What do small turtles eat?

Question

its like a snapping turtle but im not sure. The shell is about 3 centimeters and from his tail to head hes about 7 cenitmeters.

Answer 1

I also have a small snappping turtle but he is a tad bit bigger, i started out giving him baked chicken and then i gave him crickets, next small minnows and now im giving him small fish and small frogs. So i would say get some fisishing line and tie it as far to the end of the baked chicken as you could and slowly drag the chicken across its tank and as it gets bigger he will be use to his food moving and it havin to catch it, so when your turtle gets bigger all you will have to do its drop the food in the tank and as the food runs or jumps it will kno its food and will eat it.

Answer 2

Small turtles are carnivores. Feed live earthworms, fishes (not goldfish), and soft-bodied insects. When you can't get live food, cut strips of liver and dust them in bonemeal.

Answer 3

Can you add a picture?  Its hard to tell what type of turtle it is from the description.  different types of turtle eat different things.

Answer 4

small turtle food

Answer 5

You said it's like a snapping turtle, so obviously it's some type of aquatic turtle. That helps, since all aquatic turtles eat generally the same thing. When feeding your turtle be sure to put all food in the water, they can't eat out of the water.

A baby turtle should be getting a variety of foods from three different categories; produce, protein, and pellets. Pellets for baby aquatic turtles can be found in any pet store. Make sure they're specifically for babies, adult ones are too big. You should feed about 5-10 pellets a day, whatever he can eat in 5 minutes.

Protein should be fed at least 4-3 times a week and consists of both live and freeze dried foods. Baby turtles need extra protein to help them grow. Most pellets formulated for babies have extra protein, but adding more won't hurt as it's usually not enough. Feed things like feeder guppies and rosy reds, shrimp, blood worms, krill, wax worms, meal worms, earth worms, crickets, beef heart, and cooked chicken or beef

Then there's produce. This isn't an absolutely necessary thing in the diet, but it's good to have. As adults turtles' diet consists of mostly produce. It's good to start offering when they're young so they can develop a taste for it, this way they wont' reject it when they're older. Make sure all produce is fresh and clean, you don't want anything rotten or that has pesticides on it. Also, iceberg lettuce is something to stay away from. It has a high water content that can cause diarrhea and has absolutely no nutritional value. Good fruits and veggies are: dark lettuce, carrots, kale, mustard greens, collard greens, dandelion greens, cucumber, zucchini, squash, bell peppers, tomato, papaya, apple, banana, mango, melon, grapes, and berries

Just a reminder, a good turtle habitat should have: dechlorinated water deeper than the turtle is long, water heater, filter, rocks to get out of water, basking lamp, and a strip light. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me. Hope I could help!

Answer 6

if its green with a lil red on the sides of his head and was found by a lake pond or river, is probably a  map,yellow bellied,red earaed slideror painted turtle..'

some care tips , if you can't put it back with his family;;email if ya need more help,K. Good luck.

I have had 2 sliders for 36 yrs now plus a 7 yr old and a 5 yr old. This is how I have taken care of them for 36 yrs. Great pets.

I have had them in a stand alone 150gal pond from sears..for about 6 yrs now..

Here is some important and a lot of info. If he or she is small get feeder guppies or small feeder goldfish, frozen brown worms ..or live brown worms from a fish store. petco and or petsmart do not carry live worms..

Red-eared sliders, Gender especially juveniles, can be difficult to s*x. Gender in adults is determined by external physical characteristics and behavior. Males have longer fore claws (which are use in courtship), a longer tail length, a longer distance from the body to the vent opening, a tail that is thicker at the base and generally a smaller body size and shell length. Turtles are considered juveniles till after 5 yrs old.

Their Home

The minimum enclosure size for hatchling re-eared slider should be a 20-gallon aquarium minimum. As a general rule, the water depth should be at least 2 times the turtle's length, with several extra inches of air space between the surface of the water to the top edge of the tank to prevent escapes. So if your turtle is 4” around  he needs at least 10 to 12” of water to swim. For ONE 4 to 5 inch long sliders, the recommended minimum enclosure surface area is 50 gal plus tank with an extra square foot for each additional turtle.

What to Feed

In the wild, re-eared sliders eat both animal and plant sources of food. However, juveniles are mainly meat eaters but still love the greens.

In captivity, the diet for juveniles should consist  of a commercial aquatic turtle pellets and small feeders guppies or goldfish or minows. Hatchlings and juveniles should be fed on a daily basis. The diet can be supplemented with live fish of an appropriate size (guppies, goldfish), tubiflex worms and earthworms. Plant matter, in the form of  leafy greens or finely chapped mixed vegetables, can be offered once weekly but may not be readily accepted until they grow older.

Fill tank with approx 20 feeder guppies and or 10 to 15 small goldfish. you’ll know when to replenish the live food supply. just count what’s left and then fill it up again..Get a cuttle bone from the bird dept and drop in the water for added calcium. Hopefully they may eat it and that’s what you want.

