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  • Results 1 to 14 of 14

    Thread: Red Eared Slider eating my fish

    1. #1
      Joelisa is offline Junior Member
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      Red Eared Slider eating my fish

      Hi I recently created a 1200 gallon outdoor pond - in it I have a few koi ( under 10) and at this time 1 large goldfish and a red eared slider. I had a few smaller goldfish and the turtle ate them. This past week he ate large portions of two large goldfish. I like the turtle a lot but need suggestions on how to prevent him from hunting the fish.
      I was thinking to remove him from the pond for 2 weeks and let him only see pellet food within that time . Any suggestions?

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    2. #2
      Aquajoe is offline Senior Member
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      Turtles eat fish. If you keep fish with your turtle, expect the turtle to eat them.

    3. #3
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      Your idea will not work like Aquajoe said they will continue to eat your fish if they are left together.
      Glenda





      Only GOD can turn a MESS into a MESSage, a TEST into a TESTimony, a TRIal into a TRIumph, a VICTim into a VICTory. GOD is GOOD... all the time!

      Lord when you build my cabin in the corner of Glory-Land, Please be sure to include a fish pond. Thanks

      God closes doors no man can open and God opens doors no man can close.

    4. #4
      gray cat's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by gatorlover View Post
      Your idea will not work like Aquajoe said they will continue to eat your fish if they are left together.
      Nancy



      Koiphen 2013 Koi Person of the Year!

    5. #5
      swearnsue is offline Member
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      I don't know if this would work, but you could TRY by buying some tiny comets, they are 14 cents each at PetSmart and hope that your turtle will go after the smaller bite sized fish instead of your Koi. Turtles are just born to hunt and eat fish.

    6. #6
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      It depends on what you value more, the Koi or the Turtle. Even if you do try the smaller fish, you are still taking a chance of the larger fish/Koi getting hurt or killed. A turtle is going to do what a turtle does best and that is eat fish and the bigger it gets the more likely it is to hurt the Koi. I too love turtles and would love to have some in a pond. But I would never subject my fin friends to be in danger of getting eaten or hurt by a turtle.
      Glenda





      Only GOD can turn a MESS into a MESSage, a TEST into a TESTimony, a TRIal into a TRIumph, a VICTim into a VICTory. GOD is GOOD... all the time!

      Lord when you build my cabin in the corner of Glory-Land, Please be sure to include a fish pond. Thanks

      God closes doors no man can open and God opens doors no man can close.

    7. #7
      Billy Pounds is offline Senior Member
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      turtles should go in turtle only habitats unless you are feeding them live fish....oh wait, it sounds like you are already

    8. #8
      Jerry is offline Member
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      Lots of turtles lots of fish. They do fine. true some tiny fish are eaten, but it is as it is in nature, not all live a long life.

    9. #9
      Saints-81 is offline Junior Member
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      We had the same issue. We put our turtle in my in-laws outdoor pond and she started eating the fish. So she went back into the small tank she came in until I could build a more suitable space. I original built a 150 gallon tank for her. When I put her in there I bought 5 feeder fish with the thinking that if I wasn't feeding her enough that she would just eat them as needed. She ate 2 of them in the first week or so and then I'm guessing that I got her feeding levels to what was needed and she left the other 3 alone. It's been about 5 years and she has not eaten another fish since (we are constantly turning over the fish, as they get bigger they go into in-laws pond and any baby fish get put in ours).

    10. #10
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      Just picked up a painted turtle and I think it also ate a few of my feeder goldies. Hasnt touched the bigger ones though. I only put the fish in there to keep up with the mosquitos, but if they are turtle food, that's ok too as long as he leaves a few for the bugs.

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    11. #11
      Spufnik is offline Junior Member
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      Figured I would throw this in. My daughter found a RES in Barneget Bay here in Jersey about the size of a quarter. that was 4 years ago. tried feeding it feeders but never would eat them. been in my pond for 3 years now and has never taken a nibble outta any of my fish. Go figure, I have the only 100% vegen slider ever.

    12. #12
      Aamar is offline Member
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      How old is your terrapin ?? They tend to be more carnivorous when they are young. Personally I didnt add fish till they were 6 years old. Also having fish larger than your terrapin may deter them

    13. #13
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      Quote Originally Posted by swearnsue View Post
      I don't know if this would work, but you could TRY by buying some tiny comets, they are 14 cents each at PetSmart and hope that your turtle will go after the smaller bite sized fish instead of your Koi. Turtles are just born to hunt and eat fish.
      That is a bad idea if there are other fish in the pond because the feeder goldfish carry a lot of diseases and will infect the other fish in the pond even if the feeders prevent the turtle from eating the larger fish. Turtles need to be kept in their own environment or they will eat the fish you do not want them to eat.

    14. #14
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      Last summer I added my two 10" RES turtles in with my koi. They all got along just fine, but that being said, my smallest koi at the time was about 10", so too large for a meal. I think Anything under the 4" mark is fast food for them.

      Anyway, this year I decided not to add them in. I found that last summer they (Eb and Flow) had a hard time competing for food with my koi. Koi go crazy when you toss food in and this freaked out my two turtles to the point of hiding. I thought I could feed them using bowls on thier basking logs, but they really prefer to eat in the water.

      Also, I noticed that once removed at the end of season to their own space that their overall health improved greatly.... Guess being with koi all summer caused them to be somewhat malnourished due to competition of food. It's too bad, because apart from almost starving, they loved being in thousands of gallons of water and basking in true sunlight as apposed to my indoor heat lamp.

      Chris

      * Ignore the trashed iris plants... It was my first year adding plants and my koi totalled them during two days of spawning.... Needless to say, plants are now a thing of the past. Second photo is from this year, no turtles, no plants.
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