Now keeping in your apartment various exotic animals - crocodiles, lizards, snakes, spiders is considered the highest chic ... These and other exotic animals attract with their unusualness. Aquatic red-eared turtles, which are bred on special farms and then sold in pet stores, are becoming popular all over the world. These animals are kept in aquariums or terrariums. Turtles are one of the most ancient animals. Over two hundred million years, their appearance has not changed much.
In nature, the red-eared turtle eats animal and plant foods.
To avoid errors in the content of these animals, you need to know for sure that the red-eared turtle does not eat, and what is especially useful for it. The diet of the turtle should be as balanced as possible in terms of nutrient content and calorie content.
If the diet is not composed correctly, then the turtles will grow poorly. A balanced and high-calorie diet of red-eared turtles is one of the important conditions for proper maintenance. Young turtles are fed animal food. They eat well earthworms and dried daphnia, bloodworms, tubule mumps and gammarus, both dried and living.
Young red-eared turtle does not eat meat and fish, that is, what must be given to adult turtles. From meat, it is recommended that adults give boiled or raw beef or chicken. Instead of meat, some people prefer to feed their pets low-fat fish. If fatty fish still go to feed, then it must first be kept in boiling water. Before feeding, large fish should be chopped by removing bones. Small is crushed together with bones.
Turtles need minerals and vitamins that are found in raw liver, shrimp, squid meat and the larvae of various beetles, such as powdery meadowsweet.
Some amateurs mistakenly believe that the red-eared turtle does not eat live food, or are afraid that it will not be able to catch it on its own. But this is not so. Turtles catch live food very well. Experts even recommend feeding them live food more often, since in this way conditions are created that are close to natural.
Adult turtles eat algae, so in a separate aquarium you need to specially grow plants for feeding, otherwise reptiles will pinch the algae and the terrarium will look messy. Trachemys does not eat poisonous algae, such as limnophiles and elodea. If there is a pond near the house, you can catch duckweed there. You can collect some other plants. Instead of algae, you can give animals lettuce or dandelion leaves. With pleasure, red-eared turtles eat cucumber or white cabbage.
Specialized balanced feeds are sold at the pet shop for turtles. Feeding them is very convenient, but you need to look at the composition and make sure that they are fresh. It is best to purchase imported feed, as they are more balanced, but dry food for cats and dogs cannot be given to turtles - they contain substances that do not meet their needs.
It is useful to occasionally give tortoises crushed eggshells and vitamin D. Feed should be thrown into the water. You need to give so much food so that it does not remain in the water, otherwise the uneaten pieces of fish or meat will rot very quickly and the water will have to be changed.
To feed the red-eared turtles, you can transplant into another aquarium, but not all animals like this. Young turtles need to be fed once a day, and starting from two years - after a couple of days.
Healthy turtles always have a good appetite. The reasons why the red-eared turtle does not eat can be different - the diet has changed or is it just not hungry, or maybe it just got sick. In this case, you should immediately show it to the veterinarian. The tortoise may refuse to eat due to the fact that it was in a new environment. In this case, you just need to leave it alone for a while.