Hello, My new is Hootie and I'm a Worm-Aholic.

Vengeance · 03-20-04, 09:36 PM

It's been 1 minute since my last worm

and I just can't seem to stop eating them. My keeper gives me vegtables and fruit and I'll eat them if he leaves them in for a few days and doesn't give me any worms. But I really don't want to eat them I just want my worms!

Seriously, is it ok for my turtle to only be eating worms, he does on occasion eat the fruits and vegetables I offer but only if I don't offer him any worms. I calcium and viteman suplment the worms before feeding but because the worms are live most of it falls off from the struggle while eating. Hootie has come a really long way since I rescued him, here is a picture of how his shell looked the day I got him...

He has got allot more energy, his shell is recovering quite nicely and he is just a joy to have around. I just want to make sure that if the primary stable in his diet is worms and they are calcium and vitaman supplemented will that be enough to keep him healthy?

Turtle Matt · 03-21-04, 06:51 PM

Cruciform · 03-21-04, 07:04 PM

Whoa! A reptile owner with 10 bucks just lying around. Somebody must know how to budget!

beth wallbank · 03-21-04, 11:07 PM

Heeheeh.............too cute. he looks like he is addicted to those dew worms. Godd luck with him. Try other insects though to cary his diet.

claycoke11 · 03-21-04, 11:23 PM

Its imprtant to have a variety of foods ie.fruits veggies,turtle pellets,crickets,WORMS,fish but yah worms are ok.
Yah its ok for worms to be a main food source as long as they do get other things mine loves banana but its messy but his main food source is pellets,and fish

Dani33 · 03-21-04, 11:39 PM

His shell looks so much better. Congrats!

rattekonigin · 03-21-04, 11:44 PM

That looks like an alligator snapping turtle to me...in which case, it probably isn't too fond of most fruits and vegetables, being that snappers are primarily aquatic...

I got this feeding info from this webpage on snapper care:
http://www.kyherpsoc.org/services/sn...turtlecare.htm

"Common snapping turtles are omnivorous. Other than commercial pellets, try offering a variety of fresh foods as well. They will accept appropriately sized minnows, gold fish, crayfish and pond snails. The young are very fond of mealworms, guppies and ghost shrimp. Young and adult alike appreciate night crawlers. Chicken meat, beef heart, turkey, and fish slabs are all good to offer as well. A surprisingly large amount of the diet should consist of vegetation as well. Try giving out romaine lettuce, mustard greens, elodea, water hyacinths; and some will even take strawberries, apple and banana on occasion (although these items should only be offered periodically). Turtle, trout and catfish chows can be given, but these items should not make up the entire food intake"

Vengeance · 03-22-04, 07:56 AM

Very far from a snapping turtle

He is a Black Breasted Leaf Turtle.

http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/Gspenglericare.htm

I think I'll start offering some crickets as well. I abit hessistant to offer meal worms, he has eaten them before, but he first time he regeratated them, it was also his first worm ever to eat, so might be worth trying again. He loves to chase the nightcrawlers around I think he'll have a ball with the crickets. I heard bannana was bad, he loves bannana but I heard it can give them diareha(sp?). I've tried orange, apple, carrort, bannana, watermelon, strawberries, grapes and letuce. None of them get the same reaction to when i put a worm in there or he just ignores it completly untill he gets a worm. Thanks for the advice.

rattekonigin · 03-22-04, 10:11 AM

Wow, looks so much like a snapper! (to me, anyway)...serrated carapace, long tail...neat turtle, at any rate...

Although, come to think of it...I really should have noticed that his head was pulled in in that second photo...

Duh...my bad! Sorry!

Vengeance · 03-22-04, 10:27 AM

No harm no foul. My parents got him for me when I was too young to understand how to properly care for him. He is a land turtle and lived in a tank of nothing but water anda rock to sit on for about 8 - 10 years. He had no where to move and was living off turtle pelets. When I got my Ball python and I was doing my research before hand I learned how people don't take care of their animals they way they should so I thought that mabye this little turtle my parents picked up for me out of china town wasn't supposed to live like that. I was right and I hope to give him a much better life for a long time to come.

Turtle Matt · 03-22-04, 12:17 PM

Vengeance · 03-22-04, 03:10 PM

Actually Turtle Matt as per your suggestion I read a couple of care sheets on the care of Box Turtles and they have very diffrent needs. Although the care sheet I posted says that leaf turtles bask. I've read others that say they don't. Also the behavior of my turtle suggests that they don't either. I never see him sitting under neath the area where the lamp shines down. Also 85 - 90o F is not good for them either because they don't like heat. Room tempature is just fine and that is what I keep mine at.

Also another thing is that the leaf turtle requires very high hummidity, that is why I keep him on Sphagnum moss, that and the fact that it doesn't hurt for him to ingest some of the moss. He needs to be kept at about 90 - 100% hummidity at all times.

Diet is the same in that they should be eating fruits and vegtables. But worms are also noted as a good stable in their diet.

Vengeance · 03-22-04, 06:45 PM

You guys were right about the crickets, I picked up a dozen on the way home from work, dusted them and tossed them in the cage and he went right after them. But one cricket was smarter then the average cricket, take a look for yourself.....

lol, Cricket made it on to hootie's back. I'm sure the cricket is like, "now if I just stay on his back he cant eat me"

Bighead · 03-22-04, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cruciform
Whoa! A reptile owner with 10 bucks just lying around. Somebody must know how to budget!

Sad how true that is. Lol.