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How often should i feed my baby sulcata tortoise


Blog on Sulcata Tortoise Hatchling and Mediterranean Tortoises

5/26/2017

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African Tortoises Have Very Special Needs

The African Spurred known as a sulcata is a herbivorous tortoise, thus a high fiber intake of grasses, hay, weeds or roughage should form the bulk of its diet. Wild tortoise feces are generally well compacted, well formed, and very high in varied grass content. In captivity a variety of vegetables and some fruit can be offered. Although sulcata  will eat animal protein, it should be avoided as it will cause carapace deformity. It should be noted that excessive quantities of beans, bean sprouts, peas and similar rich protein rich vegetables can lead to scute pyramiding. An overall high protein diet will cause rapid growth, kidney failure and a shortened life span. Other cautions are excessive goitrogenic vegetables such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale and varieties of cabbage which can lead to goiter and hypothyroidism. Feeding too many greens high in calcium oxalate such as parsley, spinach, collards and carrots can bind calcium which could lead to disfiguring and deadly metabolic bone disease (pictured at the end).
 
The mixed green-leaf vegetable base should comprise > 90% of the dietwhich includes course mixed grasses such as grass hay (lower in protein), sow thistle, clover, dandelion, edible flowers, dark green lettuce such as romaine, (no iceberg), escarole, endive, chard, squash, pumpkin, corn, and turnip greens. Cactus paddles are great as are prickly pears (the fruit).
 
A lack of dietary fiber or roughage will lead to diarrhea as will feeding fruit which should be avoided. Cucumber, zucchini, red and green sweet peppers may also be included. Try to provide a wide range of suitable foods as possible, avoiding too much of the right type or staple food as tortoises can become addicted. To summarize, the ideal diet for herbivorous tortoises should be:
 
Water should be available at all times either in clay saucers or metal backing pans.
For the first year sulcatas should be fed daily,thereafter 3 times weekly.Remembering this tortoise comes from the sub-Sahara where habitat is semi-desert and where food is not always plentiful. Overfeeding these enormous eaters in captivity will cause problems.
 
Health
A healthy tortoise will have good weight, muscular vigor, and a good withdrawal response when a hind limb is gently pulled. The eyes should be wide open when awake, slightly rounded cheeks, and a bilaterally symmetrical head. The vent area or cloaca at the base of the tail should be flush, not swollen or crusty and without smears of watery feces. If a tortoise appears healthy but has watery feces it could be a sign of a parasitic disease and should be checked and treated. A nasal discharge and watery eyes may be a sign of a respiratory infection. Gaping and forced exhalation are common symptoms of pneumonia. Such cases require antibiotic therapy, warmer temperatures and possible hand feeding in the case of lethargic or anorexic animals.
 
Breeding
Don’t!!!!!!!  We do not recommend breeding as there is an enormous number of sulcatas for adoption.  Sulcatas are prolific breeders in captivity with males reaching sexual maturity at about 14 inches (35 cm.). Aggressive behavior may take place with repeated ramming by the males sometimes ending up in bloody limbs and heads. In southern California breeding usually occurs during hot days and months of the year with egg-laying occurring during the following late winter or spring. 
This is a good time to say stick with one sulcata – they fight, breed and overall destroy the environment as they get bigger.  One is enough and they won’t get lonely.  Trust us.
 
Hatchlings
Hatchlings measure approximately 45-50 mm long, weigh between 25-30 grams, and are a uniform pale yellow-ivory color. However, much darker examples may be encountered. The scutes have narrow brown borders with a serrated periphery of the carapace. When housing hatchlings, the enclosure must have a warm side and a cool side for thermoregulation with a provision for UVB producing fluorescent lights. Temperatures are much the same as explained earlier or slightly on the warmer side. Growing tortoises, when not provided with enough heat and fed excessive calcium, vitamin D3, and or protein, may develop deformed shells. This disproportionate growth may be linked to protein availability in relation to calciumandD3, but temperature is now considered a critical factor in this syndrome.
 
