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Chinemys reevesii are mostly carnivorous. In the wild they feed on insect larvae, small fish, small snails and mollusks.
Our turtles get whole small fishes (with bones), shrimps, gammarus, bloodworms, sometimes JBL Energil,
a mix of dried fish, and mostly turtle pudding we prepare once every three month. We tried to offer
living food, but it was ignored by the turtles as well as other small fish who share the tank with them.
Not recommended is pellet food as sold in pet stores, it contains up to 40% protein. Oily fish, beef or
cat food are not suitable as well.
We don't use dietary supplements to provide vitamins since
we are convinced that they are not necessary if the diet is well balanced. If the dosage is wrong they can even be a
danger for the health of the animals. The same applies to calcium supplements, it is better to
provide cuttlefish bone the turtles can gnaw an, this way they regulate their intake themselves.
It is easy to overfeed the turtles. It has to be considered that they don't find the ideal food supply
in the wild every day. Accordingly we feed 5 times a week at maximum.
Recipe for turtle pudding
Ingredients for 2 litres:
400 ml water
10 packages of gelatin pulver
one trout
other small fresh water fishes if available
200 g shrimps, crabs, clams, squid, or the like
100 g chicken liver
1 egg
250 ml milk
a glass of baby food (vegetable mash)
The chicken liver provides minerals and can be used as a replacement for fish liver
or fish offal respectively.
The gelatin must be dissolved in the water, and is then put aside for 20 minutes.
In the meantime the other ingredients are minced. The pap is then mixed with the
baby food, the milk and the egg.
After 20 minutes the gelatine must be heated until it is dissolved completely. Then it
has to be stirred into the pap.
The pudding can now be filled into containers to cool off. When it is stiff it can be
cut into daily portions and can then be frozen.
We take a portion from the freezer the night before we want to feed it and let it defrost slowly
in the fridge.
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