What do people feed their mud turtles?

[Moozillion]

OK.
My Eastern mud turtle loves salmon but that can't continue. I'm not giving her catfish anymore except as an occasional treat due to the thiaminase issue.
The specialist vet wants me to get her to eat more greens, but she doesn't even acknowledge them, much less eat them.
She ate Hikari Sinking Carnivore Wafers as a baby, but won't touch them now.
I've tried floating Cichlid pellets, per the excellent article pinned at the top of this section, but she ignores them.
I've given her a smallish worm which she was very excited about: she bit it into pieces but didn't eat it. So apparently only good for entertainment.
She eats guppies but it's a long, slow process that results in the guppy being mangled alive before being eaten. That is just too gross FOR ME.

Do I just need to give her more worms and insects, and stick with the formulated turtle food and use a little "tough love" for all of it???

 

[mark1]

while i don't feed mud turtles , i doubt vegetables make up much of their diet ....... i do have blanding's turtles that will occassionally eat duckweed or take a bite of water hyacinth ....... when I've kept water turtles indoors , I would get them to eat in a separate small tupperware container .it kept their water cleaner , made it easier for them to catch live stuff , made it easier for me to monitor what they ate ..... as far as what i'd imagine they would eat ,I would guess crickets , might want to try cut worms , the smell of blood kinda gets their appetite up ,you could try frozen pinkie mice thawed in salmon juice , if you get a liquid vitamin from your vet you can get a syringe and inject the vitamins in frozen pinkies or worms once you get him eating them , just be careful of the dose , and I would only do it once in awhile , I use small bird vitamins ...... beef liver , I like when turtles coming out of or going into hibernation eat it , and they all seem to eat it when they'll eat nothing else , I wouldn't feed it all the time , but once a week , lots of good stuff for them in beef liver ........

 

[Yelloweyed]

I have 3 adult muds and 2 yearling muds. They readily eat assorted pellets. All muds except for two of the adult muds love to eat earthworms and the occasional cooked chicken. Only one adult mud eats duckweed (that I can tell). I think the assorted ‘enriched’ pellet foods provide a balanced diet.

 

[enchilada]

Your vet suggested vegetable to mud turtle ? Well it’s time to fire your vet and find a new guy .

 

[Moozillion]

Your vet suggested vegetable to mud turtle ? Well it’s time to fire your vet and find a new guy .

Nope.
Not gonna happen.
He saved her life.
I may not follow ALL his suggestions, but he’s da MAN in my book.

(PS: the last time I checked, ALL human beings are imperfect! [emoji6])

 

[Pearly]

OK.
My Eastern mud turtle loves salmon but that can't continue. I'm not giving her catfish anymore except as an occasional treat due to the thiaminase issue.
The specialist vet wants me to get her to eat more greens, but she doesn't even acknowledge them, much less eat them.
She ate Hikari Sinking Carnivore Wafers as a baby, but won't touch them now.
I've tried floating Cichlid pellets, per the excellent article pinned at the top of this section, but she ignores them.
I've given her a smallish worm which she was very excited about: she bit it into pieces but didn't eat it. So apparently only good for entertainment.
She eats guppies but it's a long, slow process that results in the guppy being mangled alive before being eaten. That is just too gross FOR ME.

Do I just need to give her more worms and insects, and stick with the formulated turtle food and use a little "tough love" for all of it???

Hey Bea, if the guy whom you TRUST says greens, try the greens. In my experience with feeding small reptile you knowing what she likes and what she loves to eat is already ½ of the battle won for you. Try to process some fresh (or cooked, whatever she likes best) salmon or catfish into a coarse paste, chop up your greens (very finely) and mix into that fish paste just a little bit the first time, then increase the ratio of greens every couple days. It may take you some time but she should catch on. She may never become a vegetarian and I don’t think we want her to, it sounds to me like the vet wants to give her a very wide variety to cover all of her nutritional needs. Also pelleted food, I add some pelleted food to my torts’ fresh meals all the time. Mine love those pellets, Mazuri and others. When introducing new healthy foods I usually mix in some soaked pellets just to coat that new food with that familiar flavor kinda like a salad dressing

