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What is a good way of telling if you turtle is overweight?
I was looking at a photo I took of Bowser basking and she seems a bit plump.
She can easily retract all limbs.





She is right at 4"

She does have that look that she is going on the little bit on plump side. The skin on the inside where legs retract into looks like its starting to bulge out at little. Thats a sign your turtle is getting a little over weight. I would cut back on the amount of pellets or protein souces you feed her.

When we first got her (about 7 weeks ago) we were feeding her twice per day.
We then changed to once per day, and now we've decreased the amount we're feeding her each day.
Eventually we will start feeding her every other day, but I'm not sure when.

We did measure out the various pellets and how much would fit into her head if hollow.
Some pellets/sticks are bigger than others, so we marked on each container a number to go by.
10 for Nutrafin, 6 for Reptomin, etc.
We also like to allow ourselves to each give her one pellet as a treat if she begs.
So if she begs in front of my mom, then she is allowed to give ONE pellet per day instead of however many like before. LOL
I've really had to explain to her that I'm not starving Bowser by only feeding a few pellets a day.

I was wondering, can turtles lose weight?
Say if you cut back on the food and they swim a lot, is it possible?

Oh yes absolutely the turtle will lose weight and lose the plump look, it doesn t take that long actually. Your turtle looks big enough already that it should be feed every other day. She above 4inches?

We do plan on changing to an every-other-day feeding schedule once she gets closer to 5 inches.
Last time I measured her she was right at 4 inches.

I just learned that McFurtle is fat! The container says to feed everyday and until they stop eating. She is now pooping out white / off white stuff that looks like tissue. Do I need to worry? I am now feeding her every other day and only the amount that will fit in her head.

Yeah your turtle a bit chubby at the legs. But not a big deal you can easily correct it with just the right diet and not allot of pellet food and more vegetables. I feed my RES pellets every other day you should try doing that or even every 2 days or so.

Older RES also might have a little flab around there.

@ lucindadevries - refer to the feeding guidelines here: www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html
What else is she eating?

oh your turtles cant burn fat, their cold-blooded

turtle man wrote:oh your turtles cant burn fat, their cold-blooded

I don't think them being cold blooded stops them from losing weight.....

someone in this site wrote that, I cant remember his name.
That doesnt mean they cant, LOSE fat that just means they cant burn calories, by exercising (dont put your turt on the treadmill).

Don't see why anyone would put their turtle on a treadmill haha.

They can burn calories. They're metabolisms, however, are very slow compared to warm-blooded creatures.