Turtles, with their unique charm and captivating behaviors, make fascinating pets. While their care might not demand the constant interaction of dogs or cats, turtles have specific needs, including appropriately sized tanks, UVB lighting, and, crucially, the correct diet. An inadequate feeding plan can lead to illness or even death, making it essential to understand what, how often, and how to feed them, as well as what to do if they refuse to eat. The right diet depends on factors such as size, species, age, and habitat. This article focuses on the Cumberland slider (also known as pond slider) diet, providing a detailed food list for optimal health.
Understanding the Cumberland Slider's Diet
Cumberland sliders are opportunistic omnivores, meaning their diet consists of both animal- and plant-based foods, depending on availability in their environment. In captivity, it's crucial to provide a balanced diet that mimics their natural eating habits.
Dietary Needs by Age
The dietary requirements of Cumberland sliders change as they grow. It's important to adjust their food ratios based on their age:
- Red-eared sliders younger than 1 year: Require a diet of 50% protein and 50% vegetables. Offer protein food daily, vegetable food daily, and turtle pellets every other day.
- Red-eared sliders older than 1 year: Need a diet consisting of 25% protein and 75% vegetables. Protein food should be offered 1-2 times per week, vegetable food daily, and turtle pellets 2-3 times per week.
It's common for young turtles to initially reject vegetables, but persistence is key. Keep offering them to ensure they develop a taste for plant-based foods.
Feeding Guidelines
- Aquatic Feeding: Pond sliders lack salivary glands and can only eat in the water. Sprinkle or drop food into the water during mealtime.
- Portion Control: A single portion of protein should be an amount that your turtle can consume in 5-10 minutes. A single portion of vegetables should be roughly the same size as the turtle’s shell, and a single portion of pellets should be about the same size as your turtle’s head.
Animal-Based Food Sources
Animal-based foods are vital, especially for young turtles, as they provide essential protein for growth. Here's a list of appropriate options:
Read also: Your Guide to Cumberland Weight Loss Programs
- Feeder Insects: Crickets, earthworms, discoid roaches, dubia roaches, mealworms, nightcrawlers, silkworms, superworms, and tubifex worms are all excellent sources of protein.
- Aquatic Life: Crayfish (pre-killed only), freeze-dried shrimp or krill, fresh shrimp, frozen bloodworms, tadpoles (captive bred only), and snails (canned or captive-bred only) are good choices.
- Frozen Options: Chicks (treat only - very messy), pinky or hopper mice (treat only), and quail (treat only - very messy) can be offered as occasional treats.
- Commercial Foods: Drained sardines, turtle pellets, and trout chow. You can also feed them cooked chicken, beef, and turkey.
Where to Buy Feeders: Reputable sources for high-quality feeders include Dubia.com, Ovipost, Layne Labs, Reptilinks, and Anderson Minnow Farm.
Foods to Avoid: Never feed processed meats or fireflies to your turtle. Avoid wild insects unless you're certain they're from a chemical-free area and safe for consumption.
Safe and Unsafe Feeder Fish
Live fish can be a stimulating addition to a Cumberland slider's diet, but some are safer than others:
Safe Feeder Fish: Endlers, guppies, mollies, mosquito fish, platies, and swordtails are generally safe options. Livebearing fish are usually a good choice.
Unsafe Feeder Fish: Goldfish, spottail shiner, rosy red minnow, emerald shiner, and white suckers should be avoided. These fish contain thiaminase, an enzyme that breaks down vitamin B1, potentially leading to a deficiency if consumed in large quantities or over a prolonged period. Avoid offering pieces of fish rather than the whole fish, as pieces are not nutritionally complete.
Read also: Comprehensive Diet Guide
Plant-Based Food Sources
As Cumberland sliders mature, their diet should shift towards a greater proportion of plant matter. Here's a list of suitable vegetables and fruits:
- Leafy Greens: Chickweed, cilantro, collard greens ("spring greens" in the UK), dandelion greens + flowers, endive, escarole/frisée, green leaf lettuce, kale, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, spotted deadnettle, swiss chard, and turnip greens provide essential vitamins and minerals.
- Other Vegetables: Green beans and hibiscus greens + flowers.
- Occasional Fruits (as treats): Apple (skinned), berries, figs, grapes, mango, melon, papaya, and pear. Fruits should be offered in moderation due to their sugar content.
Important Note: Variety is key! Don't rely on the same vegetables every time.
Foods to Avoid
Certain foods are harmful to Cumberland sliders and should never be offered:
- Avocado
- Bean sprouts
- Citrus fruits
- Currants
- Eggplant
- Hot peppers
- Gooseberries
- Mushrooms
- Onion
- Parsnip
- Pomegranate
- Rhubarb
- Tomatoes
If feeding plants gathered from outside, wash them thoroughly and ensure they haven't been exposed to herbicides or pesticides. When in doubt about a plant's safety, don't feed it to your turtle. Consult resources like The Tortoise Table and Beautiful Dragons for more information on safe plants.
