Add vitamin/mineral power intended for reptiles into his food. But yeah, if you don't have any uvb, put one in. Turtles need it to process their vitamins.
Help with pig nose turtle
- Thread starter Sky14
- Start date
Is it only eating algae wafers? What brand? Are they the ones designed for fish?
It should really be getting a more balanced diet including turtle pellets (Mazuri, Zoo Med, Hikari, &c.), fruit, greens, earthworms, frozen/thawed fish, and so on and so forth. Basically something that mimics their natural diet (and the pellets to make sure they are getting everything needed). Algae wafers do not provide the proper nutrition, especially for a species that gets large like C. insculpta.
Here's some info on their wild diet, and a couple on captive diet (in no particular order):
-Link 1
-Link 2
-Link 3
-Link 4
-Link 5
It should really be getting a more balanced diet including turtle pellets (Mazuri, Zoo Med, Hikari, &c.), fruit, greens, earthworms, frozen/thawed fish, and so on and so forth. Basically something that mimics their natural diet (and the pellets to make sure they are getting everything needed). Algae wafers do not provide the proper nutrition, especially for a species that gets large like C. insculpta.
Here's some info on their wild diet, and a couple on captive diet (in no particular order):
-Link 1
-Link 2
-Link 3
-Link 4
-Link 5
My friend has been keeping FRT for several years, maybe longer, I forget exactly when he got it. It was approx 3" when he got it. It's as healthy as a horse, quite large, and thick. As healthy as any turtle that I have owned or seen. And my first turtles were back in the 1970's, so I have seen my share over the years.
My friends FRT has been fed an exclusive diet of quality pellets and wafers designed for fish, since it was a baby. He looks like he's a sassy 25 pounder now. I'm not sure what lighting he has used over that tank? He's rarely on here, but I'll see if I can wake him up.
RDFISHGUY
My friends FRT has been fed an exclusive diet of quality pellets and wafers designed for fish, since it was a baby. He looks like he's a sassy 25 pounder now. I'm not sure what lighting he has used over that tank? He's rarely on here, but I'll see if I can wake him up.
RDFISHGUY
Hey RD,
I think mine is about 7 yrs old. I adopted him off Kijiji and he had fuzzy patches all over. I treated him with eurythromicin, and I have never looked back. I have fed him various algae wafers and pellets throughout the time I’ve owned him. I have several tanks with different types of fish so he gets different pellets from time to time. I have given him cuttlebones too. Not too often as they make a mess but probably 3 times per year. Main diet is NLS and Northfin algae wafers.
I think mine is about 7 yrs old. I adopted him off Kijiji and he had fuzzy patches all over. I treated him with eurythromicin, and I have never looked back. I have fed him various algae wafers and pellets throughout the time I’ve owned him. I have several tanks with different types of fish so he gets different pellets from time to time. I have given him cuttlebones too. Not too often as they make a mess but probably 3 times per year. Main diet is NLS and Northfin algae wafers.
It seems that the repeated theme with these turtles is they are opportunistic omnivores, but are mainly herbivorous. So IMO feeding a quality pellet mix that is herbivorous based (aquatic based plant matter), will typically be far better than the lower quality/cost terrestrial based ingredients utilized in most pellets specifically designed for turtles. Also, quality pellets that are designed for fish, such as NLS and Northfin, are supplemented with vitamin B3, so IMO no need for buying a specialty UVB bulb when a quality diet is being fed.
