Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just started moving my little RES's to a separate container when they eat to cut down on waste in the main tank. My question is how long should I leave them in there? I have 3 and have been feeding them individually for about 5 minutes per turtle in the feeding tank. I would feed them all together but one of my guys is a pig disguised as a turtle and eats all the food before the others get to it. I want to make sure I give them enough time to make waste before I transfer them back to the main tank. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Well I would think that just leave them in there until they don't want anymore. Keep on putting food in there until they don't eat anymore. I'm fairly new to RES myself but I would think that would work. Bye.

First, put water slighty warmer in the feeding container than the tank. This will get the thier bowels moving. Then feed them as much as you usually do, then wait for them to go to the bathroom. They will usually do it within 10min of eating. So they keep them in there for about 15min, or however long it takes.
Chris
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0.1 Red Eared Slider, 1.0 Common Snapper, 1.0 Bearded Dragon and a 55gal Native Fish Tank with a 6in LM Bass, 3 Crawdads and a Pleco.
I use to have a collection of Leopard Geckos that I bred, but have sold them.

My res refuses to poop in a separate tank. So, I use the same feeding guidelines (about 15 mins) and then put him back in his tank. I have tried the warmer water trick...didn't do much. Perhaps it's a preference thing, because within minutes of getting back into his home (no matter how long he has stayed in the feeding container) he poops.

Feed them and leave them in until you see them defecate. Eventually you will see a pattern. I have one animal I feed this way and she generally relieves herself within 20-30 minutes of consuming all her food.