Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What have all of you had luck with as far as getting hatchling mud turtles eating initially?

I have a clutch that is currently hatching and would like some advice. This is a first time for me as far as hatching muds goes. Thanks

I usually start mine off with chopped gambusia or bait store minnows and reptomin. If you feed them in a small container then they can't help but see the food. I feed mine before I go to work and then clean them when I get home. I feed them every other day but some people feed them everyday.
Good luck.

Rick

I've got one hatchling mud and judging from it, they're pretty voracious feeders. Once they settle into a new tank they start eating well but it may take a little bit before they start to feed readily. I always have more luck with live food but some will take pellets. They definitely love minnows, but it's easier for them to catch a dead fish than a live one. Mine also loves to eat mealworms, crickets, and small earthworms. They are definitely carnivores so they seem to go for the live stuff better.

They're really hilarious little things to watch. Mine is kept with a hatchling cooter and the little mud (about the size of a thumbnail) will sneak up, grab a mealworm, and race off like a little flying saucer and take it to a corner the cooter can't reach. A lot like the way a dog will take a treat then go off somewhere alone to eat it. These turtles don't realize they're so small though.
-----
1.0 sumatran short tailed python
0.1 ball python
0.1 rosy boa
0.1 corn snake
1.0 mexican king snake
1.1 buttermilk racers
0.0.2 texas rat snakes
0.0.1 broadbanded watersnakes
0.0.2 yellow bellied watersnake
0.0.1 diamond back watersnake
0.0.1 blotched watersnake
0.0.1 ribbon snake
0.1 Texas brown snake
0.0.1 western cottonmouth
0.0.1 southern copperhead
0.0.1 rattlesnake
1.0 bearded dragon
1.0 leopard gecko