# What should I feed my Turtle??



## Iris Brickwood (Apr 22, 2018)

I have had a Murray River Short Neck turtle since November and he is now around 6 or 7 months old. 

I need help on what to feed him. I have pellets and frozen meat blocks but I think I need to change up his diet as the more I read, the more it says to do so. 

What types of fruit can I feed him??
What types of plants should be in his tank??
What kinds of insects or sea food should he eat??

I am feeding him everyday since he is still young and feeding him around the size of his head. 
When do I start feeding him every few days??
Am I feeding him the right amount??

It would be really appreciated if you cound please respond with advice. 
Thank you


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## cris (Apr 22, 2018)

Hi, Welcome While it is young feed it mostly animals. Fish, insects, spiders, shrimp, crayfish and other good stuff like that. Soon enough it will eat any water plants it can find.


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## Bl69aze (Apr 22, 2018)

Ours get pilchard and de headed prawns (to remove the spike of hell) with occasional Vegeblocks


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Apr 22, 2018)

Please discard any commercial frozen turtle blocks/dinners containing fruits and or vegetables intended for human consumption such as peas, carrots, corn, spinach, lettuce, bok-choy, zucchini, etc and any that contain red meats - roo meat, silverside, lean beef heart, liver, etc... All of these are extremely detrimental to a turtle's health. Too much protein in a turtle's diet will cause shell deformities such as scalloping and tenting and the above mentioned vegetables will prevent the uptake of calcium.

There's many pellets available for turtles however only a couple have the correct calcium to phosphorous ratio of 2:1 These are the Hikari Cichlid Gold Pellets and the Exo-Terra Aquatic Turtle Pellets. These are OK to offer SPARINGLY, no more than once/week as they promote accelerated growth.






You can also offer you turtle those spirulina algae wafers/discs that are sold for sucking catfish.

The best insects you can offer are silkworms and wood roaches.









As with all short-necked turtle species in the _Emydura_ complex, Murray River turtles are predominantly vegetarian with up to 75% of their diet consisting of aquatic plants, aquatic weeds and filamentous algae. This is why they have a sharp parrot-like beak... they're grazers. They are also opportunistic and will readily consume terrestrial and aquatic insects and their larva, small fish, earthworms, small shrimps and yabbies.

Recommended aquatic plants for young turtles are native duckweed - _Lemna disperma_, Duckweed is extremely high in calcium which is essential for maintaining shell and bone integrity.




Ferny and or Pacific Azolla, Elodea and thin Vallisneria are alo preferred favourites of freshwater turtles.





Turtles should only be fed once/day an amount the size of their head, skipping 1-2 days a week. Have their aquarium planted heavily at all times.


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## Iris Brickwood (Apr 22, 2018)

Thank you so much Cris, BI69aze and Aussiepride83. I will go to the pet shop as soon as I can to get plants, insects, shrimp, prawns and earthworms.

Still wondering what types of fruit are ok or are all fruits bad??

Thanks again


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## Bl69aze (Apr 22, 2018)

Iris Brickwood said:


> Thank you so much Cris, BI69aze and Aussiepride83. I will go to the pet shop as soon as I can to get plants, insects, shrimp, prawns and earthworms.
> 
> Still wondering what types of fruit are ok or are all fruits bad??
> 
> Thanks again


i think fruit is more for tortoises but im not 100% sure


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## Iris Brickwood (Apr 22, 2018)

Bl69aze said:


> i think fruit is more for tortoises but im not 100% sure


Thank you!! 
I was a bit confused but that helps a lot.


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Apr 22, 2018)

No fruit or vegetables whatsoever are suitable for turtles. Turtles can only eat under water, on land they cannot physically eat anything so they definitely don't wander overland in search of people's back yard vege patches for a feed. Hehe.


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## Iris Brickwood (Apr 22, 2018)

Aussiepride83 said:


> No fruit or vegetables whatsoever are suitable for turtles.


Thank you very much for confirming that!

I got him small yabies for him to eat when he feels like it. Is that ok??

I also got him meal worms how many should I give him and how often?

Thanks


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## Bl69aze (Apr 22, 2018)

Iris Brickwood said:


> Thank you very much for confirming that!
> 
> I got him small yabies for him to eat when he feels like it. Is that ok??
> 
> ...


Not sure about the type of turtle you have but the ones at work LOVE bloodworm blocks, which we give to some babies and they all swarm and nomnomnom


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## Flaviemys purvisi (Apr 23, 2018)

Iris Brickwood said:


> Thank you very much for confirming that!
> 
> I got him small yabies for him to eat when he feels like it. Is that ok??
> 
> ...


Mealworms and or superworms shouldn't be fed to turtles. Their chitinous exoskeleton causes gut impaction and their calcium to phosphorous ratio is not suitable. They are also far too high in complex proteins for turtles. Instead, offer your turtle earthworms and silkworms which are very high in calcium.








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Bl69aze said:


> Not sure about the type of turtle you have but the ones at work LOVE bloodworm blocks, which we give to some babies and they all swarm and nomnomnom


Whilst is may appear that your turtles "love bloodworms" this is just a misinterpretation on your part of what's essentially an opportunistic feeder... opportunistically feeding. If you offered your turtle a hungry Jack's whopper and fries, it would "love that" too. Bloodworms offer no nutritional benefit to a turtle at all, bloodworms are however used to get week old hatchlings into feeding mode. Bloodworms shouldn't be offered to any turtle larger than a 50c coin. Blackworms can also be used for tiny hatchies but again, once they're readily feeding, there's little to be gained by continuing to offer them. Chopped earthworms and baby silkworms are much more nutritional.

Here's some week old _expansa_ already hammering down whole pre-stunned fish.




These guys were started on bloodworms but as soon as they're feeding, the bloodworms are discontinued immediately. 
[doublepost=1524421374][/doublepost]Sorry I forgot to mention to remove the front claws from yabbies by simply twisting them off (yabbies don't feel pain from this so don't worry) their claws, like all their regenerable limbs are designed to be dropped as a self preserving survival strategy. Removing the claws will prevent the crays from possibly injuring your turtle and even grasping your turtle and holding it until it drowns. Unfortunately I have seen this happen to a few people with hatchling turtles.


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## Bl69aze (Apr 23, 2018)

Aussiepride83 said:


> Mealworms and or superworms shouldn't be fed to turtles. Their chitinous exoskeleton causes gut impaction and their calcium to phosphorous ratio is not suitable. They are also far too high in complex proteins for turtles. Instead, offer your turtle earthworms and silkworms which are very high in calcium.
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We don’t feed them as a main food, more just a snack to get everyone moving


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## Iris Brickwood (Apr 23, 2018)

Aussiepride83 said:


> Mealworms and or superworms shouldn't be fed to turtles. Their chitinous exoskeleton causes gut impaction and their calcium to phosphorous ratio is not suitable. They are also far too high in complex proteins for turtles. Instead, offer your turtle earthworms and silkworms which are very high in calcium.
> View attachment 323870
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Thank you so much for all this advice!!


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