I took in a yellow belly a few months ago. I work in the aquarium business but my knowledge lies with fish not turtles. I keep my little man in a four foot tank, canister filter, basking area, reptile lights etc. He's happy as larry!

My one problem is that I can only get him to eat cockles and whitebait. I've tried all manner of things, worms, bloodworm etc etc.

He has reptomin occasionally and beefheart and octopus frozen cubes sometimes. He won't eat anything green.

Although he loves his cockles and whitebait and is thriving, it does concern me that his diet is limited. Is this going to do him any long term damage??

the more varied the diet the better. i only use pellets, but i have about 8 different types. frozen is good too. i dotn like live food because it can introduce parasites and diseases and make them more aggressive. if you can try some different types of pellets and frozen foods. i would get him off the live, but if all you want is some more variety just keep trying different things. the only other thing that might help that i can think of is to not feed him for a couple days to get him hungry, at that point they are more likely to try new things. however i wouldnt do this if he is really small. how big is he? what kind of lighting do you have? he needs a heat lamp over a dry basking area and UVB over the basking area if not the whole tank. how deep is the water? what kind of basking area does he have?

Yeah, how big is he? Smaller ones prefer animal-based foods while adults are more apt to eat vegetables. The more variety you can provide, the better. By worms, do you mean blackworms or earthworms? Both are good to try. My turtle pages are at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/turtle.htm for now (I plan to move them in a few weeks) and have a list of foods to try.

Firstly, thanks for your responses.

His tank is 4 foot long, it's 2/3rds full of water (about 12 inches) and I've built up a platform at one end for a basking area. I've got 2 full length UVB reptile bulbs. His basking area is as close to the bulbs as I can safely get. He seems happy basking there.

He's about 6 inches long, so I'd have said he was well into adulthood.

He seems completely happy!

The cockles and whitebait he has are frozen. I've tried earthworms of which he ate one once and hasn't bothered since. I've tried live and frozen bloodworm which he ate the first time and hasn't done so since. I've put cuttlefish in which he nibbled once and hasn't done so again. The list goes on, prawns, JBL turtle food, lettuce etc. He just seems to love cockles and whitebait I'm just a bit concerned that it's not providing all the nutrients he requires even though he seems happy and healthy.

Also will he remain happy enough on his own. When he was handed in to the aquatic centre where I work I originally was going to rehome him with a friends red earred but he attacked her immediately. Would this have been because it was a different breed to him or would it have been because yellow bellies are supposed to be aggressive anyway?

I'm now incredibly glad I kept him, wouldn't want to lose him but also wouldn't want to hurt him just because he has a fussy palate!!

Trace