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I'm taking care of my friends slider while he is out of town (my friend, not the slider ). He put some feeder fish in the tank about a year ago, but they were never eaten, and now they are between 2 and 4 inches long (4 of them). The turtle has been eating pellets and such for about a year. Recently, however, the turtle started chasing and trying to eat the largest fish. Yesterday, he finally killed him. I've been feeding the turtle the pellets regularly since my friend has been gone.

Is it normal for them to stay away from live prey for so long then return?
What if he goes after the other fish?

I'm pretty sure the turtle is full grown.
My friend was kind of 'bummed' when I told him about it.

Turtles are opportunistic and the fish probably let his guard down. If he ate that fish, reduce the amount of pellets accordingly. He might still beg for food, but you can skip it.

ducarmont wrote:
Is it normal for them to stay away from live prey for so long then return?
What if he goes after the other fish?

I'm pretty sure the turtle is full grown.
My friend was kind of 'bummed' when I told him about it.

Yes, something similar happened when I was on vacation. My red ear slider ate a rosey red minnow that he had previously coexisted with for many months. I think that when the turtle senses a change in routine that their natural instincts take over and they remember that the fish that they ignored for a while is prey. Considering how long the fish had been in the tank and the fact that its buddy rosey red minnow is now rolling solo I was also a bit bummed.

Since that incident though I've added a couple more Buenos Aires Tetras to the tank, using the add-fish-while-the-turtle-is-eating method, and they've mostly been ignored by the turtle. Will probably add another rosey red minnow for the sake of the one in the tank now.