Live fish for my turtle?

Question

He isa Yellow bellied Slider.

What I would like to know is how often should i be purchasing live fish for it to eat. My only source for the live fish is Petco/Petsmart.

Is it a messy job to clean up or will he gobble up every bit? How much should I keep with him? he is around 3.3inches long and around 3inches wide. Kept in a 16.3gallon tub.

Answer 1

Well I buy once a month and IF they eat more I buy more. I have had my 2 slider  girls for 36 yrs. Plus an 8 and 5 yr old and now a 2 yr old that was adopted last week from this site.... Been in a pond for almost 7 yrs now. Monthly I buy 125 goldfish like I have done since I got them on my 18th b-day. Plus at least 75 minnows.

When I had my 60  gal and only  the 2 ole girls I would by 50 at a time of goldfish and  would just replenish when i could count under 20.

When can you get a tank? And Filter. They can get sick if the water gets real dirty.

Do you have Walmart?  They grow fast! Walmart sells a 55 gallon tank with hood, light and decent filter for $153.00. You would need to buy some extra stuff, but that is a cheap tank set up with a good filter. You still need the rep light and large enough gravel they can’t swallow., and a dock…and fish and rep food.

I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries..

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle.

Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA for 8 to 10 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.

Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always.

Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they p**p allot.

You need a good filter system! Gravel larger than they can swallow.

You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium daily drop 20 or so in the tanks and watch them disappear! This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!

They can have garden worm, meal worms, crickets, flies anything that moves!

They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.

You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles, Swollen cloudy eyes means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables that Vitamin A’.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

Answer 2

The feeding of fish can get messy but a good filter and a few snails should take care of that. I don't recommend the feeding of goldfish; too much fat. Instead, either go to a stream with a net ir minnow trap or buy a bunch of minnows from a bait shop.

Put the money you save by not buying feeder fish from a pet shop toward getting a large tank. A YBS can get pretty big.

Answer 3

1. thing that i got shocked from is:O.... he lives in a 16 gallon tank!!! That is animal abuse, he NEEDS at least a 50 gallon tank!!!!mine is around 3.5 inches and he lives in a 50 gallon tank! As for the fish, read this...The diet for the turtle should be reptomin pellets ( and other nutritious pellets!) crickets, mealworms, bloodworms, shrimp, and krill. All of this is found dead at the petstore!;) Fish should be fed 2x a month max, the reason why is because the are vitamin b deficient, and not a good source of protien or vitamins for that matter, so dont listen to people that keep on telling you every single week! That is too often! They also need vegetation, get kale, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, and collard greens. Drop all of the food in the tank once a day, and remove any leftover bits after a few hours. By the way ALL of the protien food ( dead food, that was alive once) should be dusted with a calcium supplement ( powder) twice a week and you need to get a cuttlebone found in the bird aisle of the petstore and drop it in the water for him to knaw on, keep it there for a while (month) until they eat all of it, then get another. Once all of these things are done your turtles will be pretty happy!

Answer 4

Poor lil guy.  He needs a larger tank, Sweetie.  The rules of thumb for water and filter are 1.) 10 gal. of water per inch of turtle shell length.  So he really should be in about a 35 gal. tank as is, but you'd be much better off to get him a larger one he can grow into.  2.) The filter should be powerful enough to clean 3 times the actual tank size.  So, if it's a 35, then the filter should be for a 105 gal. etc.)

As for feeding him fish, they a daily part of his diet, unless you alternate meat products for him, which is what I do.  You can give him as many as he'll eat in about 15-20 minutes.  Turtles are very messy eaters, so you would do better to move him to a small container of the same temp. water as his tank for feeding.  Just dump it out after you return him to his tank.

His diet should be 80% meat items (pellets, rosy minnows, guppies, cooked chicken, gut loaded crickets, Phoenix, Silk, & small Great worms, etc.) and 20% greens and veggies (see this site for a list of items to feed, and remember fresh vegies like pumpkin, acorn, zucchini, yellow squash, water cress, kale, collard greens, dandelion greens and flowers, etc. are good for him too).  Cut the veggie bite size for him.  Avoid spinach, and never avacado: http://reslider.free.fr/backup/feeding.h...

I would give him the veggies in the morning with a few pellets, and the meat in the evening.

You can give him small portions of fruit 2-3 times a week as a treat/snack (grapes, orange wedge [no seeds], cantaloupe, apple, pear, peach, etc.).

Keep a cuttle bone in the water to provide calcium.

Enjoy your turtle and I hope this has been helpful.

Answer 5

I like for young turtles to start out in at least a 20-29 gallon tank than is longer rather than tall.  Since you won't be filling the water very high, you want a tank with more length than height. Although this size is fine for growing turtles, you may need to upgrade when he gets bigger.

Fish are a fine diet.  Most people like to feed rosey red minnows as opposed to comet goldfish because it is less messy.  Many turtles can swallow roseys whole, while comets often leave behind scales and sometimes bones or heads because they are not eaten whole.  I would say, depending on the size of your turtle, to feed him 5-10 roseys once or twice a week.  Some people also supplement between fish feedings with sticks or pellets.  Also, try crickets; some turtles are crazy for them!

To help with the mess of food remnants as well as the turtle's waste, I recommend a small filter.  Check out Petsmart of Petco for good filters.

Also, do you have the proper lighting for your yellow belly?  Turtles need UV lights to help in digestion as well as prevent soft shell.  They also need a basking light or some other heat source to regulate their body temperatre.  Store associates can help you get the right lights for your turtle.

Good luck!

Answer 6

i usually feed my red-eared sliders some little goldfish as treats. usually about 8-10 every other week. if you have a filter, it would make cleaning up alot easier.  i just hate how when they are done eating there are fish scales floating all over the place, but lukily there are no pieces floating around. i wouldnt suggest feeding them fish as a staple food, being that goldfish dont have all the nutrients a turtle in captivity needs. try feeding them some turtle food too.