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red ear sliders food

22 16:47:44

Question
what types of fruit do red ear sliders eat?  mealworms and pellet
food are what we are feeding now?  they are about 2 inches across
shell.  Put small goldfish in tank but they just chase and cant seem
to catch.  looking for variety of food for them.  any food not to feed
them?  thanks Vikki

Answer
Red-ear sliders (RES) are almost totally carnivorous when young- they eat almost nothing but 'aquatic meat'- fish, worms, bugs, small crustaceans, etc.

As they get older, they will add some vegetation- mostly dark green leafy veggies.

High-quality pelleted foods are a good foundation for the diet- but you get what you pay for here. Cheaper foods are far less nutritious than the good stuff is. I generally feed mine a combination of a couple different brands of pellets and supplement it with 'bait', depending on the size of the turtles- crickets, small fish, worms, etc.

Some key points in feeding to remember include:

- NO fatty foods (hamburger, hot dogs, most other pet foods), no light green head lettuce, no milk products, no sugars, no fruits (until it is older, and then only a little)

- No packaged foods that are just light-weight dried insect parts or cheap flakes.

- Trout chow and certain other 'meaty' fish foods are fine.

- Feed young RES daily, then every other day when they hit about 3-4", then every 3 days when they are about 6". Overfeeding and obesitiy are bad for turtles, too.

- Turtles select food based on size. They will not pursue a fish to eat it, for example, unless it is big enough to bother with AND small enough fit in their mouth. Try 'feeder guppies'- especially the small ones. (Note- they will chase and nip bigger fish even if they can't or won't eat them!)

- Diet is just one part of an all-over care program. Making sure they have plenty of clean, warm water in their tank, good lighting, etc. are others.

You can learn more at sites like http://www.redearslider.com

Good luck!