Learn what your pet turtle likes to eat!

And, best of all, your pet turtle doesn’t leave any mess around the yard; looking after a pet turtle is about as easy as having a pet rock … Except that he does love to eat!

If you have a pet turtle you will know the truth to the saying, ‘the way to his heart, is through his stomach’. Red eared slider turtles are notorious for their appetites. These pets are known to beg and beg for food and are at high risk of being overfed.

There are a lot of misconceptions as to how much one can feed and what is safe to feed to one’s pet turtle. This simple guide will help you to discover what is essential in your turtle’s diet for its health and also some easy ideas to safely add variety to your turtle’s diet.

Red eared slider turtles start out mostly carnivorous and become more herbivorous as they grow in age and size. The protein intake of your pet turtle will be higher when it is younger. Calcium is essential throughout the red eared slider’s life to keep its shell hard and accommodate for growth.

Fundamentally, your turtle’s food should consist of commercial pellets and the appropriate vegetables and calcium. Turtle food needs to be presented to your pet inside water because turtles cannot produce saliva to swallow with. You can choose to feed your pet turtle inside a separate container from its tank, which will leave less waste and mess in your turtle tank.

So here are some turtle food ideas and guidelines broken into step by step instructions.

My Pet Turtle is a real show off, especially after a good meal!

Pet Turtle Pellets

Pellets should make up most of your turtle’s diet. For hatchlings and under one year turtles, feed them daily as they need the food to grow! One yearling and older turtles should be fed every other day.

The guidelines on turtle food packets vary, so a standard you should apply for your pet turtle is one feeding in the size of your turtle’s head (excluding the neck). Red eared slider turtles always beg for more, but it is very dangerous to indulge them. It will create an excess of protein that will damage its growth and more waste in your turtle tank.

Greens and Vegetables For Pet Turtles

Vegetables have great offerings of calcium, vitamin k and a. As red eared sliders get older they should be offered more and more vegetables in their diet, 75% of its diet can be plant based. Here are suggested veggies and greens your pet turtle will like to eat:

• These plants are beneficial and can be offered daily: dandelion leaves, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, turnip greens (the leaves only).
• Other vegetables and greens can make up a moderate part of your pet turtle’s food: carrots, green bean, kale, celery, pumpkin, squash, sweet potato, and zucchini.
• And a rare part of your turtle’s food: iceberg lettuce, mustard greens, red pepper, and tomato.
• And these foods should be avoided as they can be harmful to your pet turtle: amaranth, beet greens, bok choi, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, celery, chives, mushrooms, parsley, peas, rhubarb, spinach.

Always at home in the water, a pet turtle is about the best pet you can have in my opinion!

Red eared sliders love eating live prey. It can be a lot of fun for both owner and turtle, but this food doesn’t necessarily offer any nutritional benefits to your pet turtle and could harbor parasite or diseases. This section is best to make up a rare treat portions of your turtle’s diet.

This can introduce some interesting entertainment to your turtle tank, but should be kept to limited amounts. Be careful that what you offer won’t be difficult for your pet turtle to swallow. Also be aware of taking worms from a neighbor’s garden that may use herbicides, pesticides or chemicals.

• Limited use live prey your pet turtle can eat include: apple snails, pond snails, guppies, red rose minnows, crickets, earthworms and silkworms.
• Live prey you can feed your Red Slider turtle rarely: mosquito larvae, ghost shrimp, brine shrimp and waxworms.
• Live prey not recommended for your pet turtle include: crayfish, goldfish, mealworms, slugs and tubifex worms.

Commercial Pet Turtle Treats (canned, processed, frozen)

• Frozen foods are a fairly safe turtle food because they should be parasite free. They can be a good treat to entice your red eared slider to eat.
• Moderate: bloodworms and crickets.
• Use rarely: brine shrimp, feeder fish, gammarus (shrimp) and krill.
• Frozen foods not recommended: mealworms, snails and tubifex worms.

So there you have a few ideas to keep your pet turtle happy through its stomach. Remember, feeding time is one of the most exciting times inside a turtle tank so a healthy variety will not only keep him healthy, but happy too. Follow these tips and your pet turtle will love you dearly for feeding him with an amphibian gourmet diet!

If possible, you should ideally brush your pet’s teeth daily (as you should with your own teeth!), but even performing the regimen at least once a week will help prevent tooth decay and gum disease, prolonging your dog’s overall health and longevity!

