Feeding and Nutrition :: frozen fish

[moonlighter]

why is frozen fish bad for turtles yet some have posted that they freeze their rosey reds first to eliminate parasites?

[SpotsMama]

Where did you see that frozen fish is bad for turtles?

[TheComputerGremlin]

It's in the Sticky: What NOT to feed your Red Eared Slider.

[SpotsMama]

Ok. What's intended in the sticky is that frozen fish shouldn't be a diet staple because it's too high in protein. Once in a while as a treat it's fine. That's the way the minnows are used - frozen or fresh they can be fed to the turtle as treats once a month or so. (thawed before serving it to the turtle, of course. )

On raw chicken and raw beef, a little chicken as an occasional treat is ok but it should be cooked first. Beef is, general speaking, just too rich for a turtle, raw or cooked.

Hope that helps.

[moonlighter]

Thanks, good to hear because Crush got a lot of fish early in her 2 monthh life. She is on a good diet now because of this site.
I did read about frozen fish having a certain chemical that may not be good for turtles but I can't find the article. Was this a chemical that formed from the act of freezing or was it added? I was wondering if that is why it specidfically says "frozen" fish in the sticky. May be good to delete frozen and just say fish. Anyway, I know that some seafood such as shrimp is treated on the boat with a chemical to prevent discloration and thought that soem frozen fish may be treated also prior to freezing.
Crush was getting fresh, untreated frozen fish that I caught.
Also, she wwentfrom the size of a 50cent piece when hatched to about 2 1/2" in 2 months. Is that too fast? Perhaps too much proteain? She looks good now.
Thanks

[moonlighter]

A little googling reveals that frozen fish may have a thiamin deficiency.
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articl ... minase.htm
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/aquatict ... urtles.htm
I dont think this is a problem if the fish is only an occaional treat.

[SpotsMama]

Well that's interesting. I notice rosy reds on the list from austins turtle page.

Like you say, and like the links said, fish is still good as an occasional treat but shouldn't be a staple. If you're not feeding your turtle vast amounts of fish I can't believe it would be a problem.

[Bascomb]

Yep -- I buy feeder fish, freeze them to kill the parasites and then feed them to my turtles. ''So far so good.'' It is an every other week thing. They like um, I feed um. If someone has a double blind study that determines that my frozen fish is a problem I will make a change.