Offering a balanced diet and providing a heat source are main factors for successfully raising healthy tortoises. Diet is similar to that of adults. Chop the food into bite-size pieces, approximately the size of the head.
 
Clean water should be made available at all times. Young individualsshouldbe soaked at least once a week for 15 minutes in a shallow bath of warm water to prevent dehydration.  This will also encourage the elimination of waste products.
 
Sulcatas come from some of the Sahel, the hottest, driest area in Africa. Some regions may not get rain for years. To make the most of available moisture, their skin is resistant to fluid loss but, when exposed to moisture, may become highly permeable. Towards this end, they will excavate pallets or burrows in the ground to get to areas with higher moisture levels; in the wild, they may spend the hottest part of the day in these microhabitats. Burrows may average 30 inches in depth; some dig tunnel systems extending 10 feet or more underground. Sulcatas are, like most turtles and tortoises native to dry areas, extremely efficient in their use of water. A sulcata may urinate just 0.64 ml a day, significantly less than their spur-thighed cousins living in the relatively lush Mediterranean countries who may urinate 1-2 ml a day. A danger, then, in captivity is that too much water may be given or made accessible which may lead to health problems including skin and shell infections and kidney problems.
 
In captivity, a similarly hot and dry environment must be provided year round. Unlike the California desert tortoises, the sulcatas do not hibernate. While they can tolerate some surprisingly low temperatures, they cannot be allowed to get both chilled and wet or kept outdoors in chill, damp weather.
 
Housing
Daytime temperatures during much of the year should range from 85-105 F (29-40 C) during the day. At night, temperatures can drop into the 70s F (21-26 C) in their enclosure. They must be dry. Provisions must be made to house them safely during rainy weather and in places where the nights are cold and/or damp.
 
Outdoors
Sulcatas can be housed outdoors only if they are provided dry, heated housing into which they will retire at night and during inclement weather. If they will not come out and go in on their own, they will have to be directed or physically moved. (Note that while this may not be a problem when the tortoises weigh less than 25 pounds or so, it can become quite problematic when they weigh 90 pounds or more. ) In sufficiently dry areas that are protected from predators and humans, sulcatas may be kept outdoors at night as well, with living in-ground trees and shrubs providing the shelter over their pallets they require. We recommend that fencing surrounding the compound be solid – several layers of concrete blocks do the trick: if the sulcatas can see through it, they will try to plow through or burrow under it.
 
A dog house or one you build yourself (see picture below) make suitable houses for sulcatas. They must be raised up off the ground and must be supplied with heat during colder weather. A wide ramp must be constructed for them to move easily in and out. Make a wood door that slides off to cover the opening. It will also help insulate the house by reducing heat loss. During the winter months, we use radiant heat panels screwed into the roof as overhead heat suspended from the ceiling of the house and safely out of reach of the tortoise. One or more Kane heat pads or pig blankets - rigid heating pads made for pigs to lie upon - can be used inside on the floor. Both of these heating elements can be purchased from www.beanfarm.com.  Neither heat lamps or ceramic lamps should ever be used as they cause fires easily and since this happens frequently, we insist that you never consider them.
 
A shallow water bowl – we use a large aluminum baking pan from a kitchen store - , with sides low enough for the tortoise to reach into, should be available at all times if there is no wallow available. Tortoises do not swim, they sink. You need to make sure they can easily access the water but that it is not any deeper than the tortoise's bridge, the section of shell that joins the carapace (top shell) and plastron (bottom shell). A bowl or flowerpot saucer (plastic or glazed ceramic) may be fine for a larger tortoise; it may need to be sunk slightly into the substrate for smaller tortoises. Be prepared to refresh daily and clean frequently.
 
A note on predators and other harmful species
Animals such as raccoons or coyotes may prey upon sleeping tortoises. Dogs may harm tortoises just by being inquisitive or playful...small tortoises look, smell and taste too enticing to not be a chew toy! Tortoises kept in front and easily accessible side yards are enticing to unscrupulous members of a two legged species: many tortoises have been spirited out of their yards by humans. Make sure all fencing is secure, both to prevent the tortoise from barging through it or digging under it, and to prevent unwanted visitors from coming in or accidentally letting them out.   We use electric fencing throughout the rescue.
 
