Feeding the Turtles
Feeding the turtles has been a challenge. I have tried a couple of different things with them so far but now they are pretty much set in the way that they eat. I feed the turtles Nutrafin Max Turtle Gammarus Pellets every other day. Myrtle likes to eat the pellets but Herbie is not a big fan of them. The first thing that I discovered from other websites is do not feed your turtles pellets in the tank. When the turtles eat they sometimes spit out of their food or then only bite half of the pellet and the other half floats to the bottom and then dirties the tank very quickly. I went to the store and bought a Rubbermaid container in which to feed the turtles. One other product that we have just recently added to the turtles diet are baby shrimp treats. They aid in digestion and add variety to the turtle's diet. We usually feed the turtles these when they are eating their pellets. After they are done eating the pellets I dump the water and they go back into their tank. This is one of the reasons why we were able to go so long without cleaning the tank.
In addition to the pellets we try and always have feeder fish swimming in the tank. The turtles are able to chase the fish around and eat them when they get hungry. Usually we buy about 36 fish every two weeks or sometimes sooner if the turtles are hungry. We always get the fish from Petco first because they are cheaper about 8 cents a piece and then Petsmart which runs about 12 cents. When the number of fish go down they are naturally harder for the turtles to catch because they have a lot more spots to hide. Sometimes Herbie is not able to catch fish so we will catch a couple for him and hold the fish with tweezers until he grabs them. Herbie knows that whenever he sees the green net it is time to eat.
I have read in some of the turtle books that they suggest giving your turtle fruit or vegetables. We have tried to give them lettuce and carrots but they do not seem to like it. The turtles like the diet of fish and pellets. If you have any other ideas for feeding the turtles or any other food tips that you think would be helpful please email me.
