trying to convert my turtle to pellets

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syddakyd

syddakyd

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2008
1,356
30
51
NY
i have a very well behaved african sideneck turtle in my 125. he only really eats dead fish and shrimp. refuses pellets and freeze dried krill. i dont want to starve him because he may go after his fish tankmates then. (he dosen't bother with living fish at all which is great).

also...even if i do feed pellets..i would have to hand feed him like i do already since the fish are outgoing and get the food way before him. (i keep him with cichlids, loaches, catfish, barbs, knife)


is feeding shrimp/fish enough for a balanced diet? it's not like i can dust them if he has to eat in the water.

or how about if i feed him crickets /insects as well.
 
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Nice turtle.
All my turtles have always taken pellets.
I feed them alot of different things as well mealworms, frozen krill, crickets, romaine lettuce, plant matter from my planted tank.

I think the more varied you can make their diet the better. Hopefully you will eventually be able to slip him some pellets without him noticing. :)

I've found with any turtle I've seen that once they find out that something is food they will eat it. :)
 
I tried various turtle pellets with my painted, took the tetra brand stuff when it was little. Now, its about 8 months old and will only eat NLS pellets oddly enough. No problems with other frozen food items and such, but for pellets its NLS only. I have noticed better growth though, so its working out.
 
well sidenecks are pretty much carnivorous from what i read. i told my family that whenever they have scraps save them for me (parts of chicken and steak etc) to add something extra.

i work in a seafood resturant so i can get my hands on lots of stuff
 
First of congrats on the great setup, really looks good and will swit your turt just fine;) You only will need to do some redeco in case your turt is a female wich means sooner or later she may need to lay eggs wich are produced with or without a male. And yes you are rigth Pelomedusa sp is a mainly carnivorus species (however if someday she acepts some pellets give her from time to time vegetable based ones so to acomplish a complete diet) however foods scraps are big no-no:grinno: They will put your tutle obese in no time wich you absolutley want to avoid. As for the pellets in my opinion is really just a matter of time, this species is VERY voracious when healty and Ive seen resently wild cauts taking pellets straigh away. Try several of this foods: frozen fish food like mosquito larvar, daphnia,etc, silversides, various seafoods, shrimp, clams, raw lean meat like turkey, rabit, chicken(wich if shreded like say a burgger is very usefull to incorporate a complements like zoomeds reptivite;)) wolle small food fish like trout, minows,etc, insects like crickets, mealworms, grasshoppers,etc. Dont use feeder fish:) Oh and a turt the size of yours only needs to eat 3-4 times a week at most
 
thanks coura... i was feeding feeder goldfish that i would freeze first so they didn't introduce any disease to the fish that live. there. i am going to go to the lsf to get smelt.

do you know how to sex this type of turtle? red ear sliders i know sport long claws if male


i could probably stuff vitamins into fish that i feed him didnt think about it.


is it really ok to feed raw chicken? what about salmonella...can my fish get sick from it?

when i said scraps i was just meaning chicken parts and steak parts but cook them seperately so they aren't marinated or anything
 
Avoid fat and bonnes;) As for Salmonella, you can really cook the meat, but I find it unessesary, having been keeping many turts in my hobby years Ive never had a issue with it. This guys in the wild sometimes hunt in "packs" to take down small birds and thouse defenetly are raw and struggling:D
 
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