What is the best thing to feed them?
I give mine crickets/locusts/cockroach and giant mealies occasionally as well as the turtle pellets to balance his diet out etc but does anyone know of anything any different that they might like or is better for themm? ( :

That sounds pretty good to me. If they are eating that many insects you might consider grass sweepings. That's where you take a butterfly net and sweep it across any overgrown grass field... you can pick up a good variety of insects in this manner.

Also... any other worms you can purchase.

That would only add to the already decent variety you are providing.

Ed

__________________
Ed @ not allowed to post a link
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Snails, both aquatic and terrestrial, but preferably breed your own as wild caught snails are often heavily parasitised.
Freshwater shrimp, mussels, fish, lean meat, are all good but try not to overdo the protein.
You can try offering veg but it's unlikely they'll eat any, best to just put some aquatic plants in the tank, if they eat them that's good, if they don't then they'll just grow!

__________________
2.3.0 Southern Painted Turtles
1.0.0 Florida Red Belly
2.1.1 Common Musks
1.0.0 Classic Cornsnake
0.0.2 GALS + infinite babies
0.1.0 Tibetan Spaniel
1.2.0 Brahma Chickens

What would you consider 'overdoing the protein'?

I personally would not recommend the lean meat with all the other good stuff that you mentioned that is available. You basically doubled the list of readily available whole items mentioned in this thread.

Ed

__________________
Ed @ not allowed to post a link
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Anything more than the usual recommended amount, which is equivalent to the volume of their head. From experience this seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb, it's directly related to the size of the animal as it grows and is much better than simply "as much as they'll eat in X amount of time", or "X amount regardless of size" as you sometimes hear.

Lean meat is fine in moderation, same with all the other fresh high protein foods.

__________________
2.3.0 Southern Painted Turtles
1.0.0 Florida Red Belly
2.1.1 Common Musks
1.0.0 Classic Cornsnake
0.0.2 GALS + infinite babies
0.1.0 Tibetan Spaniel
1.2.0 Brahma Chickens

So... are you saying that the whole food items should not exceed the amount suggested (quantity the size of the head)?

I'm sorry if I missed it but was a feeding frequency mentioned?

Have you experienced what you thought was feeding 'too much' protein?

Graham... I'm not having a go at you. I'm asking questions based on my own mistakes both on the content of the topic and the presentation... your experience with water turtles beats mine hands down but I try to keep up through other folks experience where mine is lacking... been doing this all my life. Some complain I ask too many questions.

Ed

__________________
Ed @ not allowed to post a link
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I'd say if you feed them a single item that's actually bigger than their heads, like a pinkie or fuzzie for instance, then skip at least the next feeding session.

Feeding frequency is normally related to age, daily up to 1 year, then every other day, reducing to twice weekly by the age of 2 or 3. I try to feed an irregular pattern to my adult turts, sometimes I'll feed them 3 or 4 days apart, and sometimes 2 days in a row. When they get fed twice in a row they eat noticeably more veg later in the week, they have access to unlimited amounts of veg at all times.

Ive seen plenty of turts that have definitely been overfed on protein, some that could barely withdraw into their shells, and others with badly deformed shells, reducing the protein intake usually clears this up although it can take a long time in some cases.

__________________
2.3.0 Southern Painted Turtles
1.0.0 Florida Red Belly
2.1.1 Common Musks
1.0.0 Classic Cornsnake
0.0.2 GALS + infinite babies
0.1.0 Tibetan Spaniel
1.2.0 Brahma Chickens

Fantastic note... thank you.

On the overfeeding... Wouldn't that be fat more than protein if an animal cannot pull itself into the shell?

On the mbd or shell deformity... I disagree on that. I still think protein plays a minimal part in that.

Thanks again.

Ed

__________________
Ed @ not allowed to post a link
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Awesome thankyou : )
I've only had him a few weeks now but he seems to be pretty happy, so at least now I have things I can give to him if he seems to get bored of what he has already : )

We were advised to feed King British Turtle and Terrapin complete food,
but they don't seem all that keen on it.As you guys know we have no experience of turtles and i'm amazed that they will eat small mice (pinkies) or am i reading the above post by Graham wrongly.
Gerry.