Feeding and Nutrition :: flavored cuttlebone? (and diet questions)

[kikicool]

I was just looking on ebay for cuttlebone. Seems it comes in lots of flavors: banana, hibiscus... are these not recommended? Should I get natural? Also, how often do I put it in? I understand I just throw a little cube in and he'll nibble away over a few days. Is this correct?

I think the diet is the hardest thing for me to get good at! It would be REALLY helpful if someone could post what they feed their turtle for the week. For example, I give him veggies each day--carrots, cukes, sometimes strawberry. Now I have aquatic plants in there, and just stuck a leaf of romaine in.

I give him SOME pellets each day. Every other day, I give him as much as the size of his head. But on the other days, I throw in about 4 sticks just to entice him up to the veggies.

Is this okay? Is live prey/raw meat mandatory? Thanks!!

[flutterby]

I would stick to the regular plain cuttlebone because the flavored varities are made for birds.

I never gave my turtles anything like carrots/strawberries only romaine lettuce and radiccio. If you leave the greens to float for a while eventually they'll get the "hint" without you having to bribe them with pellets.

I wouldn't say live prey is manditory, but sometimes feeder fish gives the turtle some exercise and makes them have to work for their food a little bit. Its ok for a snack every now and again.

[jenaero]

Raw meat is never acceptable. Live prey is fine depending what/how often you're feeding. I had a list a while back posted on here for what I feed my res but I can't find it so here goes...

Sunday - red leaf or romaine lettuce or anacharis or dandelion greens

Monday - 1 earthworm each

Tuesday - red leaf or romaine lettuce or anacharis or dandelion greens

Wednesday - 3 freeze dried crickets each

Thursday - red leaf or romaine lettuce or anacharis or dandelion greens

Friday - pellets

Saturday - red leaf or romaine lettuce or anacharis or dandelion greens

Every couple weeks I'll give them red pepper, raspberries, carrots, canteloup, or whatever else I've got on hand.

Feeder fish roughly once a month.

That's all I can think of right now.

[CountryGirl68]

Here's an example of Tanner's feeding schedule:

Monday: pellets and a little bit of romaine lettuce
Tuesday: lettuce and cuttlebone (tried carrots, cucumber - he ignored them totally)
Wednesday: pellets and little romaine
Thursday: lettuce and small mealworm
Friday: pellets and a snack (Aquatic Turtle bites)
Saturday: lettuce, a small piece of tomato (minus the skin & seeds) and cuttlebone

I rotate his feeding this way. The pellets are carefully measured so as not to overfeed. So far so good; it's only been 2 1/2 weeks though. I plan on trying pumpkin and squash in place of the lettuce on certain days just to give him a variety.

[marisa]

I've read that some people have had success with banana-flavored cuttlebone, but I've only given my turts the regular/unflavored kind. You can always dip it in something like tuna juice to give it a scent if they keep ignoring it. Smaller (no bigger than head-size), thinnish pieces are preferred by my turtles. I keep a few floating in the tank and replace them as they're eaten (most of my turtles don't eat the pieces all at once).

[Shavannah]

Here's my list for Gandalf: (3 yrs old-5")
Sunday: leaf of Romaine lettuce
Monday: leaf of Kale and 6 pellets
Tuesday: leaf of Romaine and thin carrot slice
Wednesday: leaf of Greens (Collard or Mustard)
Thursday: leaf of Romaine and 6 pellets
Friday: leaf of Kale
Saturday: leaf of Romaine and thin carrot slice or small piece of squash, peeled (different varities) and a few pellets

Cuttlebone replaced as eaten, and Rosy Red Minnows occasionally(1or2)

Once a month I spoil him with a Bonus Day:
He gets a little bit of everything, a very little bit, plus a small piece of fruit like apple, pear, peach, watermelon, strawberry, etc., but only after he eats his greens! lol

[Turtle addict]

Here's my feeding :

