turtles (Florida)

Question
There's a pond behind my condo and every morning I fee some ducks and the Mud turtles (they love bread and dry cat food)
Question #1 - what else could I give the turtles?  A couple of them actually come out of the water to meet me, and they take the bread from my hand! I'm careful not to give them tiny pieces....
Question #2 - There's one very skittish turtle,unlike the Mud turtles,who justs pokes his head out of the water and not for very long.  All you can see is a pencil-like snout that seems to turn up at the tip. It can't be more than 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch in length. What is it? I don't think it's a fish????  Thanks, Mary Ann

Answer
Hi Mary Ann,

Please don't feed the turtles bread or cat food.  Turtles don't process grains, soy, etc. well, and both bread and cat food are actually pretty unhealthy for them.  Just because they'll eat it doesn't mean it's good for them!  Mud turtles are omnivores, eating both animal and plant matter, but they tend more towards the carnivorous side.  You could feed anything like boiled chicken, fish, shrimp, worms, snails, etc.  There really aren't any commercial products that are good for them, I'm afraid.

The other turtle sounds like it might be a softshell.  They have a snout like you describe and are native to your area.  They're even more carnivorous than mud turtles. Here's a link to pictures:  http://www.chelonia.org/Apalone.htm.

Enjoy your turtles!