Indoors
Given the tremendous amount of room these tortoises need to roam, maintaining them inside year round is not advised. Temporary indoor housing, as for hatchlings (see section on hatchlings below), sick individuals or during inclement weather, can be set up. Such indoor housing must include both basking and cooler retreat areas, and a den box or trash can on its side in which to burrow. An area for feeding and a shallow water dish must also be provided. Ultraviolet B lighting must be provided as well as suitable temperature ranges during both the day (80 F (27 C) with a basking area (100 F (39C)) and turn off all lights at night but keep temps at (72 F (22 C)).
 
Behavior
Sulcatas like to move around and are very strong -- they must have a large area in which to freely and widely roam. Sulcatas also need to burrow away from the heat and do so by retreating to their pallets or into muddy wallows where they will stay for hours, flipping cool mud up onto their backs. When temperatures exceed 104 F (40 C), they will begin to salivate heavily, smearing the saliva on their forearms to help cool themselves down.
 
Whether housed indoors or out, Sulcatas roam about and are voracious eaters. Like many tortoises, they are also climbers. Care must be taken to assure they are not given the opportunity to climb things that are too steep resulting in their toppling over. If they flip onto their backs and are not able to right themselves, they may die of hyperthermia if they do it during the hottest part of the day. They may also choke or drown on their own vomit if they panic. They may lose precious water by voiding urates and thus become seriously dehydrated. Suffocation is also a possibility if they are left upside down too long as their lungs, which are near the top of their carapace, are compressed by the weight of their internal organs.
 
Keep dangerous objects out of their area. Steps, dogs, raccoons and children are among some of the dangers that must be guarded against. So too human and animal hair, pesticides and herbicides, small plastic, glass and metal toys, and toxic plants. Sulcatas are voracious, if not always smart, eaters and will ingest anything small enough and colorful enough. That includes painted toenails.
 
Provide variety and security.  Provide a cluster of sturdy, low growing plants they can crowd in amongst. Provide an interesting terrain by leaving (or building) some low hummocks, smooth rocks, pieces of wood, clumps of weeds and edible plants.
 
Below is the house we built for our sulcatas.  It is fireproof and almost indestructible.  We built a cinderblock and rebar house with a removable roof for cleaning and a removable door for closing as well as a wind barrier.  The roof has a radiant heat panel screwed into the underside for heat from above and the floor is made up of pig blankets (made for pigs so they can take the weight) called Kane heat pads – both are available from www.beanfarm.com. Never use any lights – they cause fires.  Never cover the pig blankets with any substrate or hay.
 
Check out this Buzzfeed article – https://www.buzzfeed.com/catferguson/a-reptile-dysfunction?utm_term=.wlK66wDRwr#.vr800DxaDG – tells it like it is.
About Us
American Tortoise Rescue is a nonprofit founded in 1990 for the protection of all species of turtles and tortoises. We have rescued more than 4,000 since our inception. Foundlings that cannot be adopted because of ill health remain in the care of ATR for the remainder of their lives. Celebrate World Turtle Day every year on May 23rd!
 
Contactsamerican tortoise rescue, 30745 PCH, #243 Malibu, CA 90265
http://www.tortoise.com [email protected] www.worldturtleday.org
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Baby Tortoise Diet & Feeding Guide For Beginners – The Turtle Hub

Have you just bought a baby tortoise? Congratulations and welcome to the club. I know as a loving owner, you will do everything to ensure healthy growth for your pet. Do you know what is more important for a baby tortoise besides a proper habitat? Yes, food.

Each tortoise species has its own preferences when it comes to the diet. Generally, the baby tortoises are herbivorous and eat green leafy vegetables. Food supplements along with natural growing vegetables make the perfect diet for your pet tortoise.

What do baby tortoises eat? How often should you feed them? I know you have more questions like these on your mind. Follow this article to get the complete baby tortoise diet guide for beginners.

