What do terripins eat?!
What do terripins eat?
Answers:
Terrapins are carnivores and in the wild they eat almost exclusively live prey in water. For heavens sakes don't think they eat what tortoises do. Sadly, I know of at least one that died when its owner fed it only vegetable matter; by the time the family concerned came to me for advice, the poor beast was past saving.
There are terrapin/turtle food brands, but these ar not always easy to find in shops. Some of these are based on shrimp, which is quite good, but all such foods should always be used in conjunction with occasional live or at least different foods.
It is important that uneaten food is removed once it is clear the terrapins have no (further) interest in it because food is almost as bad as poo for encouraging unwanted bacteria to grow in their water.
If you find your terrapin is not feeding well despite always being in the right temperature range and light levels, clean water etc, then there are some strategies you can adopt to make feeding more attractive. First, don't feed cooked meat: most terrapins regard that as second rate, although many will eat it when really hungry. Generally, make your offerings as close to what a wild terrapin might encounter: small worms, small fish, tadpoles and other small aquatic freshwater animals. A good ploy is using live and active food which doesn't go off as quickly. For example, young terrapins might eat bloodworms commonly fed to aquarium fish. Larger terrapins however often ignore small fry like bloodworms and are more interested in larger bait, like fish, shrimps, frogs etc. If you have any qualms about feeding live food to your terrapin, you've bought the wrong pet and should find someone who will look after it properly, or ask if the shop from which you bought it will take it back.
Easily available food which terrapins don't so often turn their nose up at include oily fish, this is good because it contains some vitamin D, eg: fresh mackerel, tinned sardines etc, even tuna; indeed many other types of fish as long as they are not in any sort of sauce or spices, or heavily smoked. Also shellfish if not flavoured or over-processed or too salty. Some terrapins like small pieces of bloody raw meat or offal, maybe cut from your own food before it is cooked.
Source(s):
more info on terrapins as pets
http://www.infinityjunction.com/petscorn...