Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have two river cooters... one of them hatched with a deformed head and is still alive 6 months later... At any rate, i have yet to observe either of these turtles take much of an interest in food. The normal cooter was nibbling on the plants that i have in the water, and will sometimes try to eat little pieces of spinach. I was wondering what kind of food hatchling river cooters like. I currently have them in a tank with two hatchling mississippi maps, and one hatchling RES, and i've been feeding predominantly reptomin sticks, baby dried shrip, minnows, and when its warm enough to go digging, earth worms. Any information that anyone could provide would be appreciated.

Avoid feeding spinach. Emphasize chicory, dandelion green, escarole. Try aquatic plants like Java fern and water hyacinth. What you are feeding proteinwise is okay but the cooters do like greens in their diet. (many adults eat mainly greens but go for a heavier protein diet as juveniles.)

Obviously they must both be eating as they would be most likely dead after 6 months of not eating. hatchlings have no reserves after absorbing water ever yolk they have left.

thank you so much for your help! I'm going shopping as soon as i get off work. I really appreciate it!

You may also try chopped or minced clams. I feed this to musk/map/snapping turtles, since they feed on freshwater molluscs and clams in natural settings. Cooters also eat these. This can be expensive, though, as the cans are typically 2 bucks a pop.
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great thanks! Can i just get the clams from the grocery store? Should i look for anything special??

If you look in the seafood dept. you can usually find fresh chopped clams.They come fresh in a plastic tub. I have fed fresh clams to common snappers and painted turtles and it works good to jump start a feeding frenzy. Try it out.

Thanks! I'll be sure to go get some!

Although the adults are primarily vegetarian, the juveniles need protein and lots of calcium and are primarily carnivorous. If they are finicky eaters, continue to try red worms (also sold as "leaf worms" in the bait shop) that you have cut into segments so they are small and bloody. Then, work in a complete fortified floating pelleted food such as Reptomin, offering a few sticks at a time that have been pre-wetted. They must be soft, as texure is crucial at that first bite. Later, they will scarf the dry pellets without waiting. Only offer a few pellets at a time until they finally start accepting it, as it will foul the water more than live food. Shrimpellets fish pellets (sinking) and Cichlid Gold (buy the smaller floating pellts) have also been used successfully to adapt juveniles to commercial foods. Continue to offer the vegetarian fare as well. Warning: not all pellted foods sold for turtles are equally acceptable. Reptomin and Wardley's sticks are usually the best, although there are others, such as Mazuri, which are not as readily available in stores.

thank you so much! I'll try to find some for them today. I haven't been able to get them interested in the reptomin sticks, but maybe if they munch on some worms first it'll help. Thanks again for your help!

The main goal is to get them eating SOMETHING, even if they will only accept things that are expensive and hard t find at first. Once juveniles are eating regularly, it is much easier to switch them to a more nourishing commercial food ( one you compound yourself from good ingredients).

Find a pet store that sells feeder guppies.Capture them in a net and gently squeeze them to disable them. Tear the stomach cavity open to expose the internal organs. Not a pleasant task, but it often works when all else fails. Consider it a temporary solution.

Funny thing is I have, except for the deformity, the same thing you do but they are no longer little hatchlings. My cooter wasn't much interested in the repotmin but loved the Zoo-Med Hatchling food it looks like beta pellots just a tiny bit bigger. I would also go to your local fish/pet store and get the tiny snails overrunning their plant tanks they should give them to you for free. My cooter and my map turtle would scarf a bagfull down in minutes and anything with a hard shell has lots of calcium. They also loved ghost shrimp, only the live ones they seemed to love the hunt and once again it is has a shell so lots of calcium. Make sure you ask for feeder ghost shrimp they are about 15 cents a piece.around here. Don't confuse them with the other shrimp or you will be paying about $3-5 a piece. Cool thing is the shrimp will clean the bottom of the tank before they get gobbled up. As for greens my turtles favorite aquatic plant is moneywart. Also pick up some watercress, endive and radishdo from the produce counter in the store.

great! Thanks! I'll go get some tonight!

I put the cooters in their feeding tank with a ton of different foods, and they were really interested in the ghost shrimp at first, and then started munching on all the other stuff. They're eating now! I'm going to keep offering them the variety for a while and hopefully they'll eventually be able to get onto normal turtle pellets. You guys are wonderful! Thank you soooooo much!!

......unless you can share it with others

little cooters love duckweed and it is very nutritious too, and try the tiny pesty snails that you can get free at aquarium stores, there high in calcium, cooters are big plant eaters at any age

thanks! i'll have to go get some. I appreciate the help!