Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone, i purchases my res about 5 months ago and it was a little bigger than a 50 cent peice when i got it. I fed him pellets for the first four months, and just this month he had hid first few feeder fish....only 2 but on different days. His shell is now around 3 inches in length, and i was just wondering if he is growing too fast, or if i shouldnt be feeding him fish yet? He loves them and he can fit the whole fish in his mouth, but im just windering if hes too little to handle that much food. Also, i was wondering if the potted live plants that you can buy in a pet store for your fish tanks would be ok for my turtle? Would it be ok if he ate them? thanks for all the help, and sorry about all the questions!

~Kari

I am still new to these turtles but from all I have read res chould only grow an inch a year but I'm not sure if it makes a difference that they are a different variety of res. I was told you should only feed them enough protien to fill their head. I have two hatchlings that I have now had for about two months and they a relatively the same size. Someone else should be able to tell you better. Just trying to help.

your res should only grow about an inch per year. if they are growing more than this, you are probably overfeeding them. you should only feed them enough protein pellets that would fit into their head. and after about a year or two, u should only be feeding them that amount of pellets every other day, with greens supplied everyday. you can and probably should start feeding your turtles greens now. they love anything from carrots to strawberries to lettuce. mine like collard greens, but those have a certain smell i dont desire! so i quit feeding mine those, and now i feed them bagged salads, which comes with a variety of veggies... but they also like dandelion greens. calcium is also good to feed your turtles. you can either do this by breaking up egg shell and feeding it to them, or buying a cuttle bone (bird section) and break off the hard backing and let it float in the water. they will eat it, but even if they dont it dissolves in the water and they will get calcium that way also! i hope this helps
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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

Greetings,

It's just my opinion, but I would not feed them cuttle bone. My baby RES died the next day after putting some in the tank. It could've just happened, I don't know. I'm staying clear of it with my new RES.

-Ravon

i have been feeding my turtles cuttle bone since the day i got them, and they never died. if you didnt take all the hard backing off of the cuttle bone first, your turtle may have tried to eat a sharp piece and it may have done something to it's insides. but as far as i know, a lot of people(not just me) feed their turtles cuttle bone, and their turtles are all still living also. so i dont think it was a problem with the cuttle bone.
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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}