What To Feed A Pond Full Of Water Turtles

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
@Markw84

I used to go to the feed store and buy a 50lb bag of Purina Trout Chow, package it up in smaller containers and store it in the freezer. Last time I went to the feed store they no longer had that product, but we looked through their their catalog and found Mazuri pellets for carnivorous fish, which included trout, and I figured it was the trout chow of old. I haven't been able to find this product recently, but I did find Mazuri pellets for water turtles. Trouble is, it comes in this tiny bag that I would feed out in a day or so.

What manufactured diet do you feed and does it come in a 50lb bag?
 

Markw84

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
5,041
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento, CA (Central Valley)
I do buy from my local feed store and have them to where they will normally now stock the items I use. I sometimes do have to have them order it which takes a week, but they charge a bit less than Mazuri direct plus there is no shipping!

The old "chows" were all Purina products from Monkey chow to Trout Chow, etc, etc. Purina mills replaced all them with the Mazuri line - which actually has more variety now.

I feed a mixture of pellets - all Mazuri products. All come in 25 lb bags. Just like the Mazuri tortoise 5M21. (the Koi is 20 lb bags) Those are the large bags that feel like 50 lbs! 25 lb bags is what most all purina products have come in.

I use the aquatic turtle diet - 5M87. Has the higher protein levels and a good vitamin/mineral mix
I mix with Koi Platinum Nuggets - 5M80 I do have a lot of fish but I also like the added spirulina for color enhancement with the turtles too!
I also use LS Aquatic Carni-Blend Diet - 5E4S I use the 1mm for very young turtles and the 3mm in the pond. This is a sinking pellet and I first got it for my sturgeon as it is a great sturgeon food who need high protein and sinking. All the turtles really love it. (The feed store says they cannot get this so I order this directly from Mazuri.)

I mix the turtle and koi pellets together in a large sealed bin and feed just scattering across the water.

The sinking Carni-Blend I feed more sparingly and spot feed to areas I've got my sturgeon used to feeding and for my spotted colony and musk turtles who all like to scavenge the bottom. The spotted also top feed, but their habitat is my upper pond that flows into the lower, so the sinking pellets gives them more opportunity to feed while floating foods gradually get carried down stream into the lower pond.
 
Top