Feeding a Red Ear Slider
April 27th 2009 13:09
Red ear sliders are omnivorous, which means they need both plant material and animal protein in their diet in order to be healthy. Hatchlings and younger red ear sliders need about 50% proteins, whereas adults should only receive about 10-20%.
When feeding your slider, you want to make sure to keep food size appropriate; it's good to make sure that food is smaller than the width between their eyes. And, as for how much to feed a red ear slider, it's good to stick with SMALL amounts, preferably, about as much as the size of their head. If you overfeed your red ear slider, you can cause shell pyramidin, liver failure, and kidney failure, so in order to keep a healthy turtle, you want to make sure that you keep a proper diet.
No matter how much your red ear slider may beg for his food, and yes they dog beg for food, you should refrain from overfeeding, as you can cause major health problems.
Commercial Products:
Aquatic turtle pellets (Mazuri and ReptoMin)
Cichlid sticks
Rehydrated, high quality cat good (should not be staple diet)
Trout chow
Live Foods:
Apple snails
Crickets
Earthworms
Guppies
Pond snails
Rosy reds
Silkworms
You can also consider blood worms, gammerus, ghost shrimp, krill, shrimp, and waxworms, as treats. You want to avoid feeding your red ear slider goldfish because they contain thiaminase, which is an enzyme that destroys the Vitamin B1.
Plants/Vegetation
Dandelion greens
Green and red leaf lettuce
Turnip greens
On occasion, you can feed your red ear slider, carrots,chicory greens, endive, escarole, green beans, kale, pumpkin, romaine lettuce, squash, sweet potato, and zucchini, as a treat.
Aquatic plants, such as Amazon swords, anacharis, Duckweed, frog bit, hornwart, pond weed, water fern, water hyacinth, water lily, water lettuce, water milfoil, water nasturtium, water stawort, and water weed, can also be provided.
Cuttle bone is also a great source of natural calcium, that you should consider, as well as adding vitamins to every third feeding.
When feeding your red ear slider, you want to make sure that the water stays clean and clear. If you are overfeeding, the water will be cloudy, for sure. It's a good idea to perform regular partial water changes, so that you can keep optimal tank conditions.
Some people even feed their red ear sliders in a separate enclosure, to ensure that the water quality is ideal and there is minimal left over food creating waste.
When feeding your slider, you want to make sure to keep food size appropriate; it's good to make sure that food is smaller than the width between their eyes. And, as for how much to feed a red ear slider, it's good to stick with SMALL amounts, preferably, about as much as the size of their head. If you overfeed your red ear slider, you can cause shell pyramidin, liver failure, and kidney failure, so in order to keep a healthy turtle, you want to make sure that you keep a proper diet.
No matter how much your red ear slider may beg for his food, and yes they dog beg for food, you should refrain from overfeeding, as you can cause major health problems.
Commercial Products:
Aquatic turtle pellets (Mazuri and ReptoMin)
Cichlid sticks
Rehydrated, high quality cat good (should not be staple diet)
Trout chow
Live Foods:
Apple snails
Crickets
Earthworms
Guppies
Pond snails
Rosy reds
Silkworms
You can also consider blood worms, gammerus, ghost shrimp, krill, shrimp, and waxworms, as treats. You want to avoid feeding your red ear slider goldfish because they contain thiaminase, which is an enzyme that destroys the Vitamin B1.
Plants/Vegetation
Dandelion greens
Green and red leaf lettuce
Turnip greens
On occasion, you can feed your red ear slider, carrots,chicory greens, endive, escarole, green beans, kale, pumpkin, romaine lettuce, squash, sweet potato, and zucchini, as a treat.
Aquatic plants, such as Amazon swords, anacharis, Duckweed, frog bit, hornwart, pond weed, water fern, water hyacinth, water lily, water lettuce, water milfoil, water nasturtium, water stawort, and water weed, can also be provided.
Cuttle bone is also a great source of natural calcium, that you should consider, as well as adding vitamins to every third feeding.
Some people even feed their red ear sliders in a separate enclosure, to ensure that the water quality is ideal and there is minimal left over food creating waste.
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