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FEEDING
In the wild sliders are mostly herbivorous but in captivity they can be trained to take any number of things.
But remember one thing, we humans are omnivorous, the length of our digestive system allow us to eat just about anything edible. Turtles were made by nature to be herbivorous, their digestive system is much simpler than ours, so don't assume that they can eat the same things you do. I'm sure you don't want to shorten your pet's life.
Sliders are not so receptive when a new food item is introduced, but you should keep trying as long as the item in question is beneficial for your pet.
Sliders will only eat when they are in the water.
Feeding
Schedule
Turtles eat during hours of activity on daylight; you should keep some sort of routine that is not only sensible to the turtles but also practical for you. Some prefer to give just one hearty meal per day; my preference is two times a day. The amount given will depend on the turtle's size.
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Commercial
Foods
The easiest feeding way is to give them canned food. They are quite reliable and they come enriched with the vitamins and minerals that your slider need.
The most popular are the Turtle Sticks or Pellets, designed to stay afloat until your turtle eagerly devours them.
Baby turtles in captivity would eat food sticks, but you'll have to chop the sticks in little pieces so they can fit in their tiny mouth.
You can also find in the stores some dried krill called "turtle treat" very well accepted between turtles. Dried mealworms are also good as a supplement but not as a staple food.
Commercial crickets are highly nutritional, but are difficult for younger turtles to eat it because of the size, and the cricket head is hard for them to crush. Some come dried with added vitamins, and other canned kind of juicy that you have to keep refrigerated or will stink up your house. Dispose of the head and legs and give the soft part to small turtles so they can eat it easily, and make sure that they see it because "juicy" cricket don't float.
Tubifex Worms, and Brine Shrimp come are made for fish but you can try giving small chunks to your turtle I'm sure She or He will appreciate it.
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Vegetables
Since they are mostly herbivorous it is a great delight for them to receive some veggies in their diet. But don't think that just because is green is good for your turtle; there are some plants that are poisonous for turtles. Here's a link you might want to check
You can give them lettuce, cabbage, carrots, beets, etc. And also some fruits like strawberry,
apple, peach, etc.
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Raw
Fish
Some sliders like to eat some small fish. Dead fish is easier for them to grab hold of. Buy any fish from the market cut it in manageable sizes and give it to your turtle. Avoid giving them fish that is too salty.
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Live
Foods
Some people like to give their pet some exercise giving them small fish, like goldfish or guppies that are inexpensive enough, so they can chase their food throughout the tank, and this is not a bad practice.
Other live foods that your pet would accept are earthworms (only as a supplement) crickets, and other insects.
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Vitamin
Supplements
Vitamins can be given to your pet as a supplement once a month in small quantities. Remember if you are feeding them with commercial food they already have most of the vitamins they need; there is always the danger of giving them too much vitamins
(hipervitaminosis) and cause liver and kidney problems.
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Personal
Experience |
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Schedule:
They
get fed 2 times a day. I bought an automatic feeder that
gives them a little appetizer, just in case I'm not
available during the feeding time.
Commercial:
Turtle
sticks are probably their preferred food they stay
afloat and are soft enough for small turtles to
"chew", I tried those rounded ones and they
are not so eagerly accepted because they seem to be
harder. The colored pellets made for turtles don't work
either because they sink easily. The krill turtle treat
is devoured in seconds by turtle and fish. Since I feed
fish and turtle at the same time they kind of share
their diet. I throw some chunks of tubifex worms or
brine shrimp in the tank, turtles would bite the bigger
portions spreading smaller pieces for the fish.
They
eat fish food flakes as a side order.
As
a secondary food they get some meal worms.
They
also accept the sea veggies flakes.
One
of my fish is a plecostomus, and I give him sinking
algae wafers, but if the turtles see when I feed the
plecostomus they would go crazy and steal the wafer, and
since the wafer is hard for them to bite whoever gets it
first would have to run away from the other turtles with
the "Frisbee" in the mouth until it finds a peaceful
place to eat it.
Dried
crickets are also accepted.
Vegetables:
The
floating ones are the easier, like lettuce, chard,
cabbage, strawberry, etc. I throw some english
peas into the tank, they sink but they are found and
eaten later.
Raw
fish:
I
haven't tried yet but they would accept it.
In my case they shared the tank with live fish since they were babies, so they won't eat them, unless, as it happened to me twice the little fish (neon tetra) would die and the deceased body would "disappear
magically".
Live
foods:
Very
once in a while they get some crickets or earth worms.
Vitamins:
Once
a month some vitamins
are added to their diet.
They
receive also some calcium once a week.
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