what to feed razorback musk turtles

Here are some foods to choose from for your Razor-backed Musk turtle:

• Aquatic snails
• Black Soldier fly larvae
• Bloodworms
• Canned snails
• Chopped mussels
• Cockles
• Commercial turtle pellets

Full Answer

What do Razorback musk turtles eat?

The razorback musk turtles will eat commercially made turtle food such as Mazuri Aquatic Turtle Diet, frozen bloodworm, freshwater fish, cockle, mussels, snails, cockroaches, crickets, mealworms, and earthworms. This species will also accept duckweed. (Ensure that the food is chopped into small manageable bits.)

Can musk turtles eat catfish pellets?

An interesting observation is that musk turtles seem to crawl along the bottom of their cage looking for food, so food that sinks tends to be far more readily accepted than anything that floats. Catfish pellets have been designed specifically for bottom-feeding fish. They can therefore represent a cheap and easy food source for your musk turtle.

Do musk turtles need calcium?

And since the shell of a turtle is made out of bones, the calcium is even more important for turtles than for any other animal. Vegetables are one of the main sources of calcium that a musk turtle has, so making sure that you feed them vegetables with high amounts of calcium is important.

Why won’t my musk turtle eat vegetables?

When they are at those life stages they are growing a lot faster than adult musk turtles, and to grow this fast they need a lot of protein that they get from meat. So eating vegetables or anything else won’t do them any good. If your musk turtle is you then it’s perfectly normal that it won’t eat vegetables.

How often do you feed a razorback musk turtle?

Feed adult specimens once every two days, providing as much food as the turtle can eat in a few seconds before slowing down.

What is the best food for a musk turtle?

They are primarily carnivorous, although they do sometimes eat certain algae. In captivity, providing a varied diet will help to ensure that they remain happy and healthy. Commercial turtle pellets fed alongside high-protein foods such as earthworms, crickets, fish and shrimp are a good choice.

How do you feed musk turtles?

Diet. The musk turtle will eat a range of aquatic foods, meat products and livefood. They can also be fed dried foods when the fresh or live options are not available. The dried food should be created with shrimp or meat protien rather than vegetation.

How much water does a razorback musk turtle need?

Razorback Musk Turtle habitat setup You will need the following: Provide 10 gallons of water for every inch of shell length. (5-6 inch shell = 50- 60 gallons of water.) Aquarium either glass or acrylic.

Can you feed musk turtles cucumber?

Avoid feeding your turtles vegetables that contain little to no nutritional value, such as mushrooms, cucumbers, and eggplants.

What human food can musk turtles eat?

Shredded carrots, squash, and zucchini are great foods that turtles can eat, too. You can also go with edible aquatic vegetation such as water lettuce, water hyacinth, and duckweed. “For fruits, consider shredded apples and melons, as well as chopped berries,” recommends Dr. Starkey.

How long can musk turtles go without food?

In terms of days, a turtle can survive around 160 days without food. However, they must also have access to water during this time period as well as a healthy amount of light.

Do musk turtles need light at night?

Many turtle owners wonder if they need to keep the light on in their turtle's tank at night. Luckily, the answer to that is no. Your turtle will be just fine if the light is turned off during night time hours.

Can musk turtles eat mealworms?

As for treats mine love crickets, river shrimp, aquatic snails, wax worm and mealworms. If they are big enough to tackle it locusts. They get a treat no more than once a week, insted of that days feed.

How long can a razorback musk turtle stay out of water?

Generally speaking, a turtle can go about 8 hours without water in a warm and dry environment.

How long do Razorback musk turtles live in captivity?

20 yearsRazorback Musk Turtle Sternotherus carinatus Lifespan: Average 20 years but can double this! Diet: They're omnivores eating turtle food, live foods and aquatic plants like edola and duckweed.

Do Razorback musk turtles stink?

These reptiles got the name “musk turtle” because of a special adaptation they have. They have glands around the edges of their shells that release a chemical with an unpleasant odor, like musk, to deter predators.

Can musk turtles eat fish food?

Fish food is safe for turtles to eat, but it should not be part of their main diet. Fish food is not toxic to turtles and you do not have to fear if your turtle does end up eating a few bites worth.

Can musk turtles eat mealworms?

As for treats mine love crickets, river shrimp, aquatic snails, wax worm and mealworms. If they are big enough to tackle it locusts. They get a treat no more than once a week, insted of that days feed.