Sunday- morning greens, afternoon pellets
Monday- Morning greens, afternoon meat
Tuesday-Morning greens, afternoon Pellets
Wensday-Morning greens, afternoon Fruit
Thursday-Morning greens, afternoon Pellets
Friday -Morning greens, afternoon veggies
Saturday- Morning Greens, afternoon pellets

Greens -are a mix of baby lettuces,romaine, red leaf, green leaf, collards, herb leaves and once a month I add a small amount of spinach
Pellets are two mazuri balls for babies under 4 inches and the big ones in the pond get 1/2 cup sprinkled in the water.
Meat is a chopped mix of boiled chicken, crab, shrimp, mollusks, squid, and white fish, babies get a tiny amount, and the pond babies get 1/2 cup spread out in the water.
Fruit is a mix of apple, banana, grapes, pear, melon whatever I can find...cut into matchstick size peices, grapes are peeled and cut into baby turtle small peices. Babies get one or two of something, the bigger ones get about 1/4 cup spread out.
Veggies are carrot, corn, peas, lima beans, green beans, done the same as the fruit.

That's water turt diet, the tort's and the wood get the greens with mazuri tort pellets on top, the wood also gets box turtle pellets, and the tort's get hays and grass mixed in with their greens but no fruit or meat. I buy worms once every other week and the woodie gets most of them, the musk likes them also and gets a few. Snails and feeder fish are done once a month each and those that will eat them get them.

[kikicool]

This is all great--thanks! One more question, regarding the greens: I've been putting a large leaf of romaine in his tank each day, and just letting it float until evening, when I turn the lights off. Is this bad? Also, someone mentioned feeding theirs anachris ... again, I just have this in the tank. I've not seen him eat it, but it does "come out" so I'm assuming he does. Am I only supposed to give him a certain amount of time with the veggies?

Thank you all for helping. I'm going to print these out and see which works best for him oh, and um...me, I guess.

[kikicool]

One more thing--I"ve totally been cutting veggies (cukes, carrots) into CUBES! I wonder if I wouldn't have more luck with the strips, as mentioned here. Thanks for THAT tip, too!

[jenaero]

I put a leaf or two in first thing in the morning and remove it at the end of the day if there's any left (there never is now).

For the cucumbers, I just slice them very thin so they can rip them apart. Same with the carrots. Btw, don't over-do it with the carrots. Maybe once every 2 weeks or every month. They're high in sugar.

[Shavannah]

Thanks for the info on the carrots, Jen. I wasn't aware of the sugar content; no wonder they are Gandalf's fav! I'll be weaning him off of those now, down to your recommended 2-4 weeks.
Is squash ok for 2-3 times a week? Or are they high in sugar too?

[marisa]

I don't think that squash has the sugar content of carrots or red peppers. Carrots are also fairly high in oxalic acid (can inhibit absorption of calcium if overdone)---another reason not to offer them really frequently. I do offer carrot peels about weekly (not a lot of them), and have never had any problems doing so.

[Shavannah]

Thanks marisa, for the info!

[BullDog]

Wow! You guys are on pretty strict sceduals for feeding! Mine is something like this:

Monday: pellets + cuttle bone + lettuce (red, green, or romane, whichever I have), cuttle bone + lettuce replaced through the week as needed
Tuesday: various veggies that are around the house (squash, zuchinni, pepper, cuke, etc)
Wednesday: Pellets
Thurday: (or any day of the week, for that matter) Crud! It's 10:00 pm and I haven't fed him, and I've got a bunch of assignments due tommorow! *throws in a few pellets and a piece of lettuce*
Friday: Veggies (I try not to repeat tuesday's veg)
Saturday: Pellets
Sunday: I've run out of intresting ideas for vegies, and after looking in the fridge for half an hour, I give up and give him the same things as friday/tuesday

Repeat. ^__^

Then once every 2 weeks-once a month, I'll give him one of my recooperated aquatic plants (usually the eel grass, his fav.) and a bite of fruit (strawberry, apple, pear, banana...)

I also used to cut all his vegies in cubes, but now I've learned he really does prefer it in strips... He'll usually rip a piece off and "hold" the other piece in those daggers called nails while eating...