What Does A Baby Tortoise Eat?

The baby tortoises have a different appetite than the adult ones. They prefer munching on the leafy vegetables, plant leaves, stems, flowers with occasional fruit treats.

In general, a baby tortoise’s diet can contain the following items,

  1. Safe plant stems, leaves, or flowers
  2. Grasses and hays
  3. Leafy green vegetables
  4. Fruits
  5. Supplements

In each meal for the baby tortoise, you should give priority to the greens. The fruits should be an occasional treat for the babies.

Here is a list of safe plants and weeds for your baby tortoise diet:

  1. Aloe vera
  2. Bindweed
  3. Bramble (Tender leaf, fruits, shoots)
  4. Boston fern
  5. Cactus
  6. Chickweed
  7. Dandelion (Stem, leaf, flower)
  8. Greater plantain
  9. Hebe
  10. Henbit 
  11. Honeysuckle
  12. Milk thistle
  13. Mallows
  14. Pricky sow thistle
  15. Ribgrass plantain
  16. Red clover (Stem, leaf, flower)
  17. Red dead nettle
  18. Smooth sow thistle (Stem, leaf, flower)
  19. Smooth hawks bread (Leaf, flower)
  20. Vetches
  21. White clover (Stem, leaf, flower)
  22. White dead nettle
  23. Young hedge mustard plant

Tortoises are land dwellers and graze on the grasslands. Experts suggest that eating grasses or hays have benefits for the baby tortoises. The grasses can provide the little creatures with nutrition and fiber.

Here are some safe grass options for your baby tortoise:

  1. Ryegrass
  2. Pampas grass
  3. Couch grass
  4. Alfalfa 
  5. Cat grass
  6. Bermuda grass
  7. Oat grass
  8. Wheatgrass
  9. Kentucky bluegrass
  10. Fescue grass
  11. Barley grass
  12. Timothy grass
  13. Fountain grass
  14. Orchardgrass

https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=IJIVKgA4VHkVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Baby tortoises daily routine | happytortoises (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJIVKgA4VHk)

Selected vegetable list for your baby tortoise:

  1. Kale
  2. Pumpkin
  3. Collard greens
  4. Cucumber
  5. Broccoli
  6. Cabbage
  7. Spinach
  8. Romaine lettuce
  9. Chicory
  10. Endive
  11. Fennel
  12. Arugula 
  13. Turnip greens
  14. Carrot
  15. Radicchio
  16. Cauliflower
  17. Escarole
  18. Squash
  19. Grape leaf
  20. Parsnip 
  21. Sweet potato
  22. Bell pepper
  23. Tomato
  24. Mesclun lettuce
  25. Red leaf lettuce
  26. Oakleaf
  27. Spring mix lettuce
  28. Watercress 

Need To Talk With A Turtle Vet Right Now?

Ask a question, get an answer ASAP!

Fruits options for your baby tortoise:

  1. Grape
  2. Pear 
  3. Blackberries
  4. Mulberry
  5. Raspberry
  6. Strawberry
  7. Apple
  8. Melon
  9. Pear
  10. Kiwi
  11. Apricot
  12. Plum
  13. Orange
  14. Banana 

It is better to keep your baby tortoise on natural food items instead of canned ones. In the wild, the species graze around and feed on the weeds, stems, and vegetables. However, make sure any item you purchase for the little tortoise must be pesticide-free and non-toxic. 

Some tortoise owners prefer feeding commercial foods or pellets to baby tortoises. In a sense, it is okay if you do not have an idea about the greens and grasses.

From the above list, which items should you add to your baby tortoise’s diet? It totally depends on the species of the tortoise. Hence, identify the baby before preparing the meal plant for it.

The Best Place To Buy Pet Tortoise!

Are you planning to get a pet tortoise? Or want to have in the future?

