Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yep, yet another question from me.

Ours will eat the romaine and loose leaf that floats and will eat his commercial food and treat that floats. We tried thin slivers of carrot, but they sunk and he/she never looked twice. I haven't tried broccoli yet, but I think it floats. Other than that, what are any of you feeding that does float or how are you getting yours to eat fruits and veggies that sink?

Christi

I don't think you should feed them broccoli

The slivers of carrots your feeding them might be too small for their interest. What I do when feeding carrots is get a bag of those "mini precut" carrots and snap them in half, heat them up in water so they get soft, put it in the freezer for 3 minutes so it cools down, then feed them. They love it! So I think the main thing there is to get the carrots soft and not too small or too big so they enjoy it. Be sure their really hungry when feeding them new stuff too

For floating stuff, apples float as do cucumbers. My RES don't really crave those foods so I don't feed them it that much but I do know they float and they are a food that is reccomended from most RES owners

Good luck and I don't think the food sinking has anything to do with them not eating it

Stay away from foods like broccoli, spinach, cabbage. They contains oxalates (sp.?) that bind with the calcium and prevent its being utilized. Also don`t feed banana often if at all--too high in phosphorous. If your turtle is small, it may take him a while to get into veggies. Mine likes his carrots very thinly sliced (and he eats them after they`ve sunk). You could also try dandylions, kale, mustard greens, and anachris, an aquarium plant that kind of floats. Most turtles really like it.