Can musk turtles eat dried mealworms?

Freeze dried meal worms are an excellent food source for your aquatic and box turtles, and offer the natural nutrition they require. Being preservative and additive-free, dried mealworms will help keep your turtles healthy and happy.

Can musk turtles eat chicken?

The simple answer is yes; turtles can eat chicken. However, different species of turtles feed on other things. The structure of the turtle's jaw determines the type of food they eat. Most turtles can eat chicken in their early life then move to become herbivorous later in life.

What do you feed a razorback musk turtle?

You can feed your Razorback Musk Turtle a high quality commercial pelleted diet for turtles. Supplement the commercial diet with feeder fish, crickets, roaches, mealworms, bloodworms, and earthworms. You can also follow their wild diet and provide your turtle with snails, mussels and aquatic insects, as well as non-toxic aquatic plants like duckweed.

How deep should a baby musk turtle be?

However, baby turtles can do well in water that is quite shallow at just 4-6” deep.

What is the biggest musk turtle?

The Razorback Musk Turtle is the biggest type of Musk Turtle. It is a species that is nearly entirely aquatic, but these turtles will come out of the water to bask occasionally. Also, because they even walk along the bottom of their tank, they are a delight to watch.

What color are baby musk turtles?

Baby Razorback Musk Turtles will showcase a tan or cream color with brown spots on the shell and body. As these turtles grow, their shell starts to darken into a brown color, and there will be darker rings around your pet’s scutes as well. The body will turn into a gray color, and there will be spots on the legs and head.

Where do razorback musk turtles live?

Native Habitat. The Razorback Musk Turtle is found in areas throughout the United States. The states where these turtles are found include Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana. These turtles prefer swamps and slow-moving rivers. They can also be found in streams and in shallow ponds that have a lot of vegetation.

What temperature should a basking tank be?

Set the temperature in the basking area anywhere from the mid 80s to low 90s Fahrenheit, whereas the rest of the air temperature in the tank should be 75-83°F.

Can you have a painted turtle and a slider turtle?

You can house these turtles with Sliders, Cooters, and Painted Turtles. These species will often live together peacefully, particularly if they are all around the same size. If you are planning on housing more than one Musk Turtle in the same tank, be careful that they do not show aggression towards one another.

1. High Protein Content Food

The first thing you need to know about feeding your musk turtles is that they should be fed high protein diets. It means turtles’ diet should contain more than 15% protein. The best sources of proteins are:

2. Fruits And Vegetables

Musk turtles are omnivores. That means that they will eat both fruits and vegetables.

3. Commercial Foods

Some musk turtles like to eat commercial foods. This option is ideal for those who live in areas where it is difficult to find fresh foods.

4. Turtle Food Mixes

Another option for feeding your Musk Turtles is to make your mixture of foods. This way, you can control what goes into the mix and ensure that it contains all the nutrients your turtle needs.

5. Algae

Algae is one of the best sources of nutrients for Musk Turtles. You can also buy algae supplements for your Musk Turtles. Algae is an excellent source of minerals and vitamins.

6. Freshwater

Your musk turtles need clean and fresh water to stay healthy. They may not drink as much as other species, but they still require plenty of water.

6 things you might not know about your baby Razor Back Musk Turtle care

Razor Back Musk Turtles can grow up to 5 inches in length. Most range from 4 to 4.5 inches. (10-12 cm)

Musk Turtle Care – Musk Turtle Temperature & Humidity

Keeping the right temperature and humidity is very important to ensure your turtle’s life quality is second to none.

Turtle store offers the best tortoises and turtles for sale!

Here at the turtle store, we offer a wide variety of aquatic turtles for sale . Some of our most popular water turtles for sale include Slider turtles for sale, and mud turtles for sale . In addition to these freshwater turtles for sale, we also offer pond turtles for sale .

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All of the baby turtles for sale and adult turtle for sale here at the turtle store are 100% captive bred. Our baby turtle for sale inventory includes some of the most colorful, hand-raised captive-bred turtles for sale you will ever find.

How long does it take for musk turtles to eat roaches?

A better alternative here is known as “gut loading”. A mineral-rich supplement is fed to feeder insects like crickets or roaches for 24-48 hours, before the insects themselves are fed to your musk turtles. When your turtle eats the insect, they also benefit from all the nutrients inside the gut. Sale.

What do musk turtles eat?