Today, I am going to introduce you with XYZReptiles.com, the store that sells their pet animals with LIVE ARRIVAL GUARANTEE. Here are the perks of getting tortoises from XYZReptiles:

  • You’ll get a 100% Live Arrival Guarantee on all of their animals.
  • They also guarantee the sex of the animal to match what they stated at the time of purchasing.
  • The tortoises are in perfect size for getting into their new home! Not too large or a baby either!
  • If you can’t pay the full price, no worries! You can make the payment in 4 interest-free parts with PayPal!

Check out their large tortoise collection here!

What Can Baby Sulcata Tortoise Eat?

The eating habit of a baby Sulcata tortoise is similar to most other species. The diet consists of greens and vegetables, grasses and hays, and fruits. To cover up the lackings of any minerals or vitamins, you need to add pellets, multivitamins, cuttlebones, or supplements to the meal chart of the baby Sulcata tortoise.

Here is a food chart for a baby Sulcata tortoise:

Safe Grasses For Sulcata TortoiseSafe Weeds For Sulcata TortoiseSafe Green Vegetables For Sulcata TortoiseSafe Fruits For Sulcata Tortoise
Alfalfa Ryegrass Bermuda grass Oat grass Barley grass Wheatgrass Kentucky bluegrass Fescue grass Timothy grass Orchardgrass  Chickweed Dandelion Nettle Clover Milk thistle Mallow Pricky sow thistle Smooth sow thistle Henbit Honeysuckle Greater plantain Ribgrass plantain  Kale Spring mix lettuce Romaine lettuce Red leaf lettuce Arugula Pumpkin Broccoli Grape leaf Oakleaf Mesclun lettuce Radicchio Watercress Endive Chicory Fennel Escarole  Pears Banana Strawberry Apple Melon

Besides these items, you can choose any food from the diet lists given in the previous subsection.

You can include commercial pellets in your baby Sulcata tortoise diet chart. But make sure you are not overfeeding the turtle with cuttlebones or pellets. Adding the supplements twice or thrice a week is enough for these little buddies.

Also, do not add fruits to the everyday meal of the baby Sulcata tortoise. A Fruit treat every once or twice a month will bring a variety in the meals for the tortoise.

Do you know a Sulcata tortoise can live up to 150 years? Providing a balanced diet from the beginning will surely help your baby pet live to its fullest. Check out what other factors affect a baby Sulcata tortoise’s lifespan from this article.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD9MiuC6zwMVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Baby Sulcata Introduction | Sulcata Diet and Enclosure Care & Tips (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD9MiuC6zwM)

Foods To Avoid Feeding A Baby Tortoise

Baby tortoises are always sensitive. You have to properly plan through their meals so that they get the required nutrition.

The most common mistake here is that many owners do not have any idea about the forbidden food list of the baby tortoises. The myth here is, a tortoise would consume anything.

But that is not the truth. If you feed anything outside the baby tortoise’s comfort zone, the pet will have an upset stomach. In the case of toxic plants, the babies might choke and fall severely ill.

To stay aware, take a quick look at the foods given below and never enlist them in your baby tortoise’s diet:

  • Meat
  • Frozen vegetables
  • Dairy products
  • Candies and sweets
  • Sodium rich foods
  • Bread
  • Celery
  • Junk foods
  • Avocado
  • Juniper
  • Ivy
  • Asparagus fern
  • Iris
  • Calla lily
  • Daffodil
  • Amaryllis
  • Holly
  • Azalea
  • Ficus
  • Buttercup
  • Poinsettia
  • Primrose
  • Boxwood

You can click right here to get a full list of the poisonous plants to baby tortoises.

Perfect Wooden Tortoise House For Outdoor & Indoor!

To tell you the truth, I am not any good with wood working. So, making a house for my tortoise & box turtles myself was out of question. I was always on the lookout for a decent tortoise house at a cheap price.