 

[cdmay]

Hiya Mooz!
I tend to agree with Enchilada about the vet, but then I understand that you hold him in high esteem. Fair enough.
OK, so you need to get greens into your muddy? Do this, gut-load something.
Gut-loading is a process long used by both reptile goons and tropical fish keepers where you feed the greens you want to get into your primary animal---in this case Jacques, ---by feeding the greens to something that Jacques will then consume. Thereby she obtains said greens via the feeder animal.
So if Jacques likes feeder guppies, feed them spirulina algae or something like that. If Jacques will take mealworms, jam them with greens before they get fed to her. See what I mean?
In general mud and musk turtles will not take 'greens' directly and so you need to get creative.
To be honest, I'm not the slightest bit worried about Jacques not getting enough greens. But if you really wanted to make the effort that is what I would suggest.
As for Jacques rejecting food items she used to relish, or at least eat, this too is simple....it's because she isn't that hungry. Look, it is very early spring and native mud turtles aren't even eating in the wild. Since Jacques is wild caught there is likely an instinct in her telling telling her not to eat now anyway.
We have this feral cat that showed up a year or so ago. I named him Uglycat.


He was dirty and covered in scabs and other crud. But (according to my wife) I made the stupid mistake of feeding him some leftover chicken wings late one night during a driving rainstorm.
It's weird, but the VERY NEXT NIGHT, Uglycat showed up again. Who knew? So he got more leftovers that this time included prime rib. From then on Uglycat showed up and got proper cat food. But then after a month he had put on some good weight and actually looked somewhat less grotesque. We put the cat food out and guess what? He snubbed it! Oh yes, Mr. Uglycat wanted more chicken wings, or prime rib, or scrambled eggs.
When we refused to give over the chicken wings he wasn't too happy...


He was like, "Hey man, hand over the chicken wings and prime rib ,or else!"
Jacques is acting in the same way, "Gimme the good stuff"

 

[SteveW]

I feed my Red-cheeked mud (and other aquatics, for that matter) these as part of the rotation:



They have salmon for that appealing fish smell, but also kelp and spirulina, for the veggies.

 

[cdmay]

I feed my Red-cheeked mud (and other aquatics, for that matter) these as part of the rotation:

View attachment 234279

They have salmon for that appealing fish smell, but also kelp and spirulina, for the veggies.

This is an excellent suggestion. I forgot all about the numerous high quality fish foods that are vegetable based.

 

[mark1]

I've known a lot of dog vets that don't really know much about feeding dogs , and dogs all eat the same stuff ....... I actually know some exceptional dog vets and I've never asked their advice on feeding my dogs , honestly I've never ask any vet I've ever had about feeding my dogs , with the exception of some tips on neonate problems and a repro guy .....wasn't long ago 99% of them would tell you feeding raw was not safe or healthy ..... your vet told you he never saw many mud turtles , more important he impressed you and obviously he actually cared , personally that'd be what i'd be looking for ....... my herp vet doesn't need to know all the stuff I know about these turtles , he just needs to know his part , if I knew his part I wouldn't need him ...........

 

[Moozillion]

Hiya Mooz!
I tend to agree with Enchilada about the vet, but then I understand that you hold him in high esteem. Fair enough.
OK, so you need to get greens into your muddy? Do this, gut-load something.
Gut-loading is a process long used by both reptile goons and tropical fish keepers where you feed the greens you want to get into your primary animal---in this case Jacques, ---by feeding the greens to something that Jacques will then consume. Thereby she obtains said greens via the feeder animal.
So if Jacques likes feeder guppies, feed them spirulina algae or something like that. If Jacques will take mealworms, jam them with greens before they get fed to her. See what I mean?
In general mud and musk turtles will not take 'greens' directly and so you need to get creative.
To be honest, I'm not the slightest bit worried about Jacques not getting enough greens. But if you really wanted to make the effort that is what I would suggest.
As for Jacques rejecting food items she used to relish, or at least eat, this too is simple....it's because she isn't that hungry. Look, it is very early spring and native mud turtles aren't even eating in the wild. Since Jacques is wild caught there is likely an instinct in her telling telling her not to eat now anyway.
We have this feral cat that showed up a year or so ago. I named him Uglycat.
View attachment 234274

