my RES won't eat either!

[pdrobber]

I just moved my guy into a larger tank with plants, heater, new basking spot...and he won't eat his reptomin pellets...he puts them in his mouth and spits them out, or looks like he's eating but spits it all out in pieces...but he's eating lettuce, and some chicken I gave him...any ideas why he won't eat his pellets? How can I get calcium in him? Can't really dust food since it'll just come off when it hits the water... should I try mazuri aquatic turtle food? could they have gone stale or something?

 

[tortoises101]

I don't think you have enough variety in your diet. Give them some dandelions as well. Those are high in nutrients and frequently recommended as a source of food for aquatics. Chicken is okay as a treat, and you could also dump some feeder fish in. Other good protein items are earthworms, blackworms, or even some raw salmon (you could also use smelt, but it may leave a thin oily layer on top of the water). Add some aquatic plants as well (I gave some ideas to you in the other thread) so your RES can graze if hungry. If the calcium keeps coming off, just soak the pellets, dust them, allow them to dry for 15 minutes, then feed it to your turtle.

 

[pdrobber]

thanks, I do feed more than just the lettuce, I was just referring to today. I put a few different types of aquatic plants in as well, we'll see how they do.