Feeding turtles

Question
Hello Mr. Adkins. I'm Cristy Blas from Puerto Rico and owner of 4 Red-eared turtles or sliders. I just want to know how many times daily I should feed them. One of them is like 6 inches long, 2 of them are 4 inches and the smallest one is like 3 inches long. I feed them in the morning with some dry shrimps from the Wardley brand and in the afternoon with Reptomim pellets. Sometimes i give them vegetables and fruits but not often because they usually make a mess. I want my turtles to be healthy and not to feel hungry during the day. Am I doing it right?  

Answer
Being healthy and not feeling hungry are two different things.

Healthy turtles can still completely retract their head and limbs into their shells at the same time. If yours can do this, they are OK. If they are too plump to do this, they need to go on a diet. If they feel light and seem weak, they need more food.

There is no soild rule for how much or how often to feed your turtles- it depends on so many things.

Most keepers do tend to only feed their turtles as much as they will eat in about 15-30 minutes. Some people feed them 3 times a day- but always remove any uneaten food after 15-30 minutes. This also helps keep the tank cleaner.

It is really hard to starve a turtle- they don't need as much food as a mammal the same size would- and really easy to overfeed it. Many keepers even have their pets skip a day every week or two to help keep them from getting fat.

For a good article on diet, try "http://tortoise.org/general/watcare.html". They also have links to several other good turtle sites.