He was dirty and covered in scabs and other crud. But (according to my wife) I made the stupid mistake of feeding him some leftover chicken wings late one night during a driving rainstorm.
It's weird, but the VERY NEXT NIGHT, Uglycat showed up again. Who knew? So he got more leftovers that this time included prime rib. From then on Uglycat showed up and got proper cat food. But then after a month he had put on some good weight and actually looked somewhat less grotesque. We put the cat food out and guess what? He snubbed it! Oh yes, Mr. Uglycat wanted more chicken wings, or prime rib, or scrambled eggs.
When we refused to give over the chicken wings he wasn't too happy...
View attachment 234277

He was like, "Hey man, hand over the chicken wings and prime rib ,or else!"
Jacques is acting in the same way, "Gimme the good stuff"

Thanks SO MUCH for the suggestions, cdmay!!!!! I like that approach!!!!

HAHAHAHA!!!!!! I LOVE the story of Uglycat!!!! I assume he's now a family member?

 

[Moozillion]

I feed my Red-cheeked mud (and other aquatics, for that matter) these as part of the rotation:

View attachment 234279

They have salmon for that appealing fish smell, but also kelp and spirulina, for the veggies.

THANKS, SteveW!!!

 

[Moozillion]

I've known a lot of dog vets that don't really know much about feeding dogs , and dogs all eat the same stuff ....... I actually know some exceptional dog vets and I've never asked their advice on feeding my dogs , honestly I've never ask any vet I've ever had about feeding my dogs , with the exception of some tips on neonate problems and a repro guy .....wasn't long ago 99% of them would tell you feeding raw was not safe or healthy ..... your vet told you he never saw many mud turtles , more important he impressed you and obviously he actually cared , personally that'd be what i'd be looking for ....... my herp vet doesn't need to know all the stuff I know about these turtles , he just needs to know his part , if I knew his part I wouldn't need him ...........

When we were in for our first appointment, he was looking at the shape of her carapace. He said that it curves down very abruptly at her butt, which CAN mean they have had a diet too high in protein, which is why he mentioned the veggies. He hasn't mentioned them again, so I don't think he feels it's critical that she get veggies, I just figure in the wild she would be eating anything that would fit in her mouth, regardless of veggie or animal.
(My perfectionist tendencies...)

 

[Moozillion]

I found out about an interesting thing on an aquarium page I follow on FaceBook. Some people feed their pet aquatic snails something called Snello: it's basically JELLO that people make themselves using unflavored gelatin or agar!!! It's much less messy than a paste because the gelatin hold it all together. So I'm already thinking of yummy combinations to make for her: Earthworm and Kale Jello! Salmon and Collards Jello!!!

 

[Aeon]

Your vet suggested vegetable to mud turtle ? Well it’s time to fire your vet and find a new guy .

Hahaaaha Brilliantly put

 

[Aeon]

Hi @Moozillion

You could try drying some salmon then powdering it into dust.
Get her out onto dry land and dust the kelp or whatever greens you have for her with the powdered salmon.
In a similar way you would dust the vit A/B powder and calcium ect.

Failing that you can try dubia cockroaches. I have yet to meet an omnivorous reptile turn them down.
GUT load em for three days feeding them NOTHING but ONE Green and again on dry land let one go and see her chase them down!
With their bellies full of kelp she too inadvertently gets a belly full of kelp

Hope this helps

 

[Yelloweyed]

Any updates or changes to Jacques’ diet?

 

[Moozillion]

Any updates or changes to Jacques’ diet?

Sadly, Jacques declined and was euthanized.
I requested a necropsy and am waiting on the results.
Thank you for asking about her.

 

[Yelloweyed]

I’m so sorry to hear that. She was a delight to watch!

 

[PJay]

Sadly, Jacques declined and was euthanized.
I requested a necropsy and am waiting on the results.
Thank you for asking about her.

Sorry to hear the bad news.