Urgent Care :: CONSTANT APPETITE!

[SilverLovesRaph]

Hi! I hope someone can help... I have a turtle who's literally double the size of my other turtles even though their all the same age and were bought from the same pet store a month ago. Their only about a year old and this is my first time owning RES's. He usually steals food from the others except two who always follow him and the smallest who sometimes picks a smacking fight over food.(smallest is really shy though with other turtles and ppl.)Him and one of his followers' shells have turned a super light green color and always wait by the glass tank wall, whenever I walk by, 4 food. (Even if I just fed them.)
I feed them each 5 food pellets in the morning and night after breaking it up into 3rds or quarters. The store employees only showed my dad and I how to feed them and change the filter.

Are there any vitamin supplements I might need to give them or certain foods they must eat because they never eat any fruits I try to give them...
If any1 has advice pls respond!

[steve]

There are 2 problems here... out of control feeding and their size difference.

You really need to control the feeding. If you are keeping them together (more on that later), you can either take them out and use a feeding container for them, or take the larger one out and feed the others in their tank. If there are others feeding the turtles, you need to come up with a plan and stick to it. I like to suggest a pill box with food pre-sorted for a daily allowance. How many turtles do you have?

The size difference is now an issue. I guess they're still hatchlings, which is when they might grow quickly. Fortunately, hatchlings are usually not aggressive but if there is the slightest indication of it, you will need to separate them and try again once they are similar in size.

[SilverLovesRaph]

I have five turtles for now just to see how they get along and if my family can handle them. As I said in the first post I give each of them (or try to anyway) five broken up pellets each. Big Fatty, as I've re-nick-named him, does seem to be eating to many pellet pieces because his mouth is so big so he can gulp it down with one chomp. We have an automatic turtle feeder but sometimes when it feeds, other turtles are asleep and Big Fatty will just eat it all! When I feed though I make sure all of them are awake so we stopped using the automatic feeder.
They don't fight too much like only a slap, step on each other or shove but now I'm also worried because I've started to notice that they don't climb the back wall any more.
Is there any way to give them more exercise or is it normal?

[VeipaCray]

You have 5 RES?!?! Just to see if they can get along and if your family can handle them? What's your plan if they don't get along or if your family cannot handle them? How big is your setup?

[SilverLovesRaph]

OMG! I have friends who also own RES, btw we can handle them (just saying) and they only mainly compete against each other for food (isn't that natural? the cycle of life?) i just need advice! The 'setup' is plenty big enough! Next yr when they're full size they get their own tank... I'm just worried about Fatty and if it's natural for him to grow so big sooo fast.

[VeipaCray]

I'm just curious what you consider 'plenty big enough' for 5 turtles? What size tank are you planning buying each of them? I ask because I have no experience with multiple turtles...hoping to learn from you.

[steve]

No one is saying you can't care for 5 hatchlings, but in a year or two, they will be a handful. If you have any males in the mix, they will most likely have to be permanently separated (from females and each other) unless you have a huge pond for them. If they are all females, then you're looking at a 500 gallon setup for them regardless, unless they are kept in individual tanks.

These are based on guidelines for optimal captive RES habitats. But as VeipaCray suggests, you need a plan. A long time member liked to say that you want to your turtle to thrive, not just survive.

As for your other question, fast growth can lead to organ failure and cause shell deformities.

[SilverLovesRaph]

Do you have any ideas for how I can stop them from growing too fast?
As for how big the tank is it's about 1 1/2ft x 1 1/2ft x 2ft (or so). Also my family plans to move to a larger house so it's not impossible to make them a small pond and even if we don't move we already thought about when they get older how they can each get their own tank. It actually works well that way because I'll soon have 4 other siblings so we could each have 1 (separate)

[steve]

There is a section on the main site for feeding guidelines. There's also a sticky post where people post their turtle diets, it's a good place to get ideas of what people are doing.

[SilverLovesRaph]

ok thnx 4 the advice