While musk turtles may eat the odd piece of pond weed in the wild , their diet is almost exclusively made up of meat. In captivity, this carnivorous diet can be supplemented with a number of specially-made turtle foods, which can make feeding your musk turtle much easier. Here are some of the best foods for your musk turtle:

How to feed a musk turtle?

Placing food onto dry land very rarely elicits a feeding response in musk turtles. Instead, drop the food into the water infront of your turtle. If your turtle is hungry then it should start feeding rapidly. Note that some musk turtles can be quite shy.

What kind of worms do turtles have?

Also available from aquarium shops are live bloodworms. These small, red aquatic worms are typically bought in a sealed plastic bag. Just snip the corner off and pour the bloodworms into your turtle tank.

Can you feed musk turtles raw fish?

Most human-safe fish can be fed to your musk turtles – either raw or cooked. Note that marine fish can be very high in salt so it is advisable to only feed these occasionally. In contrast, freshwater fish like salmon or trout should be safe to feed routinely.

Do musk turtles eat in water?

Observations in the wild have found that musk turtles do almost all their eating in the water – not on land. Furthermore, studies have shown that when the water temperature drops below 18’C musk turtles simply stop eating. The first step in feeding musk turtles is therefore ensuring that their water is warm enough.

Can musk turtles eat mussels?

Some keepers have found that bivalves like cockles and mussels are also readily accepted by musk turtles. Once again, however, be sure to limit the intake to avoid increasing sodium levels too rapidly.

What do musk turtles eat?

What Vegetables Can Musk Turtles Eat? Written by Phyllis Kramer in Care Guides, Turtle Facts. Musk turtles love to eat, usually they will eat everything that you put in front of them, and this includes vegetables. But just because they can eat them, it doesn’t mean that every vegetable is good for them.

Why doesn't my musk turtle eat?

The only reason it doesn’t eat is because it’s used to other types of food, that are not as healthy, but a lot more tasty. After a couple weeks or a month of using this method, your musk turtle will start eating vegetables soon enough, and in the end it will also start to enjoy some of them.

Why do turtles have a lot of phosphorus?

Phosphorus is what gives turtle shells a little flexibility, which is great because this little extra flexibility makes them more resistant to bites and other types of impact. But too much phosphorus can also make the shell too soft, and as a result much weaker when it comes to defending the turtle from predators.

How to stop turtles from eating meat?

Start by reducing the amount of food that you give it and replacing it with vegetables. If it still doesn’t eat, replace more of its food with vegetables. Do this until it starts eating the vegetables.

Can you give musk turtles salad?

For example instead of giving your musk turtle iceberg salad, you could give it greenleaf salad which contains a lot ...

Can you feed musk turtles iceberg salad?

If in the past you used to feed your musk turtle some of those less nutritional vegetables, there is no problem, as I said they won’t harm your tulte.

Do turtles eat vegetables?

In general vegetables are regarded as great food sources that can help any person or animal maintain good health, but turtles don’t benefit in the same way from vegetables as we do. Some of the vitamins and nutrients from vegetables that help people remain healthy have little to no beneficial effect for turtles.

klomez321

I got two juvenile razorback Musk turtles from turtleshack.com about two months ago .

kingcobra

I got two juvenile razorback Musk turtles from turtleshack.com about two months ago .

klomez321

Thanks for the reply. I have a 29 gallon tank. Yes, I will try the other kinds and some live food and let you know. I hope their not sick, I'm new to this and dont know what to do... Very sad

Joe S

I would try HIkari sinking carnivore waffers. Many others and myself have seen stubborn musk turtles eat these with out hesitation. Even if they have not gone for floating food items. This has worked very well with a few of my animals.

Curtis

I would also leave them in their tank until they start eating. You may disturbing them too much by moving them.

kingcobra

setup sounds good .. do you have a strong filter ? using uvb lighting ? heater ? also did they not eat anything in 2 months what so ever ? i was wondering how long they could survive without eating ... the razorbacks walk usually they dont swim alot ... also the basking is quit rare ... mostly done at night when you wont see it happening ...

klomez321

setup sounds good .. do you have a strong filter ? using uvb lighting ? heater ? also did they not eat anything in 2 months what so ever ? i was wondering how long they could survive without eating ... the razorbacks walk usually they dont swim alot ... also the basking is quit rare ... mostly done at night when you wont see it happening ...