Thanks to Aivituvin, I’ve found the perfect tortoise house that can be set up both in indoor and outdoor. Here’s why this wooden tortoise house rocks:

  • The house is made of 100% real Solid Wood. So there is no chance of rotting due to excessive moisture or tortoise waste.
  • You can monitor the tortoise both from the front and the top. The top has a meshed part for easy air circulation. So, temperature and humidity won’t sky rocket inside the house.
  • Private sleeping area, public viewing area
  • Dimension: 38.1″(L) x 22.4″(W) x 13.1″(H)

To put simply, I haven’t found any tortoise house better than this one in the market at this lucrative price range. Adding cherry to the top, the shipping is absolutely free!

So why wait? Check out the current price here on Aivituvin!

Do Baby Tortoises Drink Water?

Like all other animals, tortoises also need water to stay alive. But yes, the species do not drink much water.

To keep the bodies hydrated, the baby tortoises drink water from time to time. So, it is a good idea to provide a shallow water bowl in the enclosure. You need to fill the container with clean and fresh water regularly.

Never dig up a deep water source in a baby tortoise enclosure. Unlike turtles, tortoises can not swim.

How Much Food Does A Baby Tortoise Eat?

Determining the quantity of food for the baby tortoise is challenging for beginners. From 0 to 6 months, feed the baby pet a quarter cup of vegetables, grasses, leaves, and weeds. When it turns 6 months, increase the quantity from quarter to half cup. Continue the amount till the baby tortoise gets 12 months old.

Many tortoise owners prefer feeding the hatchlings commercial foods. In that case, offer the baby tortoises food that equals 1-4% of its body weight.

Depending on the species, the baby tortoise may have more hunger. If you find your pet devouring aggressively, provide it a little bit more greens or grasses. But do not overfeed the baby.

Usually, a baby tortoise acts like an eating machine. It is because, in the wild, they spend their time grazing here and there. However, overfeeding your baby tortoise can lead to accelerated growth and shell deformation or pyramiding.

How Often Should You Feed A Baby Tortoise?

The baby tortoises require more food than the adults. Generally, for the first 12 months, you should feed the baby pet once every day. After the 1st year, the feeding schedule will change.

Add vegetables, grasses, leaves, and stems to the diet chart of the baby tortoise. Do not feed it fruits every single day. Otherwise, the baby may have an upset tummy.

Some people think baby tortoises can not eat hard vegetables or fruits. Do not forget the tortoises have sharp jaws. They can easily crush carrots, potatoes, or other veggies and fruits like this.

Baby Tortoise And Supplements

When you are raising your baby tortoises in captivity, ensure that the pets are getting all the nutrition they need. You know, in an indoor habitat, the tortoises do not get the natural UV rays. Instead, the lack of UVA and UVB exposures are fulfilled through artificial lights.

Even with UV light, the baby tortoise can not grow stronger bones and shells if its food lacks minerals. To stay safe, vets suggest feeding the tortoise licensed calcium and vitamin D3 supplements. But the question is how much and how often to offer?

Experts believe the requirement for vitamins and calcium totally depends on the individual tortoise. You can sprinkle the supplement on each meal of the pet or try the thrice-a-week schedule.

Some people prefer leaving a small bowl of calcium powder in the baby tortoise habitat. However, in any situation, do not force your tortoise to eat any supplement.

I have encountered owners who feed their tortoises multi-vitamin. Those supplements, once or twice every week, may help the baby stay fit. But if your diet chart contains enough vegetables and grasses, there is no need for multi-vitamins for your baby tortoise.

My Baby Tortoise Is Not Eating Food: Why?

People often complain that their baby tortoise is refusing to eat. Well, there can be many reasons behind this behavior. The most common one is mental stress and anxiety.

When you bring the baby tortoise home, everything is new to it. The baby may need some time to adjust to its new home and lifestyle. Other reasons for the baby tortoises to refuse food are,

  • Low temperature
  • Dehydration
  • Sickness
  • Low-quality UV light
  • Food out of reach
  • Hibernation

Here are a few tips that may help you bring the lost appetite of your baby tortoise,

  1. Offer the baby a variety of food to find out its preferences. The pet might get bored by eating only one type of food every day.
  2. Make sure the enclosure temperature lies in the comfort zone of the baby tortoise. Generally, the preferred temperature for the tortoise is 68 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. Keep a small water source in the enclosure so that the pets can drink water whenever they need it.
  4. The food bowl should not be out of reach of the baby tortoises.
  5. Install a quality UV light that provides both UVA and UVB exposures.
  6. You can try giving the baby tortoises a fruity treat to entice them to eat.

