Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My son caught an Eastern Painted turtle this summer and he's become a really great pet. His shell is about 2 1/2" long (so that makes him about 2 years old, right?).

I have read that young painteds are mostly carnivorous and boy in this case thats an understatement. He eats nothing but bugs. He has access to duckweed and parrots feather, he ignores them. He won't touch reptile sticks, apples or anything that isn't moving.

We've been giving him slugs, crickets, and worms. One every day, occasionally skipping a day. He appears happy, healthy and fine but I can't help wondering if this is enough food (he's ALWAYS hungry) or maybe too much? And how can I get him to eat veggies?

I don't think that one bug a day is enough food either. He needs more greens and turtle sticks. I would only feed him greens (everyday) and sticks (every other day or every three days, the size of his head) and nothing else until he starts eating greens and sticks. Don't worry, he won't starve himself. He will eat the sticks and greens when he gets hungry and he knows that nothing better is coming. Then when he gets to that point you can start giving him bugs and worms and slugs again. You can also try feeder fish when he starts eating his greens again. Then when he gets on a good eating schedule you should feed him greens everyday and protein every 2-3 days the size of his head.
Oh and they like to eat rocks so if you have any smaller than his head in there, take them out! He might try to eat them if he gets hungry and they can get impacted and it can only be removed by a vet and sometimes they just die because of it.
Hope this helps.
Oh and the only real way to know the age of a turtle is if you knew when they hatched. Size is not a factor because some turtles grow faster or slower than others. Females tend to be bigger than males also.

Thanks. There are no rocks in there but he does have a cuttle bone he likes to chew on. I will try forcing him to eat some greens by witholding his bugs for a while.

He comes racing over to my son's hand with his mouth open whenever my son goes to the tank, so maybe he could slip him something green before Squirtle realizes it's not meat.