What you will need:

• Doggie Dental Kit, including toothbrush and toothpaste
• Doggie Treats
• A comfortable, flat surface

Step by step instructions to brush your dog’s teeth:

1. Before you begin a regiment of regular teeth brushing with your dog, you should have your veterinarian check his teeth first. If your pup has any type of tooth decay or gum disease, he may feel discomfort or pain and could become aggressive enough to try biting you. Ask your Vet for guidance before beginning the exercise.
2. When you approach your dog to inspect his mouth, always give him praise and perhaps a nice treat so that he becomes acclimated and accepts the process more readily.
3. You can find a good doggie dental hygiene kit online or through your veterinarian or local pet supply store. Be sure to read the instructions and ask your vet for any specific recommendations.
4. Be sure your puppy is sitting on a comfy surface when you brush her teeth.
5. In general, try to use minimal restraint on your pet while brushing’ especially if it’s a cat. However, it may be easier to handle an especially reluctant cat by wrapping him in a towel to keep him from scratching or trying to escape.
6. Use a gentle brushing motion when cleaning your dog’s teeth.
7. Give your dog a tartar-control doggie treat as a reward to help encourage him or her in accepting the tooth brushing habit. Also encourage your dog to drink water after brushing to help rinse out the toothpaste.

Make sure that your pet has a warm sleeping area, that is away from drafty spots and raised above the floor just a few inches. A pillow or a warmer fleece blanket would be ideal to keep them cozy during winter months. If your pet is sensitive to the cold, or is an older dog, with joint problems,a joint supplement and a thicker pad or blanket is in order.

When you take your dog outdoors during wintertime, make sure that you wipe their paws and tummy when you come back inside. Walking outdoors can bring your furry friend into contact with salt, ice melting medium as well as in some cases even automobile coolant. If brought inside and not wiped down this can become a source of illness when they begin to lick the ice and snow from themselves as they usually do.

On snow or ice, particularly during a snow storm, don’t let your dog run off leash. The ASPCA says that about twice as many pets are lost during the wintertime as are lost during the summer, largely due to the fact that they cannot in many cases smell as well on the snow and ice as they can on the soil and earth. Make sure that your pet always wears an ID tab, which is important at any time, but particularly during winter months.

If your dog spends a lot of time outside, make sure that you increase his food as well as the protein content of it to keep him healthy.

For one reason or another, there are those who keep their pets in kennels outdoors at some point, or full time which includes winter months. While this is something we absolutely don’t recommend for obvious reasons, when this is a necessity, certain steps are also necessary to assure their good health and comfort.

For a pet who stays in an outside kennel, make certain that he or she has what they need to maintain their body heat and that their water is heated in such a way that it is available to them at all times and remains unfrozen.

Make sure that the dog house or kennel you choose is well insulated, is raised away from the ground and is equipped with a floor as well as some means for the dog to warm himself, such as hay, dog bedding and a door, which may be even a flap of carpet that will insulate the inside of the house and prevent snow or ice from entering.

When the temperature dips below 20, bring him inside. It certainly isn’t comfortable and for him to stay warm, particularly if he is an older animal will be very difficult.

Foam is super stuff to work with and a very comfortable place to rest, doing what is says, by retaining a memory of the way your pet is lying.

Foam sheeting is available in many sizes and usually is sold by the running foot, with varying thicknesses available as well. You can find it at any crafting supply or fabric store.

Materials you will need:

Foam sheeting in the thickness and size you select.

2 yards of faux leather, or faux sheepskin,  preferably breathable and washable.

snap tape (tape with snaps on it about every inch or two inches.

thread to match your fabric

scissors

sewing machine or hand needles

tape measure.

1. Add about 1″ extra on every side as a seam allowance and cut 2 pieces of fabric to the dimensions you need.

2. Measure and cut a strip of snap tape that is one inch shorter than your shortest side. My pillow was about 25 x 20, so my snap tape measured about 19 inches

3.Place right sides together and stitch all the way around three sides of the faux leather, using a straight stitch at about a size 2 so that it is stronger.

4. clip the seams back at the corner so that it will turn well and the corners are tight.

5. leaving the pillow casing inside out, turn the edges over on the fourth side and line up the snap tape, one side of the snap tape on each side of the pillow casing.

