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Post by turtlegirl on Jan 13, 2011 17:23:07 GMT
I adopted 2 male adult turtles just before Christmas. They did not eat at all for over a week at first but eventually had some dried prawns, which is what they used to be fed on. i'm getting worried as they are still poor eaters. They enjoyed sliced chicken once but apart from a few dried shrimp they still haven't eaten much the past 4 weeks. They won't eat pellets and show little interest in food.  All my other turtles eat like little piggies and love the pellets-how can I get these two to eat? Worried they may be suffering from malnutrition, they can't survive on just a few dried shrimp. |
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Post by wayne020668 on Jan 13, 2011 20:35:39 GMT
HI TURTLE GIRL.... try turning the water heat up to around 27c to 28c and offering some light foods to start with like fresh spinach leaves and weed, if these we're kept in bad conditions before you took them on with no heating or left outside they may well be still in hibernation mode so still dozy and not quite with it... the fact that they are taking foods although small amounts is a very good sign if you don't see an improvement in a week please ring me... still offer the foods as normal and keep them varied as well as the plants / weeds & spinach leaves please while they get used to the water temp change...
regards wayne...
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Post by turtlegirl on Jan 13, 2011 22:52:05 GMT
Thanks for the advice Wayne. They were kept indoors in a tank which I got wit them.The tank heater is covered in a 1cm layer of limescale (don'tknow why) an yesterday I noticed it wasn't working very well and the water was not very warm. I'll get them a new heater and also try them with duckweed and cabbage which my other turtles love.
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Post by wayne020668 on Jan 15, 2011 17:46:57 GMT
hi the heating is a major problem with these animals not eating, they'll still be dosile for around a week to 10 days after the heater is added but as long as their starting to nibble or feeding even just a little you'll see a differance after this time...
regards wayne.
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Post by turtlegirl on Jan 15, 2011 22:27:49 GMT
I've put the new guys in the warm main tank withthe other adult turtles. They seem to be getting on OK so far, no fights.Also fed them in the same crate as the others hoping they will be encouraged to eat when they see all the others eating.
What is the best temp normally for an adult turtle tank? Should tiny babies be kept warmer or the same temp?
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Post by turtlegirl on Jan 20, 2011 23:44:37 GMT
I am now doing 2 feeding sessions in my very warm feeding tank so I can make sure poor eaters are getting their fair share of food. The new guys go in first with Sheldon (who likes his food but get beaten to it by greedy girls and larger males). Girl turtles and Prince the false map eat when the first lot have finished. Takes ages now to feed them all but at least I know that every turtle is getting enough food every day.
New guys are now eating some dried shrimp but not enough.However yesterday and today I fed them ham and they gobbled it up instantly, ate a thin slice each. Guess they are just spoilt and only want to eat ham or chicken, not pellets and dried shrimp.
How do I get them to eat a balanced diet?
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Post by wayne020668 on Jan 21, 2011 18:25:07 GMT
hi turtle-girl... the secret is to offer them the right foods all the time weather they eat it or not a very good varied diet is the key here.. children would eat sweets all the time if you let them coz their spoilt... this is wrong and would cause problems later in life... the fact of these turtles will only eat ham & chicken is sign the last owner didn't really care about them... keep offering them the right foods as in your diet with the pellets and fresh greens fruit etc... sooner or later they will take it and be better for it with exercise in the coming summer months if you dare after last years great escapes... if it helps count the food items in and count them out again so you know what is getting eaten but be sure to offer them all the same diet... this can be made easy by either preparing all there foods in one bowl and splitting it between them or using a separate tank and feeding them one by one to see who's eating what... stick with it.. they'll love you for it but not at first... feeding should also only be offered once a day.. if you ate a big Sunday dinner then was offered another you would probably say no or pick at it the apply's to these, only offering one feed will give you a true indication of the foods eaten..
regards, Wayne...
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Post by turtlegirl on Jan 23, 2011 22:47:33 GMT
Thanks Wayne. I've taken your advice and the Tough Love approach may be working- dried shrimp and pellets every day, no ham even if they starve. I also put a large cabbage leaf in the tank every day. It disppears, eaten down to the stalk though I'm not sure who's eating it.
Today they finally tried pellets and even nibbled a small piece of dried fish. They are definitely more intersted in food. Doing two separate feeding sessions takes a long time but definitely worth it to make sure they are all eating.
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Post by soobooblue on Jan 24, 2011 21:13:55 GMT
I have been having the same problem with my two! They started getting ham as a treat and have decided that they don't want to eat anything else!  It has to be a bit of a "tough love" approach, but they are so cute  My two, a red eared slider and a map are going to have to bite the bullet and eat their regular food.  Will keep you posted on their progress  |
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Will keep you posted on their progress 