Conclusion

Generally, baby tortoises eat green vegetables, grasses, and fruits. The babies can not digest meat or insects, and it can upset their stomach. To ensure healthy growth, you need to add vitamin and calcium supplements to the baby tortoise’s diet.

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How often to feed turtles? | Tail News

Reptile feeding

July 17, 2017

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Contents

1 What time to feed the turtle? 2 How much food to feed a turtle?

1 minute

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Feeding frequency is one of the foundations of a healthy diet. But if you search the Internet for how often you should feed your turtle, the information will vary from source to source. What is it connected with? And how many times a day should you feed a turtle?

Controversy over the frequency of feeding reptiles is not uncommon. And all because there is no single answer to this question.

The frequency of feeding is individual for each pet.

However, there are approximate rules that should be followed. They are valid for both land and aquatic turtles.

What time to feed the turtle?

It is best to feed turtles in the morning, but after the animal has warmed up. The choice of time is due to the fact that turtles lead a predominantly diurnal lifestyle and food is better absorbed before evening. In the evening and at night, when the lamps are turned off in the aquaterrarium, the temperature drops and the reptile's metabolic rate decreases.

If you feed your pet at night, there is a high risk that digestion will fail. This is especially true of land and some aquatic species of turtles, such as marsh and red-eared.

Other reptiles can take food with the same benefit around the clock.

It is advisable to give your pet food at the same time. Compliance with the regimen promotes proper digestion and makes it easier to maintain cleanliness in the aquarium.

Turtles get used to the feeding schedule. This is one of the few available ways to communicate with them.


How much food to feed a turtle?

The ideal portion size is the one that a turtle can handle in half an hour. If food remains after this time, it must be removed. This will help prevent contamination of the terrarium.

If the turtle eats all the food within a few minutes and then continues to search for food, the number of feedings or servings should be increased. If the turtle, on the contrary, can not cope with the food, you need to either reduce the portion, or feed the pet less often.

Observe the behavior of your pets and study their needs. Very soon you will understand how often and in what quantities you need to feed your turtle.

Other related articles

Is it possible to feed a turtle gammarus?

How useful amphipods are for aquatic turtles?

Turtle shell diseases: clinical manifestations

Did you know that the condition of the shell is a reflection of the health of the turtle?

How to properly feed turtles

To better understand how to build turtle nutrition, let's remember what these animals eat in nature. The diet of turtles shapes the area in which they live.

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Red-eared tortoise - not a cheap "toy".

We have all seen how baby turtles are sold sitting in a basin or a minimum volume of an aquarium on top of each other. What sellers usually say::

- Feed once every few days, you can keep it in a regular basin or a small aquarium, very unpretentious animals

- You can add an island or a pebble so that the turtle can bask on it, nothing else is needed.

- The perfect pet for a child, no worries.

The fate of these crumbs is very sad. Most of them end up in the bin before reaching the age of one. Some will be lucky enough to be taken to the doctor's office when they stop eating or their eyelids become so swollen they can't open their eyes. And here the owners are waiting for not very pleasant discoveries. But first things first.

Red-eared turtles (lat.Trachemys scripta)

Found in the territory from the south of Virginia to the north of Florida and Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico in the west (USA), Mexico, all of Central America, northwest of South America (northern Colombia and Venezuela). The species is introduced (inhabited) to the south of Florida, Arizona, Guadeloupe, Israel and South Africa and a number of other countries. Turtles live in shallow lakes and ponds with low, swampy shores.

It follows that the climate in these areas is from temperate to tropical, where winters are warm and mild (from -5-3 0 С up to +6-8 0 С), and the summer is humid and hot up to 30-34 0 С. 0 C, which has a positive effect on the growth and development of turtles.

