hatchling eating

Pameladale

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hello all just a quick question my box turtle hatchlings which are 1 and almost 2 weeks old have not started eating yet is this normal I offer all diferent types of food multiple times a day ive seen them strike at it and kill worms but leave them after that. when will they start to eat?
 

Saleama

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They can go quite a long time before eating. When they are ready, make sure you have some smaller stuff that wiggles. You probably won't get them to eat fruit and veggies for quite some time and non-wiggling food doesn't seem to attract them that much. My babies are a year and a half and just started eating non-live items a few months ago. Keep trying though. You might break through their stubborness. Babies around the age of what you say yours are will not eat at all. As Star said, it is the whole yolk sac thing.
 

Pameladale

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yes the bottom of their shells are flat there might be a bit of sac but not much on one but my others is gone 100%. thank you guys I was just starting to worry!!
 

Yvonne G

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I start my baby box turtles out by feeding them in their soak. I have a little plastic shoe box and I put about a half inch of warm water in it along with the babies, then I add black worms. Black worms are what we used to call "tubifex" worms in the past. You get them at a pet store that sells aquariums and fish. After the babies are used to eating in their soaking water and are eating well, I start putting food in their habitat. I chop up veggies and fruit into very tiny pieces and add a little pinch of black worms over the top of the food. I place the food dish right in front of the hiding place so the babies don't have to feel so exposed when coming out to eat.

I've never had trouble getting baby box turtles to eat fruit and veggies this way. They don't eat them on purpose, but get a taste for them as they eat the worms off the top.

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Saleama

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I start my baby box turtles out by feeding them in their soak. I have a little plastic shoe box and I put about a half inch of warm water in it along with the babies, then I add black worms. Black worms are what we used to call "tubifex" worms in the past. You get them at a pet store that sells aquariums and fish. After the babies are used to eating in their soaking water and are eating well, I start putting food in their habitat. I chop up veggies and fruit into very tiny pieces and add a little pinch of black worms over the top of the food. I place the food dish right in front of the hiding place so the babies don't have to feel so exposed when coming out to eat.

I've never had trouble getting baby box turtles to eat fruit and veggies this way. They don't eat them on purpose, but get a taste for them as they eat the worms off the top.

747117wei24kafiu.gif
Good advice. I recently started using a red dish to put their food on. Not sure of the science behind it but it seems to work. I do put the food in the tank every third day or so even if there is zero evidence they are going to eat it. I place it in after lights out so they will have access to it if they come out in their evening and when they come out early the next morning. If I get home from work and they have not eaten it,it goes to the juveniles so I do not waste any food.

I go with a fruit and lettuce mix that is served with boiled egg and boiled chicken and sometimes finely chopped raw beef (if I have a steak for my dinner I just cut off a small chunk to prepare for the little guys) or steamed shrimp.
 

terryo

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I start off my hatchlings like Yvonne. I put them in a small plastic tub and add a cube of worms. They come in a frozen package with little cubes. I defrost one in warm water and start them on that. As they get older I offer some ground venison with chopped veggies and fruit.
 

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