Happy Turtles Pub

Feeding

Variety of diet

Turtles should not be fed only pellets! A proper diet for RES and similar species should have the following proportions:

Vegetables and water plants: 50%
Commercial foods: 25%
Live proteins: 25%

For veggies, don't feed iceberg lettuce as it has no nutrients. (Actually, why are you eating it? Go buy yourself some Romaine!) Also don't feed spinach or anything in the spinach family. The ratio of oxalic acid to calcium in these foods is too high for turtles. Good choices for food are dandelions (the ones in your yard are good if there's no pesticides), carrot tops, mustard greens, carrots, bell pepper, and squash. The best veggies are water plants like anacharis, water hyacinth, water lettuce, frogbit, hornwort, and duckweed. While expensive in a pet store, these are easy to grow in a separate tank or pond, and they are cheap if you buy in bulk online. For commercial food, look for something that has low protein and low fat. Dried shrimp are an absolute no-no! They are like candy to turtles. Tastes great, zero nutrients, and turtles who eat them may refuse other foods for weeks.

Stubborn Turtles

Baby turtles (under one year), will prefer protein to plant matter. Some turtles will continue to prefer live food and pellets even in adulthood. Don't give in! Think of your turtle like a 5 year old child. Sure, the kid WANTS to eat ice cream for dinner every night of the week, but you make him eat his salad anyway. Same deal with turtles. Turtles can go for two weeks without eating food, so don't give in to begging.