For adults their of the diet may consist of some commercial turtle pellets. Plus 80% of their diet is fresh alive fish to catch in their water which also gives them exercise when trying to catch to eat. Adults should be fed greens , romaine, red leaf lettuce, mustard greens, dandelion, watercress, parsley. Swiss chard, shredded carrots, shredded squash, thawed frozen mixed vegetables and miscellaneous fruits. Adults can be fed every two to three days. NO iceberg or cabbage!!

Vital Statistics

Total Body length: 5-8" average, up to 12 inches max.

Life span: 15-25+ years

Males have the longer foreclaws..

Water quality and Filtration

Sliders are voracious feeders and tend to foul the water real quickly with their messy eating habits and frequent defecation. Therefore, a system needs to be in place for good water quality. Partial to full water changes can be performed. Many different filter systems are available ..

*** Health Problems

If you take proper care of your red-eared slider by providing excellent housing, nutrition, lighting, and heating, it is unlikely to ever become ill or injured. However, it’s still important to familiarize yourself with ailments common to sliders so that you can quickly identify them in your own slider, should it become ill. The following are some of the most common medical problems among red-eared sliders.

Fungus Infections

“Fungal infections are fairly common among red-eared sliders, especially younger ones. If you notice what looks like a light layer of cotton on your slider’s shell or eyes or in its mouth, this is most likely some form of fungal infection. Although their appearance can be alarming, most infections in their early stages are fully treatable at home. If a fungal infection remains untreated, however, it can spread across the entire body and cause serious harm to your turtle.

To treat a mild fungal infection, immerse your red-eared slider in a warm saltwater bath for about half an hour each day, using a soft sponge to gently scrub the infected regions. You can also treat patches of fungus with topical applications of a mild antiseptic, such as povidone-iodine. As long as the problem isn’t severe, you should notice signs of recovery within a day or two, and a full recovery in about 10–14 days.

If your turtle has a persistent fungal infection that home treatment isn’t curing, take it to the vet for treatment. Several medications are available that can address a fungal infection if it hasn’t spread too far.”

**Shell Rot.

First make a dry box to keep the turtle in, shell rot needs water to grow.

Keep it warm and give it plenty of light.

Scrub the shell gently with a toothbrush and water.

Let the turtle swim for about 20 minutes a day in something other than his pond..clean water.

1-2 times a day take a cotton ball apply Hydrogen Peroxide to it then to his shell. It'll start bubbling which means its cleaning it. it. DO NOT get it in his eyes.

Then clean the shell and apply providone-iodine solution to the shell, coat the shell and don't clean it off until he is ready to swim the next day.

** Keep this up for several weeks and it should go away. . MOST important !!! TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

Respiratory Infections

“Slider turtles and other aquatic species are susceptible to respiratory infections. Most respiratory infections that can affect sliders are mild and easily treatable in their early stages, but there are also some particularly virulent infections that can kill a turtle very quickly without veterinary attention. Sliders usually develop respiratory infections when their tank is too cold.

Symptoms of an infection include a runny nose, wheezing, lopsided swimming (an ailing lung changes the turtle’s buoyancy), lethargy, and a refusal to eat. If you identify the illness in its early stages, you may be able to treat it by removing the sick slider from its quarters into a new, clean tank (especially if you keep multiple sliders, since the majority of respiratory infections are contagious) and keeping it a few degrees warmer than normal. Warmth is the most crucial factor in treating respiratory infections in the home. If the condition persists for more than a few days or worsens, bring your slider to your veterinarian, who will treat the infection with antibiotics.”

Contact the “herpetologicalsocieties.com“.

Ps..I have arthritis in my hands, so I have  pasted my answer for you. I just try to help you the pet  owner as much as I can. I wish you  Luck.

Answer 7

Step 1: Get a positive ID on the turtle. Different kinds often eat different diets. Try the World of Turtles gallery at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com for good photos of several turtles.

Step 2: Use the care sheets and Basic Care articles at the above site to learn about feeding.

A typical diet for most baby water turtles (snappers, sliders, etc.) would be about 1/2 good, brand name pellets, and 1/2 live or frozen/thawed fish food, small size. Try blood worms, shrimp, krill, cooked chicken, beef heart, etc.

Note: If the turtle is wild-caught, please release it. For many reasons, wild-caught turtles make poor pets.

Answer 8

I raised a snapper from a baby and fed it Tetra Min turtle pellets (might have been called Reptile pellets).  It came in a small, green, cylindrical jar and had a picture of a swimming turtle on it it. Sold in the fish food section of the pet store with the other Tetra Min products.  The food is small, brown pellets and he'll eat 2-3 small pinches per feeding.  When he got big, he started to enjoy feeder goldfish now and then.  That was about when I decided to return him to the local reservoir.

Answer 9

sharks.

and lions.

raw.

Answer 10

Pellets high in protein and calcium because its a baby

and feed once or twice a day

Answer 11

dead flies. i had a baby snapping turtle once and we kept him in a tank and would kill flies daily and feed them to him. he loved them and loved for a very long time!

Answer 12

try feeding it small cricketts from the pet store or hand feed it potato, carrots, or veary small chunks of cooked chicken. DO not feed it anything bigger than the size of it's head or it could choke.