Saturday, May 22, 2010

What should I feed my terrapin??

I got a terrapin as a pressie. It came with a tub of food - dried shrimp, etc. but it doesn't seem to like it?
Answers:
There are terrapin/turtle food brands, but these ar not always easy to find in shops. Some of these are based on shrimp, which is quite good, but all such foods should always be used in conjunction with occasional live or at least different foods.
ask at the pet shop
Paella
Terrapin food.
i hear they are rather keen on pickled onion monster munch
Get some Purina Terrapin Chow at your local Agway
Tea and crumpets.
How about leaves and grass?
Mealworms.
Try tinned cat food but not too much as it will make the water dirty, they love it.
i used feed mine small bits of raw beef ,they loved it
Not a KITKAT and peanuts. Briggs and Lewis did that to a rare turtle in a BBC comedy called the Detectives and killed it.
Be careful not to overfeed your terrapin as that will kill it for sure.try the terrapin food once a day only.
try breast feeding, they love it
Im looking at getting a water turtle and have done loads of reaserch about them on the net. I have also started buying things for setting up the tank and stuff before i buy them. They eat a range of things. They should be fed on pellets as thier food then you can give them treats such as canned worms/crickets and they also like to eat live food such as crickets/mealworms/small fish. The best place to get all of this stuff would be off the website below i have used it a number of times and would reccomend it.
http://www.everythingforpets.com.
Firstly, if your pet is in a large tank, try feeding it in a separate container as they can really dirty the water during and after a meal. Dried foods are OK but a bit boring. I used to give mine a variety of foods, live and dead. A small pinch of raw mince or any other raw meat, (just take a piece off before you cook your dinner and watch it shred it to pieces with it's claws) gives them some interest. I'd catch house flies, woodlice, earthworms and treat her to some of my fishing maggots. In the wild they are quite voracious hunters and have been known (in numbers) to capture large birds at the waters edge and drag them to their death. So keep your fingers clear of that beaky mouth. Maybe use plastic tweezers to offer him/her the food rather than just dumping it in front of him/her. Don't over feed. Imagine that little belly and how much it can hold. Every other day should be enough.
try some nice,fat slugs or earthworms,fish,snails(shell and all),mealworms,beetles,cricket. food.Give it a cuttlebone(for birds)this helps keep his beak trimmed and supplies calcium.Also,you need a full-spectrum light for it.The best thing to do is to do a web search,or ask someone at a pet store or zoo.Also depends on what type of terrapin it is .What kind is it?
they love blood worms
I had terrapins years ago. My brother assured me that goldfish were alright in the tank - they weren't!!

Terrapins need meat - i gave meaty scraps from my plate - worms from the garden, they also eat salad veg - any raw fresh veg, tomatoes, apples etc. If I remember correctly they love raw fish!

They also need..
A suitable sized tank
Heater and thermostat
Filters and air pump
Light bulbs
Suitable depth of swimming water
Dry area
Thermometer
from the internet..
A balanced diet is needed to provide all the essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins that a terrapin needs for growth, bone and shell formation and repair of damaged tissues. Terrapins are mainly carnivores, but they do need a small amount of fruit and vegetable in their diet for it to be balanced. Meat contains protein, a little fat and some minerals and vitamins. Fish contains protein, calcium in the bone and fat and vitamins A and D in the liver oils. Calcium is strongly needed in a terrapin's diet, as a deficiency in either calcium, vitamin D or both will result in soft-shell which is difficult to cure. Fruit and vegetables contain mainly vitamins (A, B1, B2 and C).Try to get hold of the book.Understanding Terrapins by Ruth Midgley. This basically sums up what should be in a terrapin's diet (I would recommend buying/reading this book )


Allow the terrapin to exercise outside the tank. Maybe let him/her roam around in the garden (when the weather is right). Do not allow the terrapin to bury itself in the soil or grass, as they are difficult to find. DO NOT keep terrapins in the sun for more than a few minutes; if they are kept longer it may kill them. Once the terrapin has finished exercising, wash off all the soil with luke-warm water. If the terrapin cannot exercise in the garden, allow it to exercise on a carpeted floor.
fish n chips
a united fan
any dried fish , or fresh if you can afford it once a day only at different times mine used to like smoked mackeral from morrisons.

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