How often should i feed my African sideneck turtle? She always comes up and swims to us if she hears us. Why?

Question

How often should i feed my African sideneck turtle? She always comes up and swims to us if she hears us. Why?

Answer 1

Well, to begin with, she comes up when she hears you because you are her care giver and she LIKES you!

I'll post you what I have found works well for feeding most water turtles, and also provide a link below which you can check out for another opinion.

There are many opinions on how to meet the dietary requirements of your RES (and other water turtles).  You can consult your vet for their recommendation, too, and google turtle breeders/sites to see what they feed.  This is what I have found to provide a happy/healthy reptile:

In the wild, red ear sliders eat both animal and plant sources of food. However, juveniles are mainly meat eaters, and eat less plant matter than they will as they grow.



In captivity, the diet for juveniles should consist of a commercial aquatic turtle pellet product (like Reptomin floating food sticks); aquatic plants (research which are safe for consumption); gut loaded crickets; and very small feeders guppies/goldfish/minnows. Hatchlings and juveniles should be fed on a daily basis. The diet can be supplemented with frozen tubiflex worms and earthworms. Plant matter, in the form of leafy greens (like curly kale) or finely chopped mixed vegetables, can be offered once weekly but may not be readily accepted until they grow a bit older, or curiosity sets in.

Get a cuttle bone from the bird dept. at a local pet shop (you can easily cut this to a desired size or use whole for larger turtles/tanks) and drop it in the water for added calcium.  Turtles are curious, and eventually they'll bite at it.

For adults the diet is relatively the same (amounts increased as they grow), but more of the diet may consist of commercial turtle pellets and plant items. All my turtles, regardless of age, enjoy their gut loaded crickets.  Offering fresh live fish supplements their diet, and provides a good source of exercise as they swim, stalking and catching them.  Adults should be fed assorted greens several times a week.  Adult turtles may not eat daily, but most will if offered the opportunity.

Alternate/rotate the greens to provide a variety of nutrients: kale; romaine/red leaf lettuce; mustard greens; dandelion greens/flowers; watercress; parsley; Swiss chard; shredded carrots; shredded squash; mixed vegetables (fresh is better, but thawed frozen can be used) and miscellaneous fruits. NO iceberg; brussel sprouts, or cabbage!

You can reduce your task of keeping their environment clean by removing your turtle(s) to a small tank/plastic water filled container (water turtles primarily feed in the water) for feeding.  Turtles shred their food with their beak and front claws, and tend to be quite messy eaters.

I hope this has been beneficial.

Enjoy your pet!

Answer 2

Feeding of aquatic turtles Vary from age. If your turtle is a hatchling then 3 small pellet meals daily every few days. After about a year old you need to feed twice daily every 3 days. Over feeding your turtle can make it sluggish and also it will messy your tank up. Also I would start live feed at this age 6 Rosy reds (or Minos) bi-weekly will be great. (the other week between feed pellets)  Upgrade the quantity and size after you see your turtle feed. I know that live feed sounds yucky but your turtle will be less aggressive towards you. They need to have the outlet to swim and hunt. You must handle your turtle a lot if she responds to your voice and swims towards you. If that is not the case it could be that she is getting the required amount of air or there is a change in the room. From personal experience you need to start holding your turtle on a daily  basis if you not or it WILL be aggressive with you and anyone whom holds it. Good Luck.