Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am seeking feedback on what folks feed their Mud Turtles. Mine is being fed a diet of feeder fish and pinkies on occasion. I give him a thawed pinky when I have an extra one on snake feeding day. I am afraid the pinkies have to high a fat content and that the fish are too narrow in their dietary value. My Map Turtle also eats fish but gets Commercial Turtle pellets. The Mud will not eat the pellets but I assume he might eat sinking pellets if anyone knows of a brand designed for Mud Turtles. Night Crawlers are too expensive of an option. So what is a good balanced diet for captive Muds?

Randy
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Firehouse Herps

Reptomin will eventually sink. There is a product called Turtle Brittle from NASCO that sinks immediately. Muds are rarely pick eaters, however, and he will probably adapt quikly to surface feeding. Try feeding him in shallow water (perhaps outside his home tank) where he will see the food immediately. Also, there is a fish "Carnivore" pellet that sinks.

In shallow water they should eat pellets. I have also had many mud turtles eat on land. Before you rely too heavily on commercial turtle foods, check this out

http://www.vareptilerescue.org/foods.html

I believe the commercial pellets are overloaded with Vit D causing power growth. You should not be tight on food and go ahead and buy the earthworms.
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Marlaina Barr
Gulf Coast Turtle & Tortoise Society
http://www.gctts.org

Nightcrawlers have proved to be overly expensive compared to other food options. I live in the desert and the only nightcrawlers available are fish bait. There is a low demand for them here and the price is high and the quality low. My turtle does get them on occasion. I have a lot of pets and strive to give them the best of care. My feeding budget runs well into the hundreds and my over all herp budget is into the thousands. The purpose of my post was to maximize my turtle husbandry not to minimalize it. I appreciate your assistance very much but I did take offense at your implication that I am being "tight" where my pets are concerned.

Randy
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Firehouse Herps

Sorry, I did not ralize the quantity of herps you have. Feeder fish cut in half, pinkies, scrambled egg with shell, are all good sources of whole animal foods. Insects and reptomin on occasion. Although a terrible calcium/phosphorus ratio, I give liver once in a while for vit A. He should eat floating if you lower the water level to where it is at a level he can grab it while he is on the bottom. Outdoors where mine have choice of shallow water or land, they spend a lot of time on land and can eat outside of the water. And I have found (again given a choice) that they prefer shallow ponds to deep ponds.
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Marlaina Barr
Gulf Coast Turtle & Tortoise Society
http://www.gctts.org

I would try Turtle Brittle. Also try soaking the floating pellets in something tasty (tuna fish juice, juice from microwaved shrimp) just before putting them in the water to get them started on pellets. My two adopted (orginally WC) eastern muds did not like pellets at first, but gradually learned to eat them. I had to use forceps to move the pellets in the water to make them more enticing, much like a pre-killed pinkie for a snake. I have also stuffed pellets into pieces of cooked shrimp or cooked fish, and offered a few pellets in the water in the same area as the "stuffed" food, hoping that the feeding resonse would kick in and they'd start eating anything nearby.

Have you ever ordered from www.wormman.com? He offers a worm breeding system for European earthworms, and a friend of mine has had good luck with it, in fact she usually has more worms than she needs for her box turtles, just from her one bin.

Insects are relished by my muds - everything from crickets and superworms to hissing cockroaches. If you can get a starter colony of roaches, you could probably save a lot of money.

My muds also like greens, on a mild to moderate level. They seem most fond of water hyacinth, but won't touch water lettuce. They don't eat greens like a slider or cooter, but do nibble on them.

I think a high quality pellet with some supplimentation of greens and varied animal protein is probably the best way to go. Oh, and don't forget cuttle bone as a suppliment. My male won't touch it, but the female devours it.

Katrina