It often happens that the turtle does not want to eat. There may be several reasons for this: inadequate selection of feed, seasonal changes, inappropriate conditions of detention, various diseases. Having corrected the first three reasons, you can bring the diet regime back to normal. And what if the turtle does not want to eat, because it has not adapted well to the surrounding conditions or tolerates any disease? In these cases, stimulation and artificial feeding are necessary. To stimulate the use of vitamins and methods of physical impact. In order to stimulate nutrition, a complex of vitamins is recommended - "B-complex".
For physical stimulation, which must be done, if the turtle does not want to eat, the following methods are suitable: - a slight increase in temperature; - conducting a course of ultraviolet irradiation; - thermal baths.
What to do: the turtle still refuses to eat?
In the event that these methods have proved ineffective, you have to use artificial feeding, which will help to restore the functions of nutrition over time. Sometimes it takes a very long time to adhere to this method, and sometimes throughout the life of the animal. But even in such cases, although it may seem strange, turtles lead a fairly active and long life without losing the ability to reproduce.
Vitamin and mineral supplements
Like any other animal that is kept at home, in addition to the basic diet turtle requires a variety of vitamin and mineral supplements, and during the formation of carapace and growth turtle is vital. In the pet stores you can buy bone meal and add it daily to the animal. A tortoise requires five grams of flour a day. When at the pet store, ask the seller if any new vitamin supplements for turtles are available.
Live food
There are many kinds of freshwater turtles, and most of them adore in their diet earthworms . In the summer, it is not difficult to dig them in the country or forest area, but for the winter they have to store in advance. Store earthworms in boxes, previously pouring a thick layer of earth there and placing these boxes in a cool place with moderate humidity. To feed worms unpretentious and eat any food waste.
The larvae of the floured Khrushchak are the most common live food, but they need to be given to turtles not more than twice a week, because this food contains solid chitin, which can cause inflammation of the gastric mucosa in the animal, because it is poorly digested.
It is not difficult to raise a floury Khrushchak. You need a dry and warm room, with an air temperature of at least +27 degrees Celsius and low, well ventilated boxes of tin. The substrate is the dried and crushed birch leaves. To feed the Khrushchak, swollen oatmeal, as well as food waste, will do.
In the event that the larvae of the mealmunk are used regularly for feeding the turtle, it is necessary to additionally give food to an animal with a high calcium content.
House and steppe crickets are considered the most preferred food for turtles. To keep them fit small, but high boxes. The height of the walls should be from thirty centimeters and above. Boxes must be heated. For heating, lamps with a power of 25 W are used, which are installed inside the boxes. The soil consists of sifted earth and crushed birch leaves. Feed crickets can be finely chopped vegetables and herbs. The presence of water in cricket boxes is a prerequisite.
Feeding turtles can also be waxed flies and flies . Since it is quite difficult to breed them at home, therefore, in the summer, these traps are made for these insects, but in winter, this type of feed has to be abandoned.
Vegetable feed
Since in plant foods contains a large number of vitamins and minerals, their presence in the diet of turtles is a prerequisite for keeping these animals. As vegetative forages, vegetables, fruits and berries are usually used. From vegetables, beets, carrots, cabbage, leafy vegetables, and apples and pears are suitable. Beets and cabbage contain carotene, vitamin C and active vegetable proteins. Leafy vegetables contain vitamins and minerals. Carrots have a beneficial effect on appetite, digestion due to the content of vitamin A.
Flowers of a dandelion and leaves of a young nettlet of a turtle also with pleasure eat. These plants are also used as a remedy, with constipation and some other diseases.
Berries are usually included in the diet of animals during the treatment of stomatitis and hypovitaminosis C.
Specialty dry food for sea and freshwater turtles
Dry food is added to the diet of animals once a week. In addition to specialized feeds, in some cases, turtles can eat even ordinary dry food for dogs and cats, although the composition of these feeds does not suit turtles. But if an animal has long been eating these foods and is tolerating them normally, then it does not make sense to abandon them.
Recently, for sale, there are specialized feeds in the form of granules or plates, which contain vitamin-mineral supplements.
Since fishmeal is the basis in most feeds, and owners who have sufficient experience of keeping turtles do not acquire such feed, it is necessary to carefully study the composition and quality of feed, since there are no vitamins in low-quality feeds. In any case, you can feed the turtles with dry food no more than three times a week. Not always a turtle will immediately eat dry food, so be prepared for this - the animal must get used to.
The influence of age on the diet of turtles
Turtles can eat both vegetable feed and animal feed, but at a young age they still prefer live vegetable food.
However, gradually with age, animals prefer plant foods. This is due to the fact that in adult animals there is no need for amino acids and calcium, which are necessary for young individuals, and unlike their young relatives, they do not spend much energy, which must be replenished.
Crushed turtle meat is also eagerly eaten, but it must be boiled for several minutes before boiling in boiling water, as raw meat can cause salmonella. Lamb and pork should also be excluded from the diet. Fish turtles give more preference than meat, it also like meat should boil in boiling water, for several minutes.
In order to add oil solutions of vitamins A, D, E, which must be present in feed, it is necessary to impregnate the forage with vitamin solution in advance. Vitamins A, E are given once in two weeks, vitamin D - once a week. Dry food, soaked in a solution of vitamins, is quickly thrown into the water.