6. Turn the pillow casing right side out and insert the foam inside.

7. Snap up the snaps and its ready to roll.

When laundering, its not necessary to wash the inner portion each time you wash the outer one, which is why we added the snaps.

The foam will last longer if it is washed about every third time the pillow is done..   When washing, wash on a cold water cycle and allow the foam and cover to air dry separately.

These are not only easy and inexpensive but are much better for your dog than the purchased variety, with the addition of the brewers yeast, which some people claim will also help to repel fleas on your pet.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
6 tablespoons butter
One egg
1 cup cold water
1 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 1/2 tablespoons brewer’s yeast
Rolling pin
Cookie cutters
Cookie sheet

If you can find a cookie cutter shaped like a dog bone, awesome, but you can use anything at all. What I used was a cat shaped cutter, but in a pinch you could use an egg shape, a christmas tree or just about anything that doesn’t have some hard sharp edges.
NOTE: You probably won’t find brewers yeast anywhere except a health food store or a place like GNC.

Your Directions

Soften 6 tablespoons of butter

Cream the butter and egg together.
Measure one and one half cups whole wheat flour and one cup white flour and sift into a bowl.

Add the half cup of powdered milk to the flour.
Add 1 cup cornmeal, 2 tablespoons wheat germ and the brewers yeast to the flour.
Stir all the dry ingredients together until they are unrecognizable as separate ingredients. In other words until they are very well mixed.

Add about a half cup of the dry goods to the butter and egg.   Add a little water, then dry, then water again, alternating the ingredients.

Knead the remainder of the dry ingredients in and work the mixture until there are no dry areas remaining and everything has been moistened.

Roll out on a floured surface to about a half inch thick.

Stamp them out with cookie cutters, rerolling the mix as necessary.

Spread on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 oven  for about 35-45 minutes, or just until beginning to brown.

Store in an airtight container.

I”ve been working with cats for well over five years and I’ve found that they are as trainable and as affectionate as any other animal, including humans, when worked with correctly

My own cats respond to down, and will remove themselves from whatever they’ve climbed up on, because I consistently tell them, when they got up, that single word command, and then went to wherever they were.. lifted them carefully and put them on the floor.

They began to associate the word down with being placed on the floor and now will do it themselves.

In much the same way as you train your puppy, by using the same one word commands in a repetitive way, and doing so consistently so that they know the rules don’t change from day to day.. you can teach your cat that down means get off the counter or table, that “no” means stop what you’re doing and find another toy besides my vase, or that “be good” means to you, no growling or slapping.

It hasn’t taken all that long of a time to accomplish, nor is it difficult to do, and having done it multiple times with multiple cats and never had a real failure I can assure you that its something that doesn’t take a master animal trainer to accomplish.

I”ve found that I don’t have a great deal of luck with the spray bottle, and I use it only when I”ve two cats in combat situations, not when I want to actively teach my cat to not get up on something or to behave in a certain way.

All the the spray bottle teaches your cat is that he’s going to get wet.. He associates it with something he isn’t supposed to do, yes, however what it does NOT teach him.. is what he IS supposed to do, and thats a necessary part of training for any animal.

A few tips,

As with your dog, use single word commands, don’t expect him to know what you said if you try to teach him with a paragraph..

SHOW him the behavior that you want. If you use the word DOWN, take him gently and set him on the floor.

If you use the word COME, then go and pick up the cat and offer him a treat and a cuddle. If this is his association with that word, he will come to you when you call

DO give your cat a name and USE IT. I have always disliked the whole “kitty kitty” foolishness. It doesn’t teach the animal that he has a name.. Each cat will determine his or her own name if you use to to them when holding them or feeding, and when you call that name, that cat will run from any corner of the house to respond to you.. Mine tend to hear their name in conversation and fly to whoever said it.. ‘They do learn to associate you with pleasant things and want to come when you speak to them.

DON’T hit your cat ever.. Not only does it teach them to be afraid of you, but the behaviors that you want will generallly come about because the cat geniuinely wants to please you.

Start your dog younger with having his nails done so that he is used to having it done and doesn’t give you any more grief than is strictly necessary.

Most dogs will stay in your lap and permit you to do it while some will require some kind of restraint.

I personally have a larger dog and it is necessary for me to hold the dog firmly between my knees so that she doesn’t move or play while I am cutting..
Penny has always had her nails cut and does not respond badly to it, however she does tend to like to wiggle or play and while I’m cutting isn’t the time to permit that.

