Baby Snapping Turtle eating less

[donthitmyhead]

I have a baby snapping turtle that lives in a 10 gallon tank (I'll get him one of those plastic baby swimming pool once he grows bigger). In the summer when the weather is warm he eats like a pig but now in the winter he only eats a slice of lamb chop the size of an eraser once a week. Is this normal? I'm kinda worried since he's only eating about 1/10th he once was.
I added a heater and I'll see if he starts to become active again.

Also, do baby snapping turtles need a lamp to grow their shells? He's not receiving much sunlight since it's winter and I can't put him outside.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

As a baby/juvenile, his water temperature should be in the high 70's. Keeping him cool slows his metabolism so intern it suppresses his appetite. Once the water warms up, he’ll start eating again. Snappers don't really need UVB rays seeing how they don't bask but at young ages it doesn't hurt. What are you feeding you snapper?

 

[donthitmyhead]

oh ok tomorrow after the heater kicks in I'll see how he reacts

I used to feed him dried plankton but ever since he got a taste of raw meat he won't eat the plankton unless I keep him hungry for a few days. So now I feed him chopped up bits of raw meat

 

[eroomlorac]

I would suggest feeding him earthworms or feeder fish that you have fed well for a few days. In the wild, Snappers eat whole fish which gives them the calcium they need from the fish's bones and whatever the fish happens to have in it's belly. Feeding just meat is not a balanced diet for a turtle of any kind. And yes, he's eating less because in the wild he would be hibernating. His appetite will pick up when it warms up.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Instead of meat feed him fish fillets and thawed frozen shrimp. Also add a turtle pellets like Reptomin to his diet to get some extra vitamins and minerals. You can also feed crickets, earthworms, freeze-dried shrimp, koi pellets, cichlid pellets, shrimp pellets and if you have an aquarium with an over abundant snail population, them as well. Avoid feeders like goldfish as they aren't very healthy and are more along the line of junk food. Some snappers will also take plant material so you should provide some Anacharis to chew on. When your turtle is older it might also eat boiled squash and zucchini.

 

[donthitmyhead]

Thanks for the input guys. When it gets warmer I'll dig some earthworm and net a few minnows for him. I bought 3 kinds of turtle food, shrimp and cichlid pellets but he only eats them when meat is unavailable. His tank has a lot of algae + java moss (meant for shelter) so I don't know if he had been snacking on them or not. For now I'll just feed him fish fillets.

Also I was wondering if snappers chew their food? Mine seems to enjoy swallowing things rather than chewing them. He doesn't seem to like pellets now because they're hard but after he grows up a bit he'll just swallow them right?

 

[Sploke]

I'll second everything VF said. I have a 10" ally snapper that eats anything she can get in her mouth. She ate a bunch of hyacinth one time but usually doesn't seem too interested in plants. She prefers to swallow things whole, which is fine because if I give her anything she has to rip apart, it makes a huge mess so its just easier to feed her smaller stuff.

 

[Notophthalmus]

Snappers can't really chew, but they can crush hard items or bite/tear apart softer items. My little snappers often bite longer pellets in half. They also sometimes clip large earthworms into manageable pieces; they take feeder fish whole. Big snappers often feed on very large items (such as carrion); they grab a mouthful and tug, twist, and push with their forefeet until the morsel comes free.