Anonymous

We Have A Red Ear Slider And He Does Not Eat His Fish He'd Rather Eat His Rocks Is This Normal?

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Jacquelyn Mathis Profile
I don't think that eating rocks is going to help him feel better, in fact, they'll make him sick. (You wouldn't feel too great with a bunch of rocks in your tummy).

They do make a flaked food for turtles, you pour that into their water daily. The like to eat vegetables, fruits, and greens as well, cut up into small bites so it's easier for them to eat, and not choke.

Set up a separate tub of water to keep the tank water cleaner at feeding time, place the turtle in that water to eat. They often go to the bathroom while eating, and if you put them in a separate tub at mealtime it can help to keep the cleaning down in the main tank.
Here's a list of foods that you can feed them;

FEEDER Items; live feeder fish, (guppies, goldfish, minnows), earthworms, crickets, waxworms, silkworms, aquatic snails, blood worms, daphnia, shrimp, krill, and mealworms.
LEAFY greens; collard, mustard and dandelion greens, kale, bok choy. Head (iceberg) lettuce should never be feed as it contains very little nutrition, but dark green leaf lettuces (e.g. romaine) can be fed sparingly.

AQUATIC plants; in an aquarium or pond you can add aquatic plants on which turtles usually love to snack. Submerged plants like anacharis are often eaten, as are water hyacinth, water lettuce, duckweed, azolla (fairy moss) and frog-bit.

OTHER vegetables; carrots (tops are fine too), squash and green beans.

A good reptile multivitamin with calcium and vitamin D3 should be mixed with the food a couple of times a week. Also, an excellent way to provide additional calcium is by putting a cuttlebone in the turtle tank. These are often available in the bird section, and they can be affixed to the tank or just floated in the water.I hope this helps, good luck.
thanked the writer.
Philip
Philip commented
My RES always used to eat rocks too. I don't know if that's normal or not, but she certainly likes her commercially available floating food.
We got rid of the small rocks at least 2 years ago, she still occasionally poops out a fluorescent pink rock!
I know that some animals intentionally eat pebbles et al to aid in mechanical digestion, perhaps turtles do too.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
I just got a red ear slider off of one of my friends, she has had him for 5 yrs. I have had him for two days and he will not eat the food that she has been giving him, what do I do?

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