Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now that my turtle is a little over a year old, what and how much do I feed him? Right now I am feeding him about 25 pellets a day along with lettuce and grapes. I know at some point they should only be eating the veggies and fruit. Will he just stop eating the pellets eventually? Should I be feeding him every other day yet? Thanks.

Hi,

Is your turtle huge? 25 pellets is way too much per day
for anysize turtle. Cut back to every other day now and
only give enough to equal the size of his head. I offer
pellets, shrimp, or soaked cat food alternating with fresh
greens and water plants.

Hope this helps
Linda

You feed him everyday? your tank must look like crap heh j/k

Well everyday is a lot so yea, cut back to once every other day. 25 is a lot for a 1 year old I would say... maybe try feeding it more fruits/veggies if he likes it and cut down on the amount of pellets. My turtles are adults now and I feed them once every 3-4 days but enough so they are full. They hardly beg either

Are you sure it is 1 year old and 5"?. I have 5-7 years olds that are that size
If so you need to take a look at its diet and adjust it because your going to send your turtle to an early grave by over feeding it.
Turtle forum

turtles are omnivorous, which means they will eat anything that they think they can, including meat (live prey) as well as veggies and fruits. there should NOT be a time that they become strictly vegan...they need the protein. BALANCE is the key word in regards to their diet.
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"If we are good only because we fear punishment and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."
-Albert Einstein

My turtle only seems to eat lettuce and grapes. He doesnt like any other fruits other than the grapes. So how much lettuce in a day is enough on a day when I dont feed him the pellets? My turtle will eat everything all at once. I feel like if I put a whole bundle of lettuce in there that he would eat the whole thing! He never leaves anything leftover. And the pellets, they are juvenile-size pellets, so they are small. I just want to make sure that I feed him enough so that he is not hungry. He goes nuts every morning before I feed him because he can't wait to eat. My turtle is about 5 inches. Is that too big for his age?

Wow, he shouldn't be 5 inches until he is 5 years old! He has been WAY overfed. Lettuce isn't nutritious at all, but if he likes it he will probably eat dandelion greens and other leavy greens that are good for him. Cut him back gradually to feeding pellets every 3-4 days and no more than the size of his head. Feeding him too much will only shorten his life, please do what is best for your turtle and stop overfeeding him.
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In comparison mine just turned 4 years old and the bigger
of the two is 4.5"

This growth was way too fast in my opinion. Please cut
back on his food. He/she will be healthier for it.

Linda

i also over-fed my hatchlings and they grew lots and beg a lot. Now, because of what i learned here, i have changed their diet and feeding schedules to reduce protein and add lots of veggies and fruit. while i feel bad about the overfeeding, i also think that our pet turtles are very lucky no matter what, thinking of the hundreds of poor hatchlings that die of all kinds of mishandling, overcrowding and illness. suspect that your turtle is happy and active. hope this helps.

Thanks. My turtle does seem happy and is very active. I now know that he's too big for his age, but he doesn't seem fat or anything. I've put him on a diet, cutting the pellets down to every other day and am feeding him more of the fruits and vegetables that I know he likes. He liked peas and I thought they were good for him so I grew a pea garden in my yard then found out that they aren't so good for him. What fruit does your turtle like? Mine only likes grapes so far. I've tried strawberrys, peaches, bananas, watermelon and apples and he doesn't care for them.

Favorite fruits are fresh bing cherries, no pits of course; grapes, kiwi, banana, strawberries. Can't remember what others i've tried. They don't go for watermelon, cantaloupe or blueberries. As for veggies, they like different types of lettuce especially red-leaf and boston. Also, once in awhile corn, water cress, basil. They turn up their noses at carrots. Have not yet tried the aquatic plants that others have recommended, plan to do so.