Supplements
Cuttlebone
"Cuttlebones" are calcium carbonate blocks that mimic the structure of a cuttlefish skeleton. They provide a crucial source of calcium, preventing deficiencies like Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD). Chewing on cuttlebones also helps keep your turtle’s beak trimmed.
Read also: Comprehensive Turtle Guide
Preparation: Store-bought cuttlebones have a hard plastic backing that must be removed to prevent ingestion. Saw it off with a serrated knife, pry it off with a butter knife, or peel it off with a vegetable peeler after soaking it in hot water.
Vitamins
Turtles are prone to vitamin A deficiency if their diet isn’t right. Symptoms of too little vitamin A in turtles include a decrease in appetite, eyelid and ear swelling, kidney failure, and lung infections.
Turtles need lots of foods with vitamin A, so choose plants like carrots, squash, bell peppers, and other red, orange, and yellow vegetables. Avoid vegetables with low nutritional value like lettuce and celery. To treat Vitamin A deficiency, a veterinarian may recommend Vitamin A treatments injected or taken by mouth.
Adult turtles should also receive a vitamin and calcium supplement sprinkled on their diet two to three times a week. There are many brands of supplements available-make sure to use one labeled for turtles or reptiles. Supplemental vitamins can be provided by using some of the following products in their diet:
Hygiene and Feeding Practices
- Separate Feeding Container (Optional): Some owners prefer feeding their turtles in a separate container to keep the main tank cleaner. If your turtle isn't stressed by handling, this can be a good option. Use a plastic tub filled with enough water to cover the turtle's back. After feeding, return the turtle to its enclosure, empty the tub, and disinfect it. However, if your turtle is significantly stressed by handling, it’s best to simply feed them inside their “home” enclosure.
- Cleanliness: Turtles often defecate while eating, so keeping their food in a separate container can help them avoid accidentally eating feces. Clean any uneaten food out of their tank regularly so that it doesn’t grow unwanted bacteria and algae. Use an aquarium fish net to remove debris from the water after feeding time is over.
- Water Temperature: Make sure the water in the middle of the tank is the recommended temp as listed in the care sheet.
Addressing a Lack of Appetite
If your turtle isn’t eating enough, it could be a sign of illness, but other factors might be at play. Make sure your tank’s temperature and water temperature, lighting, and size are ideal for your turtle’s species. Hibernation and stress can also lead to lack of appetite in turtles. Check with a veterinarian about any symptoms and behaviors, and make a visit if symptoms don’t improve after you make changes.
Preventing Overfeeding and Vitamin Deficiency
- Overfeeding: Turtles can become obese if overfed, leading to difficulty retracting their limbs into their shell. Ensure they have enough space to move freely (at least 30 gallons for turtles up to 6 inches long, and up to 125 gallons for turtles over 8 inches long). Feeding live prey also encourages hunting and exercise. For adults, also feed what would fit inside the turtle’s head, minus the neck, every OTHER day. Too much food, especially protein, can cause a condition called shell pyramiding, not a good thing.
- Vitamin Deficiency: Turtles are prone to vitamin A deficiency. Symptoms include decreased appetite, eyelid and ear swelling, kidney failure, and lung infections. Feed plenty of vitamin A-rich foods like carrots, squash, and bell peppers.
Additional Tips
- UVB Lighting: Do you have a UVB light specifically for shell health?
- Handling: Turtles hate changes and get really stressed by them. He has been through a lot lately. So he will probably start eating in the next two weeks.
- Pellet Rotation: Feed one kind of pellet one day, the next kind the next day, and so forth. This rotation delivers a great variety of minerals and vitamins to the turtle. Feed the wheat germ pellets as a regular feeding once a week. It really helps with scute shedding.
- Hatchling/Juvenile Feeding: Remember that for juveniles/hatchlings/babies, feed what would fit inside their head, minus the neck, once a day. Or you can split the amount for a half-meal in morning and night. ZooMed makes a great hatchling pellet that contains more protein.
- Supplementing: Supplement the pellets with steamed fish or chicken (cooled and then cut up. Cutting up the meat helps keep the tank cleaner as turtles often shred food when eating it, and the shredding releases some of the nutrition into the water so the turtle doesn’t get it), small crickets and cut up earthworms/nightcrawlers.
- Romaine Lettuce: Float a piece of organic romaine lettuce 24/7. Be sure to keep it fresh. You can get a clip at the pet store to keep the lettuce from getting into the filter. Avoid iceberg lettuce, spinach and kale.
- Fish to Avoid: Avoid goldfish and any red colored fish as they can cause a vitamin B deficiency.
- Cuttlebone: Also, float chunks of cuttlebone 24/7 as a great source of calcium (use a thin, sharp knife inserted underneath the hard part to remove this hard, often clear, structure. Sometimes the structure to remove is a light brown.). BE SURE to remove the sharp edge from the cuttlebone. Be careful as it is very sharp.
- Organic Produce: Always feed organic produce.
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