Red Ear Slider diet at 2.5 in long

[turtoise]

Hi guys!

Question! My slider that I have is always constantly coming to me as if he is asking for food. I had thought of feeding him everyday until he was 4 inches long. Usually I feed him about once a day. Am I wrong on this?

Is my turtle asking for interaction or is it really just hungry all the time?

I have an adequate setup with 2 bulbs (night and day time), a tank heater set to 78 degrees, a basking pad, gravel setup with a few rocks and a reptofilter in a 10 gallon tank. Is there something wrong?

 

[Yvonne G]

That's just the way RES are. They really know how to lay the guilt on you. He's not asking for interaction, he's begging for food because he's starving to death! Yeah, right!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I haven't kept any kind of water turtle as a pet in many years, but every summer I find myself rehabbing turtles that survived cars running over them, and I just keep live minnows in their tubs, so they can eat when they feel like it.

A little trout chow is good, too.

If there is a PetsMart (or similar pet shop) nearby, but a baitshop is not, you can buy feeder fish from them very cheaply...if feeding live food is a problem, freeze the fish and throw in a 1/2 dozen thawed ones daily.

 

[terryo]

It's so easy to over feed them, because they are always begging for food from anyone who passes by. I feed mine once a day. I have a little clip with a suction cup and I put a big piece of romaine lettuce in the clip and she will nibble on that during the day. Also I put a cuttle bone that she nibbles on. You could throw in some small guppies that are a little hard to catch, and it gives them something to do...chasing them around.

 

[flyinghome]

these sliders always try to eat more. I think it is their nature,anyway they have to look for food hard, so they eat as much as they can when possible.

I know from my friend that the amount you feed every day is depend on its size. you can give it every time one and a half times volume as its head.

Another friend of mine who has a slider 20cm long just feed it three or four times a year. every time, he put about 200g thawed small fishes in its tub. His slider has been growing healthly for more than 16 years in his home

 

[Kristina]

I let my turtles eat all the greens they could want, and give them enough protein daily that it would fit inside their head if it were hollow. That includes fish, pellets, worms, snails, etc.

 

[dmmj]

RES like to eat, and eat, and eat, and then eat some more, mine get fed once a day, but I also keep minnows in their for them to munch on if they catch them.