Feeding and Nutrition :: So I fed my Turtles a Mouse

[Seroster]

In other news, I feel like feeding live fish is more appropriate, if you're going to be feeding them something alive.

Not only does it more realistically simulate their wild eating habits (I can't imagine a water turtle getting up on shore to chase down a zippy little rodent/mouse, not that they wouldn't if they could), it's a lot more entertaining for you & the turtle. Plus, turtle digestive tracts are made to digest fish, not furry mammals. Hair and nails and mamal parts may not agree w/ them.

But really, if you're going for a "thrill" factor (as it seems like you are), I would think dropping a helpless rodent into a tank full of water to be devoured by hungry turtles lacks anything resembling excitement (unless perhaps you're a sociopath ). Watching your turtle chase down & consume live fish can be exciting & humorous at the same time, and generally entails at least as much carnage.

So, if you wanna feed your snake mice, more power to you. But feeding turtles mice? Dunno bout that.

[freshprince2146]

^^ Yea at least the snake can say "I have too" i mean thats all they eat.

On the other hand there are so many other things a turtle can eat.

[Turtle Mummy 101]

Seroster and freshprince2146: agreed and agreed!!!

[SINI5T3R]

its not that im a sociopath

I just fed them a live mouse about 10 min agao and they did a pretty good job of not getting bit at all. ^^

Of course it was a SMALL mouse but it was big enouph to jump all over the place..

also, mice/gophers fall in lakes ALLLL the time. Last summer when i went to the lake I found at least 10 dead gophers just laying in the water because they fell in it and could not get out.

[Seroster]

Heh, this doesn't change the fact that small aquatic turtles were not designed to eat mammals efficiently. I'd imagine a turtle would eat just about anything it could swallow, but that doesn't mean they SHOULD.

[Marcus.85]

Who cares, it's a feeder mouse, it was meant to be eaten, plus hundreds of mice are killed/eaten raw in the wild everyday in your area alone.
I'm interested in a live feedeing

[Seroster]

I don't care about the mouse dying, I crushed one w/ my hands the other day when it got stuck on our sticky trap. I care about the turtle eating the mouse. Hair & nails and such are hard to digest, even for things that are designed to eat other mammals.

[SINI5T3R]

Yeah but I try to get most of the feet out before they eat the whole thing. they seem to know what is hair, and what is MEAT. they actually left alot of the hair part left on the body this time and ate almost all the meat. they left the skull too but it was all smashed so i just got it out of the water with my net and threw it away

[misterturtle]

whoa whoa whoa...you can feed them mice? i never knew that. kinda grosses me out, but hey, to each their own.

[SINI5T3R]

@misterturtle

yeah its pretty cool

[jwinters]

whoa whoa whoa...you can feed them mice? i never knew that. kinda grosses me out, but hey, to each their own.

You can, but it isn't recommended.

[SINI5T3R]

The only reasons I can think that it is not recommended is because there is a risk of the mouse biting the turtle but a snake has just as much of the same risk


and some say too much raw meat is bad for them but thats what they usually eat in the wild anyways

[freshprince2146]

The only reasons I can think that it is not recommended is because there is a risk of the mouse biting the turtle but a snake has just as much of the same risk


and some say too much raw meat is bad for them but thats what they usually eat in the wild anyways

O yea a drowning mouse can pack a hella bite!!

You should throw a couple burgers and french fries in their its not recommended because they might bite back

[SINI5T3R]

The only reasons I can think that it is not recommended is because there is a risk of the mouse biting the turtle but a snake has just as much of the same risk


and some say too much raw meat is bad for them but thats what they usually eat in the wild anyways

O yea a drowning mouse can pack a hella bite!!

You should throw a couple burgers and french fries in their its not recommended because they might bite back

lol have you fed your turtles a mouse yet? they DO try to bite when there holding them under water...

[Spike 7.62]

In the wild turtles eat all sorts of stuff. When we recover human bodies from rivers and lakes in my area (atlantic city mob likes to dump bodies in bass river) there are all sorts of wildlife consuming the flesh, including turtles.

However, I think the nails, bones and teeth may hurt the turtle's insides. I would only feed a mouse or similar animal to a "bigger" snapper turtle, but not to an aquatic turtle like RES, painted, etc. Just my 2 cents.

Frogs and prawns also make for a good show, and are more natural, IMO. Even so, the staple diet of a captive turtle should be pellets and veggies.

-Spike