we have him in a 10 gallon tank with rocks sand and we have an upside down frisbee filled with water for the water source. We thought he ate the first earthworm we put in there.but we found the worm hiding a couple days later. Yesterday I noticed that he was trying to eat the rocks in the sand.so we put a mealworm next to him and he still wont eat it.he wont even eat the pellets. I dont know how he is still alive!!
Answers:
Some turtles will eat plants. You could try giving him a piece of fruit and seeing if he eats that. Also, don't stick around to watch him eat; that might just scare him into not eating. Keep in mind turtles aren't easy to take care of, so be prepared for problems.
I had a baby painted turtle too, and I fed him small pieces of earth worms, but the water source should be deep enough for him to swim in and when in the water feed him the worm by holding it and dipping it into the water. mine is 6 years old now. As babies that are mostly insectivores and don't eat veggies but as they get older they do. thay won't start eating the food sticks until they are a couple of months old. Since thay can live until they are 36 years old make sure your commited beacuse once thayre used to you it's hard to change their behavior.
First be shure there are some tiny peables or sand or something of that nature he can eat (the reason it he needs that to help dijest food. Also keep trying the foods you are when he is hungry enough he will eat. Be shure what your feeding him is not to large, it should not be much bigger than his head. Finally try some fruits and vegtables. painted turtles eat mostly meat but they do need some plants, espesialy when they are young.
You shudnt feed im for a few days, Then give it a few plants to eat,
Give him green-leaf lettuce like romaine
Call your local vet and if you don't want to do that call your nearest zoo, who will be able to give some advise about your problem.
You might ask these guys. They know a lot about reptiles and amphibians, and I know they've raised a lot of different animals.
http://www.turtlediscovery.com
1. Baby turtles often do not eat until a week after the yolk sac is gone. in fact, feeding them early can mess them up.
2. Baby turtles are aquatic animals and the aquarium should be filled with at least several inches of water, with several rocks or branches for it to climb out on.
3. Mealworms are terrible food items for ANY reptile- the hard shell clogs the intestines.
You can learn more about caring for most American pond turtles at this site which is geared towards Red-ear sliders- but most of it works for Painteds as well:
Madkins007 nailed it. Give him a few more days before you try feeding him again, he'll eat when he's ready.
All baby turtles will not eat anything for approx 7 days after leaving the shell. Mostly your baby turtle will be looking for good hiding spots. You should have your painted turtle in a habitat that has both a place to get into water and a place that has dry land. The water should never get too cold nor too hot. Likewise, the basking spot should not get too cold nor too hot. NEVER use hot rocks. Earth worms maybe ok for adult painted but you might want to look into buying some trout size earth worms. They are more a baby turtles size. Get a log hide from your local pet store and some aquatic plants for the water side of your turtles habitat. Make sure that you have an under the gravel (I prefer large stone for aquarium habitats) filter as turtles will often make "doo" when they hit warm water. Provide a true sun light source as your baby turtle will need both UVA and UVB to grow strong and healthy.
Do not feed lettuce. There is no nutritional value.
Do feed bits of tomatoes, any kind of squash, dandylion leaves, earth worms, trout worms, and frozen blood worms.
hey, i have the same problem with a baby diamondback terrapin. if he still has a yolk sack scar, dont even try yet, because it could hurt him to eat too early. you really need to have him in a tank full of water with a turtle dock to sun on, instead of the currant set-up. anyways, they can go up to a month without eating, so give it some time.Also, they NEED to be in water to swallow. Hope he's ok!
