Optimal Red-Eared Slider Diet: Feeding Your Turtle Right

Purple-eared sliders require a combined weight-reduction plan of each animal and plant supplies. Younger sliders eat extra animal protein, so child turtles ought to start with a weight-reduction plan that leans in direction of carnivorous choices.

Provide vegetation to younger turtles, even when they might not eat it till they’re older. Introducing it early can forestall reluctance in consuming vegetation as they mature, which is vital since vegetation ought to be a serious a part of an grownup slider’s weight-reduction plan.

What Do Turtles Eat?

Business pellets are nutritious, handy, and useful as they comprise quite a lot of nutritional vitamins and minerals. Nonetheless, providing a spread of meals is best than relying solely on pellets, as recent meals varieties present extra numerous vitamins.

Feeding quite a lot of gadgets can be extra stimulating to the red-eared slider, and supplies enrichment. Reside prey is especially worthwhile because it helps pure looking instincts. Restrict pellets to about 25% of the weight-reduction plan and complement with the next choices:

• Prey Objects: Earthworms, crickets, waxworms, silkworms, aquatic snails, bloodworms, daphnia, shrimp, krill, and mealworms. Minimize prey into smaller items for very small turtles. Bigger turtles may be given larger prey, like tadpoles or feeder fish, however be cautious as feeder fish would possibly carry parasites and a few, like goldfish, may be too fatty.
• Leafy Greens: Collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, kale, and bok choy. Keep away from iceberg lettuce attributable to its low nutrient content material; use darkish inexperienced leafy lettuce like romaine sparingly. Guarantee all meals has appropriate calcium-to-phosphorous ranges.
• Aquatic Crops: In an aquarium or pond, add aquatic vegetation that turtles take pleasure in consuming, similar to anacharis, water hyacinth, water lettuce, duckweed, azolla (fairy moss), and frog-bit.
• Different Greens: Carrots (together with inexperienced tops), squash, and inexperienced beans. Shred greens to make them simpler to eat, significantly for smaller turtles.

Dietary Dietary supplements for Purple-Eared Sliders

A vet might advocate mixing a reptile multivitamin with calcium and vitamin D3 into the turtle’s meals a couple of occasions every week. Present further calcium by including a cuttlebone to the tank, which may be discovered within the chook part of pet shops and hooked up with suction cup clips or just floated within the water.