Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 western painted turtles that i got as hatchlings. They are now about 9 months old. They are both about 3 inches in shell length. I rotate their food between mosquito larva, brine shrimp, plankton, bloodworms, tubifex worms, and mysis shrimp. Occasionally I will feed them meal worms as well. I have tried to feed them vegetables but they are not interested yet. I think they are too young and carnivorous to eat them. Every week I put between 1-2 dozen goldfish in the tank for them to eat and every couple weeks I add a dozen ghost shrimp. I keep snails in the tank as well. So far, they have eaten about 8 snails. I have read in more than one location that young turtles should be fed twice per day. I figured that since they have live food and in the tank that once per day was enough. Am I wrong? Should I still be feeding twice per day? Any suggestions/responses are appreciated.

Goldfish tend to be high in fat so you ought to try adding some minnows or guppies to the diet rather than just goldfish all the time. Too much fat in the diet & they can have health problems just like humans who get too much fat in the diet.
If you are keeping live food in the tank most of the time then I wouldn't bother feeding them on a set schedule, although giving them some variety is good for them.
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PHRatz

"Goldfish tend to be high in fat so you ought to try adding some minnows or guppies to the diet rather than just goldfish all the time."

I just started giving them goldfish. I had them on rosies since they were big enough to catch them. They just recently were able to catch the gold fish. Do rosies have the same fat content that the goldfish do? I considered guppies, but I decided that they were too small to make a difference. I think I'll give them a try though.

>>">>I just started giving them goldfish. I had them on rosies since they were big enough to catch them. They just recently were able to catch the gold fish. Do rosies have the same fat content that the goldfish do?

No they don't have the same fat content- the rosies are actually minnows so they are a good food item.

>>>I considered guppies, but I decided that they were too small to make a difference. I think I'll give them a try though.

I haven't used guppies for two reasons, one is I can't find any locally that are bred for food. The other reason is because when I was a kid my sister had allergies so there weren't many pets I could have. My first pet(s) were a tank full of guppies that bred all the time. I adored my guppies so I just can't bring myself to use guppies as food.
They are good for turtles though.

When our painted was a baby he couldn't always catch fish. I couldn't stand to do this but my DH who's fished all his life thought of them as bait so it didn't bother him to maim the fish for the turtle to eat them.
He'd slow the fish down & the turtle had no problem eating them that way.
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PHRatz

Thanks for all the help!