Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im sure it's been in other messages...but how do i know if i've over fed the turtle or underfed?? i give it approximately 1 goldfish a day...but i think it's a bit too much...i dunno...well, i hope someone can explain exactly how much i should give it...
my turtle is 5 inches if that helps

You're not supposed to feed ur turtle goldefish ever! They have no nutrition. Try feeding him reptomin stix, an amount the size of his head, every other day and fresh greens like collard greens. mustard greens, turnip greens, and vegies like sliced succini and yellow squash and carrots for vit A. Peace!

Ricky

Also, to replace the goldfish, feed him guppies, platies, or mosquito fish.

I went to the pet store the other day, and for feeder fish they had Rosy Reds. I was wondering if these kind of fish are OK to feed the turtles? I am not sure which fish are good or bad for the RES?!?! Thanks in advance.
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~ Evie

Pets:
German Shephard {Dusty}
German Shephard/Collie mix {Shadoe}
2 RES turtles {Booger and Snot}
African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
Snail {Gary}

Goldfish are fine as food, just a little fatty for turtles. Rosie reds are an excellent source of food for turtles, but are not always easy to find. The best thing to feed is a mix of things; Reptomin, fish (go find frozen silversides at a fish store), beef heart, veggies, crickets, mealworms, bugs, etc...
My RES eats pretty much anything around
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1 (Lillith)
Albino Burm 0.1 (Kimba)
Columbian RedTail 0.1 (Squishy)
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0 (Shai'hulud)
Common Snapping Turtle 0.1 (Sherman) (RIP Abrahms)
RES 1.0 (speedy)

um...maybe i shouldn't have said goldfish...the store called them feeder fish and they recommended it so i thought it should be ok for them...but i'll stop feeding them fish i guess...im gonna try to find cuttlebone and those greens u offered, thanks guys

Um, okay...

for a more nutritional diet, try feeding your turtle the following veggies:

lettuce(you can try putting water lettuce)
parsley
not squash, or succini

Fruits:
grapes (they love them and they are good for them)
water melon isn't bad for them either, although i'd stick to the grapes

You can also feed them earth worms, meal worms, crickets, and feeder guppies. You could feed them goldfish, but I wouldnt base your entire turtle's diet on them.
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Sami

1.1.0 Red Earred Sliders
0.2.0 Yellow Bellied sliders
0.1.0 Black Cat

Well I would recommend only feeding goldfish as a treat, they should not be fed excessively or exclusively because it could cause thiamin (B vitamin) definciency.

Feeding only one of any kind of food isn't good. I don't see anything wrong with goldfish if you feed other foods on other days. Thiamin deficiency is only a worry if only the food with the high thiaminase enzyme is fed exclusively. Best to only feed most turtles 2-3 times per week. Everyday feeding makes a spoiled turtle that develops favorites and then won't eat some things you give it. Grow some aquatic plants like anacharis and hornwort in the tank. Those can be munched on anytime. Don't rely heavily on commercial turtle pellets either. Also feed cooked egg with ground up shell in it, pinky mice (if you can handle that), leafy greens like collard and mustard (no spinach and no iceberg lettuce). Click on this link for a website has good care and diet info.:
GCTTS

maybe i should have stated for those of you who are worried bout my turtle's diet

i feed it everything lol...

i dont feed only fish, i even got like 3 types of reptomin food for her

i feed them oranges and other fruits once in a while, they like oranges the best for some reason...

i tried mealworms...

i can't find earth worms

i have a big variety of foods i feed them, so dont worry guys

haha peace.

you should be feeding your turtle a VARIETY of foods. just think, we eat many many different types of foods throughout the day. so should all animals! one source of nutrition is first of all, hardly complete, and secondly BORING!! so, since your turtle is 5 inches, it should be eating a wide variety of veggies every day. like carrots, squash, cantaloupe, straberries, grapes, green beans, mustard greens, collard greens, green peppers, etc. and then you can use a commercial food, but you must also supplement with live prey. they get a lot of excercise out of chasing down the prey, plus its STIMULATING for the animal. so, goldfish, mealworms, snails, tubifex worms, earthworms, etc. you can also give VERY small amounts of meats and commercial dog and cat foods, but like i said very small amounts, like a treat. also an egg with the shell crushed up is another good food to feed. and a rule of thumb on how much is how much your turtle can consume in 10 mins. also, you should be feeding more veggies and fruits vs. the other stuff because too much protien can cause obesity and shell deformities. and plus, the veggies are where all of the vitamins come from.

meagan