and obesity). Young sliders are more carnivorous than adults but will take vegetations. I have never had a slider large or small turn down an earthworm when offered.

Sticks are good to feed but you should never count on them as the sole nutrion for your animal. Offer him sticks on Mon. Skip Tuesday and try feeding some cooked shrimp or earthworms or crickets on Weds, skip Thurs. and on Fri try feeding some greens (dandelion, chicory, escarole -- things like that). And then on Sun. feed stick again. Just feed everyother day and offer a little variety.

Steve