And so, what conditions are necessary for keeping this species at home.

A quaterrarium for one or two adult turtles is recommended for 120-150 liters, and for young turtles - 50 liters.
Equipment: special water filters, heaters, thermometers, shore or island.
Lighting: heat lamp 40-60 W (incandescent), UV lamp (ultraviolet lamp) for reptiles UVB 5-10%. Turtles stay in the sun for a long time. Thermal day in summer - 13 hours, in winter - 11 hours. During the day, the temperature in the terrarium should be 25-30 0 C with the temperature under the lamp (at the warming point) 35 0 C, and at night - 22 0 C.

Aquaterrarium for the red-eared turtle can be low and not wide, but it must be long. The water level must be set no less than the width of the turtle's shell (i.e. more than 10 cm) so that it can roll over if it suddenly finds itself on its back. The terrarium must have a shore or land with a gently sloping rough entrance. The temperature in the aquarium should be different, in water - from 20 to 24 ° C, on land - about 30-32 to C. To maintain the temperature in the water, a special water heater is required, however, if the water temperature does not drop below normal without a heater, then there is no need for it. Water is changed as it gets dirty or a powerful filter is used. Above land, it is necessary to arrange thermal and UV lamps for reptiles at a height of at least 25-30 cm to prevent overheating. Both lamps should work 10-12 hours a day, during the daytime, and turn off or use a timer at night. Turtles most often sit on land, where they receive ultraviolet radiation, which is necessary for an active, good metabolism (digestion of food and the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract) and the prevention of diseases such as rickets (softening of bone structures and shells).

Now we know how to accommodate our new pet as comfortably as possible, but one more dilemma remains - what to feed the pet?

The genus Trachemys are carnivores, but not strict, so feeding on animal food predominates, and occasionally plant foods can be used. Young red-eared turtles require more food of animal origin for active growth, so they are fed daily, but once a day. Adult turtles (larger than 7 cm or older than 1-1.5 years) are fed every 2-3 days with animal food, and in between you can add vegetable food (duckweed, hornwort, lettuce, cucumber slices). The amount of food must be selected independently, depending on how much the turtle eats. Usually for babies, the amount of food is 2-3 pieces of 1 cm 3 , for older adults - 2-3 pieces 2-3 cm 3 , or how much the turtle will eat in half an hour. Food for the red-eared turtle should be raw or scalded and at room temperature. Do not feed turtles only gammarus or dry food, this is not food for a predator!

Types of food objects that can be used for turtles:

  1. Fish (non-fat river fish with bones and entrails).
  2. Liver (beef liver, chicken heart, beef heart).
  3. Crustaceans and Insects (daphnia crustaceans, gammarus (raw or frozen), bloodworms, earthworms, crickets, legless locusts, zophobas).
  4. Other (small freshwater snails, green shrimp, tadpoles, clams, frogs, small mice, occasionally seafood may be given).
  5. Aquatic plants (duckweed, water hyacinth, pistia, hornwort, etc.) can serve as plant food, as well as meadow grasses that are not poisonous for turtles (dandelion, clover, plantain, mallow, lamb, gout), or store salads, thin layers of carrots, cucumber.
  6. It is allowed to keep forage fish (guppies, barbs, neons and others), snails and aquatic plants in an aquarium with turtles, but all this will be eaten rather quickly.
  7. Dry food can be part of the diet only if it is in granules and from foreign companies (Tetra, Sera, JBL).

Do not feed: meat (any minced meat, sausages, sausage, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, etc.), fatty fish, fruit, bread, cheese.

Turtles are best fed in a separate container, as they eat very dirty, or equip the aquaterrarium with a strong water filter.

In the presence of an ultraviolet lamp, the necessary conditions (including temperature) in the aquaterrarium, the right balanced food, the turtle does not need vitamin and calcium supplements. However, if the diet is not well thought out and the conditions are not ideal, the turtle must receive vitamins and calcium. To do this, calcium and vitamins are added to the feed or sprinkled with it and fed with tweezers.

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