There are several types of nail trimmers.. I personally like the guillotine variety and find this the least traumatic to even a dog who isn’t accustomed to having his nails done.

The scissor variety will help you to trim toenails that are long enough that they have begun to curl. Longer toenails can actually embed into the pad of the toe,

Many dogs will have darker colored nails so that you can’t necessarily see the “quick of the nail, but you can prevent yourself from damaging the nail or making it bleed by clipping off just about a quarter of an inch at a time for the very longer nail, to just a quarter inch total if your dogs nails are cut regularly.

The dog with lighter colored nails will make this easier in that you will be able to see by the darkening of the nail where the quick actually begins.

Grasp your dogs foot firmly and place the nail to be cut into the opening.
Squeeze gently and the blade will do the rest.

They do however pose some challenges when it comes to keeping our homes and gardens intact.

There is nothing a cat can’t reach or get to if they decide thats what they want to do.
They also require some protection from the gardening as well, since there are some plants and other aspects of gardening that can be harmful to your cat.

One of my biggest issues was my house plants.

Cats love houseplants, digging in the fresh earth and along the way, spewing soil across the carpet and sometimes destroying the plant in the process.

The reason for this is that your cat finds the scent of certain plants nearly irresistible. Not only plants like the catnip plant, but also certain others will attract them, as well as the scent of the fresh earth being a real draw. Additionally, one of the things that attract your cat to your plants is the way the leaves will wave or move as they are hit by air or movement during the day.

One trick I’ve used with very good success, is to blow up a few balloons about half way and place them around the stems of the house plant they are bothering. About the third balloon they break with their claws, they decide that the plant isn’t quite so attractive.

Growing plants specifically for your cat, such as oat sprouts or catnip in the house will tend to keep them happy as well.. A small pot of their own plants, with the clippings placed where they like to play will keep them satisfied for plant material.
Cats are obligatory meat eaters, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t like, or crave greens. THey absolutely do.
Planting the plants for your cat may protect him or her and prevent him from gravitating toward your house plants as well.

If your own cat is, as some of mine are, an inveterate leaf chewer, there are come plants that are going to be harmful to him. Make sure that those are suspended in the hanging pots, or perhaps in wall mounted plant holders. I’ve found that setting up a plant in a wall holder, while leaving the cat clippings on the floor effectively kept them from wanting the house plants.

Some plants you might want to avoid having down in harms way to protect both the plant and the cat are,
ivies, philodendrons, foxgloves or wisteria.

cat

Use the least toxic substance you can find when its time to kill pests in your garden and take the time to explore some non toxic solutions to pest control such as those you can find in Mother Earth News, or Natural Gardening sites and magazines.

Cats are very attracted to freshly dug earth.

Once you’ve completed adding those fragile seedlings, if your cat is an outside inside cat, he or she is going to be attracted to the earth that you’ve displaced, possibly lying in the earth and flattening the plants. Protect your plants, by inserting some twigs upright around them at intervals, or a few thorny bramble type cuttings which will prevent your cat from getting comfy on top of your new plants.

If you have new seedbeds in your garden and are having a problem with pet or stray cats, protect them by using a mesh bag with several moth balls inside it and scattering them at intervals around the garden. Cats are not impressed by the smell of mothballs and I found that this was a fairly effective way to deter them from invading the garden.

Among those I have used are the Hartz Mountain, Sargeants Spray as well as Frontline and Biospot, and Frontline Spray.

I was personally less than impressed with the Hartz Mountain spot on treatment and found it ineffective in the area where I live, which is relatively high heat and humidity, and a truly overabundant flea season this year. Having treated about ten ferals we had trapped to to care for prior to releasing, the treatment was effective for about three days, when we began to again notice the fleas on the animals we were feeding.

Sargeants was a bit more effective but frankly was less than good enough when compared with the trouble it took to capture and treat them. When we tried it on my own cats, the result was that it lasted about 7 days as well, which is just about the norm for the flea shampoo they produce as well.

It is however based on plant materials and does kill the fleas and protect for a few days besides. It is also economical however in comparison to the number of times it would have to be used the expense just about balances out to the other , more expensive flea treatments.

Biospot, while effective, caused a reaction in two of the five cats we used it on, tremors in the mildest reaction we saw and a near seizure in another, at which point we discontinued using it on any of the cats.

