General Care Discussion :: she keeps pecking but keeps missing pellet

[Boston_Zhao]

one of my turts keeps pecking at the pellet, but miserably keeps missing the target, sometimes she keeps pecking, keeps missing, yet keeps chasing a pellet across the whole tank eventually she loses patience then quits. So each feeding she can only grab 2-3 pellets, while the other big guy can swallow 8-10 pellets, thats why she is much smaller than the male...
I dont think anything wrong with her eyesight, coz she can see a pellet 2 feet away, and swims right towards it.
then what is it? vervous system that cannot coordinate her muscle movement?

[flutterby]

Have you tried pointing to the pellet through the glass to help direct her? Their sight is kinda weird out of the water.

[camee1991]

Could be possible that you need to take her out and feed her in a smaller tank or bowl. Then she wouldnt have so far to chase the pellets and the bigger turt wouldnt be getting them all! The finger on the glass is a good one also...I have to do that with my Tobi also!
Good luck! Cam

[Muirner]

I use the finger trick with one of mine when she's looking for food and cant locate it. But when she cant grab the pellet like you describe, i submirge my finger just a tiny bit, and let the pellet (or what ever your feeding) rest against your finger. It will cling and thus the turtle will be able to grab it easier.

[BullDog]

I use the finger trick with one of mine when she's looking for food and cant locate it. But when she cant grab the pellet like you describe, i submirge my finger just a tiny bit, and let the pellet (or what ever your feeding) rest against your finger. It will cling and thus the turtle will be able to grab it easier.

And you might lose your finger xD
What if you "collect" all the pellets into a corner of the tank, that way, when she lunges for them, they have no where to go.

[Boston_Zhao]

she is only 1 1/4 inch long, I guess I can keep my finger, but even if I push the pellet to her mouth, she still pecks like crazy sometimes even flips herself in the water, but she just cant aim....
I don't worry about the big guy bullying her coz they go along with each other pretty well, like a family. Maybe I should put her in a small container, but I am worried she gets vervous and not eating at all......

[Muirner]

I use the finger trick with one of mine when she's looking for food and cant locate it. But when she cant grab the pellet like you describe, i submirge my finger just a tiny bit, and let the pellet (or what ever your feeding) rest against your finger. It will cling and thus the turtle will be able to grab it easier.

And you might lose your finger xD
What if you "collect" all the pellets into a corner of the tank, that way, when she lunges for them, they have no where to go.

my sweetys are only 1-1.5" long... They can nip at my finger all the want for now... later on... this may not be an option...

[marisa]

They can be somewhat nearsighted...

If the one is only getting a few pellets compared to the other one, it might be better to feed them separately...

[Boston_Zhao]

How do I feed her separately? I put her in a small container, then she retracted her limbs and head in the shell and freezed like a rock for quite a while until I felt heart broken and put her back into her home, failure

[steve]

Feed in the main tank and use the separate container to keep the other one away. I sometimes have to hold my RES under water so she can see it when she looks up. After 3 years... I still have to 'help' her sometimes

[Muirner]

Boston, one thing you want to make sure of is that the water your putting your baby into isnt cold, it should be the same temp as your tank..

[Boston_Zhao]

no about the same, I think she was just nervous....

[Muirner]

Understandably... Mine does the same thing, in the same temp water, she just locks up... dont know how else to describe it.