baby eastern box turtle won't eat

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mrerock

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I have had a baby box turtle for 3 weeks and i can't get it to eat... I have tried live food, lettuce, pellets and flowers but nothing even tried dog food what should i do?
 

Gerards

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mrerock said:
I have had a baby box turtle for 3 weeks and i can't get it to eat... I have tried live food, lettuce, pellets and flowers but nothing even tried dog food what should i do?

How do you have it setup?
 

Millerlite

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Yeah temps, humidity, ? Type of set up. Have you tried worms? Night crawlers were always a favorite or slugs
 

kimber_lee_314

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My babies will often not eat until I drop something very wiggly in front of them. Offer a small wiggly worm once a day until he eats it. Once he starts eating, you can switch them to some other foods. (I personally feed my babies the same food I feed my adults.) Good luck!
 

yagyujubei

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How old is this one? I have some that hatched three weeks ago, and they're just now starting to show a little interest in food, though I haven't actually seen any eat yet.
 

ajpena

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When I first got mine I'd put it in it's water dish for a few minutes and give it a little soak. Then I'd put it in it's feeding dish along with a couple of wiggly mealworms. Before you know it it started chowing down. Now it's chasing little crickets all over the place.
 

jtrux

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The one I had liked to eat in it's water dish. Would submerge it's whole head and everything.
 

Ann Thompson

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With our little guy we had to actually hold the small sized crickets down in front of it for a little bit and shake it some -- we used these feeding tongs. It took about two minutes and then he hit it but he dropped it a couple times where we had to pick it back up and show it to him again but he did eventually get a good hold and ate it. It is like they have to have a good look at it first and then they take aim and figure out how to best eat it. He knows what the crickets are now and goes after them on his own but we still use the feeding tongs to ensure he gets atleast a couple a day. He likes earth worms to but that is still wasteful as he tends to only eat a bit of worm and thats not good so I only do those once in a while until he gets bigger.

Not sure of the age of mine but he is about size of a 50 cent piece so still very young.

Best of luck with your little one.
 

diaboliqueturtle

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I use a separate container to feed my 3 toed hatchling. Easier to keep track of the critters as well as do a head count to know how many she actually ate. I also found out that it works better if I put the baby in and THEN drop the wrigglies in front of her. So far, except for pear, she only eats live food, she walked away from everything else I've offered her. She's still a baby, I know that's normal, I'm not worried about that part (yet ;-) )
 
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