While I decry the use of some of the highly toxic chemicals in the flea treatment Frontline, I do admit that for your money, Frontline Spray is the best and brightest among flea treatments, and will in fact treat far more, and far more inexpesively than any other variety, and treat them well. It does not however last the amount of time that you are given on the bottle, and instructions, the maximum amount of time that it lasted, even given a very thorough dosing of the product was just under three weeks, which was still a great deal longer than the others.

One note of caution, Frontline was also among the most highly pungent and caused a breathing difficulty with my husband, even spraying outdoors in an open area. Under no circumstances forgo wearing a respirator when you spray your animals. with this product.

Those instances and cautions aside, Frontline is a premier product that does a good job in removing fleas and pests in your pets, and lasts a superior amount of time., preventing new flea eggs from hatching on your pet as well as killing those which have already done so.

The price, being just about 25 USD for a spray bottle which will effectively do ten or more animals, is certainly acceptable.

The only true down sides of it seem to be its ultra toxicity and the very obnoxious odor which tends to linger endlessly.

Teaching a new puppy the right place to eliminate, the wrong place for the same, as well as what to chew and what he isn’t allowed to have isn’t always easy and can prove to be frustrating with some of the more active breeds.

One good idea is to always crate your puppy at night and to make sure that he or she becomes accustomed to the crate early on in his training.

pup

Offer treats to lead him or her to the kennel as you repeat, kennel up, and the command becomes part of his repertoire, something that he knows and does not mind entering.

It will over time become much like his own room, which is both a safe and pleasant place to play for him, but also a place where he is put to separate him from you when he has misbehaved.

When he is not well behaved, or chews something, or bites inappropriately the kennel can also be an effective means of separating him from you, sending him to his room much as you would a child.

Be certain that each time you feed your puppy, he or she is taken outdoors within a ten to fifteen minute time span.

A typical puppy has no real control over his bowels and bladder at this age, and the food or drink will effectively be processed in a very short time making it necessary for him to eliminate in a short time after eating.

If you run into problems that you don’t feel comfortable dealing with on your own, some wonderful dvd’s and training books exist to help new pet owners to cope with unwelcome behaviors and habits.

Don’t give up the ship, or the dog, without trying alternate methods to teach him or her what you want them to know.

pup 2

The videos show you actually time elapsed work with untrained puppies so you can see what to expect when you begin and when you end.

So often people become discouraged with a new puppy and permit their affection to be overcome by frustration, leading to giving up this new family member.

Try to remember that he too, as your children once were, is a child, and needs time to take in all of the lessons he will have to learn.
Above all, offer a lot of affection and positive reinforcement of his good behaviors and take the time to get to know him and to enjoy his company.

Our pets are like our children, and while they give us a vast amount of pleasure and a lot of fun, they aren’t always as clean as we might wish they were, and even the cleanest can once in a while be ill and create a problem on the carpet or upholstery that we need to find a way to deal with.

This is particularly true of cats, and in the case of puppies, they will go, where that scent remains. We’ve all had to deal with training a new puppy and you know how frustrating that can be at times.. he chooses a spot that isn’t your first choice to potty, and if that scent isn’t completely removed then thats the spot where he will find to go each and every time your head is turned and you aren’t watching him.

Some truly good products are out there which are not toxic or harmful but use natural methods to remove, not just to cover the odor and help to lift the stain.

Among the best of these is OUT.

Out is priced to be affordable, is effective not just on pet odors but also for thins such as mildew, and sewer backup as well as removing the odors AND the stains that are caused by urine, vomit, feces and even spilled food. It is very effective on any organic waste odor and I have used it to remove mildew from a shower curtain with great success.

Out is truly wonderful for use on any watersafe fabric and I”ve personally used it when one of the cats has been sick on a sofa, or carpet, with super results as well as adding it to my carpet shampooer, since it is able to be mixed with nearly any shampoo, without harmful odors or fumes.

Its important to note that it is also perfect for use, being approved for application to stain resistant carpets and the the formula used is an all natural one, which means its easy on the environment as well as your furnishings.

If you are a pet owner, aside from the toys, the foods, the vitamins and the love, the only other thing you need to keep on hand is a bottle of “Out”…just in case.

Out can be found at most pet supply stores, as well as Walmart, Target and other department stores in your area. I promise, it will make you happy to be a pet owner.