Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Help! My turtles are carnivores!

I can't get them to eat anything but their reptomin pellets.

I have two in a large tank and they occasionally take a bite our of lettuce, but no more than a bite or two. The little one is in a tank by himself and he flat refuses to eat any veggies at all.

I've tried various types of lettuce, like dandelion greens, kale, and romaine. I've tried apples. I've tried carrots. Nothing. I wonder if there is a certain way to feed it to them that I haven't thought of. Generally, I put it in the water and leave it there for a time. They basically ignore it.

What can I do? I worry they aren't getting the right nutrients?

On a side note, what is the importance of having a cuttle bone? Does it go in the water? What does it do for the turtles?

Thanks!

Hi,

I could be wrong on this, but I only feed my turtles the reptomin. Someone may be able to provide me some insight as to whether I am doing something wrong, but I have always fed my turtles reptomin and haven't seen any problems out of them other than the scute shedding issue, but I think that is due to one of my relatives in which were keeping them for me for a while was overfeeding them.

Perhaps someone else might have better insight.

Chris

Variety is key to healthy turtles. Reptomin is a good staple, but it is high in protein. Adult turtles shouldnt get much protein, so the majority of their diet should be veggies and greens. If they wont eat the greens, try not feeding them anything else for a few days. Reptiles can go a long time without eating.
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A mans got to do what a mans got to do. A woman has to do what he can't.

Mom to:

1 little boy born 7/19/04
2 male RES, born 1999
1 ribbon snake, age unknown
3 FBT, ages unknown
1 female bearded dragon, born 5/2002
1 male lab mix, born 5/24/03
1 female calico cat, born 6/7/04
1 common musk turtle hatchling

One way to get your turtles to eat other stuff is to stop feeding them the pellets. In a week or so, they will be much more interested in eating whatever is available. Works with fish too. I taught all of my sunfish and even largemouth bass to eat pellet food.

I would think that a diet of Reptomin would be ok for a turtle. RES are mostly carnivorous when they are young and dont move to vegetation till they are quite older. I recently had a wild caught RES about 4 inches long that would eat duckweed. Try putting plants in the tank that can live in the tank like various aquarium plants. I think you will notice them disappearing over time.
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iturnrocks.com

I would say a diet of just reptomin would be ok for hatchlings and juvies, but adults should be eating mostly plant matter and you will probably see some serious shell problems as they get older if they dont get veggies. the other problem you see with too much protein is their shell grows too fast for their insides, this puts tremendous stress on their internal organs and causes early death. With this condition the turtles will look fine and may have no symtoms at all. Veggies are important
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0.1 mexican Black kingsnake
1.1 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
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0.0.1 Red Tegu
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

Feed them variety. Give him some fresh feeder guppies or some ghost shrimp sometimes. Give them some reptomin pellets sometimes. Have some greens floating sometimes. Give them a little bit of everything. Just veggies isnt good either. Turtles can benefit from the calcium in the bones of fish and the protien in a gut loaded cricket. Change it up. You dont eat the same thing all the time do ya? If you want them to eat more veggies....that not feeding anything till they eat veggies will work fine. Go nuts!!
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Keith

1 Pembroke Welsh Corgi (Kaiya)
1 RES (King Koopa aka Bowser)
2 Betta's (Garcia and Bonham)
1 Fiance' (Lacy - Requires more work and attention then any animal. Not Recommended......j/k)

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