What are some good snacks to feed my turtles?

Question

I just recenty got two turtles and i've been feeding them turtle food, but are there any snacks or treats that i can feed them?

Thanks a bunch

Answer 1

something slow, that's for sure. No fast food.

Answer 2

I'm not srue what kind of turtles you have... I have red eared sliders...  They love love love boilded chicken!  I also have some shrimp flavored turtle treats that I bought at pet smart.  Here are some other ideas...

Greens and Vegetables For Pet Turtles

Vegetables have great offerings of calcium, vitamin k and a. As red eared sliders get older they should be offered more and more vegetables in their diet, 75% of its diet can be plant based. Here are suggested veggies and greens your pet turtle will like to eat:

These plants are beneficial and can be offered daily: dandelion leaves, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, turnip greens (the leaves only).

Other vegetables and greens can make up a moderate part of your pet turtle’s food: carrots, green bean, kale, celery, pumpkin, squash, sweet potato, and zucchini.

And a rare part of your turtle’s food: iceberg lettuce, mustard greens, red pepper, and tomato.

And these foods should be avoided as they can be harmful to your pet turtle: amaranth, beet greens, bok choi, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, celery, chives, mushrooms, parsley, peas, rhubarb, spinach.

Always at home in the water, a pet turtle is about the best pet you can have in my opinion!Feeding Live Prey to Your Pet Turtle

Red eared sliders love eating live prey. It can be a lot of fun for both owner and turtle, but this food doesn’t necessarily offer any nutritional benefits to your pet turtle and could harbor parasite or diseases. This section is best to make up a rare treat portions of your turtle’s diet.

This can introduce some interesting entertainment to your turtle tank, but should be kept to limited amounts. Be careful that what you offer won’t be difficult for your pet turtle to swallow. Also be aware of taking worms from a neighbor’s garden that may use herbicides, pesticides or chemicals.

Limited use live prey your pet turtle can eat include: apple snails, pond snails, guppies, red rose minnows, crickets, earthworms and silkworms.

Live prey you can feed your Red Slider turtle rarely: mosquito larvae, ghost shrimp, brine shrimp and waxworms.

Live prey not recommended for your pet turtle include: crayfish, goldfish, mealworms, slugs and tubifex worms.

Commercial Pet Turtle Treats (canned, processed, frozen)

Frozen foods are a fairly safe turtle food because they should be parasite free. They can be a good treat to entice your red eared slider to eat.

Moderate: bloodworms and crickets.

Use rarely: brine shrimp, feeder fish, gammarus (shrimp) and krill.

Frozen foods not recommended: mealworms, snails and tubifex worms.

So there you have a few ideas to keep your pet turtle happy through its stomach. Remember, feeding time is one of the most exciting times inside a turtle tank so a healthy variety will not only keep him healthy, but happy too. Follow these tips and your pet turtle will love you dearly for feeding him with an amphibian gourmet diet!

Answer 3

REALLY depends on what kind of turtles they are...Diets vary greatly among different types of turtles.

NO lettuce, EVER!

Answer 4

Mine loves kale, moneywort, anacharis, dried krill, baby shrimp, and little feeder guppies. I like to watch him catch the guppies, too.

Answer 5

It depends on the size. Small RES like live food: earthworms, fishes (avoid goldfish), and soft-bodied insects. Older ones may accept dark green leafy vegetables.

Answer 6

my baby turtle loves this:

http://www.petco.com/product/7769/Zoo-Me...

its filled with protein but only feed it a few times a week

Answer 7

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 8

Well really it depends on turtle type but most will eat feeder fish of krill. you could also ask a pet store employe  you give lettuce of other veggies but check before you feed them stuff.