Force feeding turtles

All turtles have to be force-fed from time to time. The reasons are very different, sometimes – poor eyesight, for example. Unlike mammals, the process of feeding itself does not cause stress in the turtle and is very simple. In some, it is enough to simply push food into the turtle’s mouth with your hand, but sometimes you have to resort to using a syringe or tube through which liquid food is poured down the throat. It is useless to put food or medicines in the esophagus – they can rot there for weeks. If the turtle does not eat from the hands and does not swallow food from the tube, then it is best to introduce food directly into the stomach using a tube.

A healthy, well-fed turtle can starve for up to 3 months or more, an exhausted and sick one – no more than 2 months. 

Hand feeding If the turtle has poor eyesight, then you just need to bring food to her mouth. Types of food: a piece of apple, pear, cucumber, melon, powdered with mineral top dressing. You need to open the mouth of the animal and put food in the mouth. It’s simple and safe. You just need to press on the points behind the ears and on the jaw with two fingers of one hand, while pulling down the lower jaw with the other hand.

Through a syringe For syringe feeding, you will need a 5 or 10 ml syringe. Food: fruit juice mixed with vitamin supplements. It is necessary to open the mouth of the turtle and inject small portions of the contents of the syringe into the tongue, or into the throat, which the turtle swallows. It is better to use carrot juice.

Through the probe

The probe is a silicone tube from a dropper or a catheter. Feeding through a tube (probe) is quite difficult, since there is a risk of damaging the turtle’s throat. Sick turtles that are unable to swallow on their own are fed through the tube. Thus, water is introduced, vitamins and potions dissolved in it, as well as fruit juices with pulp. High protein formulas should be avoided. The feed should contain a low percentage of proteins and fats, a high percentage of vitamins, fiber and minerals.