Feeding and Nutrition :: Do reptomin floating sticks go bad?

[ashipyor]

Some of the debris from the floating sticks tends to settle at the bottom of my tank even though I have a filter. I just saw my hatchling rummaging the botoom of the tank eating the leftover floating sticks! Can Tilly get sick from this?

[Daniel3507]

how much are you feeding? usually it takes awhile for them to sink so if they are in there for that long it could be you are overfeeding

[ashipyor]

My turtle struggles with them a bit, but he's eventually able to eat them. They don't sell the baby reptomin here. Tilly also only eats the sticks that she can hunt so if they're just sitting there they go untouched. So, I end up putting more in then probably needed and they eventually go to the bottom. Also, since it's a smaller tank I think the filter brings them down too. I've thought about feeding in a separate tank however I don't want to stress the hatchling out.

[TheComputerGremlin]

You can break the larger ReptoMin sticks in halves or thirds to feed as "baby" sized sticks. They sell feeding rings that float at the surface and you drop the food in there. That way, the food will only float inside the ring.

The bits on the bottom are likely a combination of leftover food and poo. It's okay that he's rummaging around. Every couple days, you can try swirling the water around to help get the bits into the filter.

[zoologist]

and yes, turtles eat their poop so don't freak out if you see your turtle eating its own poo.

general rule of thumb is to feed as much as would fit in a turtles head if it were hollow (not neck, just head) for a small hatchling thats only gonna be like 2-3 sticks max. break those down in half so the turtle can get them easier.