I've been keeping turtles (usually Sliders and Painteds) on and off for over ten years now. Now i recently acquired two male Map Turtles (one Mississippi and one Texas) and one 'Stinkpot'. Their diet usually consists of about 70% Reptomin, 10% Lettuce/Strawberry/Grapes, and the remaining 20% either some form of live food like Rosy reds, Earthworms and gut loaded crickets, or some form of commercially package treats like freeze dried Mealworms, Krill or River shrimp. My question is, is Reptomin a good STAPLE food for your Turtles? I ask because i've heard that there are other brands of dried foods out there that ppl have found that are better. What do you guys use?
No. Those commercial foods should never comprise the majority of the diet. I use reptomin as a treat but nothing else. I would stop a lot of the fruits for your turtles and instead use more live foods, lettuces (not iceberg!), etc and use the reptomin maybe every other feeding.
Well i feed them every other day anyway. Reptomin as a treat seems a little extreme seeing as how it's been used for many, many years by breeders of Turtles, Newts and Aquatic Frogs successfully. I know it's not good just to feed them these commercial foods exclusively, but at least 60-70% seems quite responsible to me with all it's vitamin/calcium content .
No. It should be more like 25% or LESS. Find me one breeder who uses reptomin as the primary food source. None of my reptiles eat food from the pet store. There is no such thing as a perfect food in a can. I don't care what the pet store dolt told you or what you read on the can that stuff should never be the primary food source. Some of the main ingredients in reptomin is wheat starch, dried yeast, corn flour, wheat gluten, and potato protein. Ever hear of any wild turtles eating wheat and yeast? I didn't think so. It is one of the better treats but should NEVER be used as the primary source of food. If you still don't agree with me go to turtleforum.com and tell them your thoughts. My box turtles eat the following: leafy greens (mustard, collards, bok choy, endive, etc) apples tomatoes squash banana (treat) prickly pear fruit pears cherries grapes strawberries slugs worms pill bugs insects etc etc etc
I went to turtleforum.com and this was the bottomlne, and i quote: "Use Reptomin, Mazuri or another strong brand name commercial diet as a regular at least minority staple of the diet to insure a holistically complete diet." I translate that as more than 'just a treat' as you're claiming. Looks like turtleforum.com and i on on the same page.
I am not saying it is not fine to use but it should be a part of a balanced diet, not the majority of the diet. Common sense should tell you that. You do what you want but you're wrong.
I shall. Oh, and the two breeders that use Pellets as the staple of their Turtles diets are: www.theturtlesource.com www.turtlesale.com Two reputable breeders that have been doing it for decades.
