Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I have recently become a surrogate household for 2 adult female box turtles... now I know how to keep them happy and healthy, but was wondering what people thought was the best turtle diet out there...

After looking at the new Reptiles magazine I have purchased 2 different ones so far...

1. T-Rex Box Turtle dry formula (a pellet diet)
2. Zoo Med wet diet (like a can of cat food... kinda)

The turtles seem to like both, possibly prefering the Zoo Med, do any of you all have experiences with either or another type of prepared diet?

Please respond here...

Thanks,
Ryan

they're likely not to thrive on a 100% processed diet, i only offer reptomin as a treat to my adults, their diets should consist more of fresh foods than processed junk, variety is the key to a healthy boxie, i know some people also offer mazuri tortoise feed to boxies but i have no experience with that myself.
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I don't use commercial foods for adult box turtles except in a pinch: then I use Reptomin.
Hatchlings are a different story: since I house them indoors over the winter, I use Reptomin alot. I gradually work them up to what I feed the adults, though, so by this time of year they're 'grownup' food pretty happily.
I'm somewhat put off by the quantities of preservatives in commercial preparations, and anyway, pound for pound, homemade is less expensive, has more variety (very important), and is a great way for us to stay a little more involved with our pets.
Stephanie

I use Rep-Cal Box turtle food, and only occasionally as a supplement, and usually only with hatchlings and juveniles.

I only have one adult that seems to like the rep-cal, but the younger ones love it, so I try to give it to them once a week.
But I think its better to have the bulk of their diet consist of crickets, superworks, mealworms, earthworms and fresh vegatables and fruits. But I feel it doesn't hurt to give them a processed diet occasionally, just to supplement some of the things they might miss out on.

I also use reptimin with the younger turtles.

I don't like the canned or dried box turtle diets that are sold in pet stores. Nasco's Turtle Brittle can be soaked and fed by itself as part of a varied diet, or soaked and mixed with other fresh foods. Turtle Brittle is used by many aquariums and zoos. You can order some here:

http://www.enasco.com/prod/Home - just enter in "turtle brittle" in the search engine on the site.

Katrina