Feeding and Nutrition :: Shrimp....

[Cim*Forever]

So I have seen a few posts on shrimp and ghost shrimp,and I was just wondering if you guys feed as live prey? How do the outer shells affect your turtle?

Thanks

[imderanged]

Well I'm not an expert on this, But I had the same question a few days ago, so I looked up ghost shrimp in the "nutrition" section of the main site. Under live prey it listed ghost shrimp as "rarely" but not "not recomended" so I went ahead and threw a few in. I didn't SEE Sy eat them, but I can only find one of them (althought they are "ghost" shrimp, and hard to see!)so I think he did eat one or two, and so far there have been no problems. They would be a once in a while kinda treat though.

[zoologist]

living in SC, i have access to live shrimp almost year round. They are salt water, but they tend to last a few minutes in the tank darting around for my turtle to chase. the only think that bothers me is that their heads are so hard and sharp. i de-head them before i give them to my turtle, and i leave the shell on.
once in a while (very rarely, for lack of wanting to cook one shrimp) i will boil a shrimp with no seasonings and feed half of it to my turtle ( i get the other half!) but only as a treat.

[Chrisbarnett]

I think it would be okay if the shell on the shrimp is not as thick/hard as cuttlebone backing.

[marisa]

When I give the occasional piece of cocktail shrimp, my RES sometimes gets pieces of the shell, and it's never bothered him.

[Tenodera]

It's not recommended to give turtles too much SHELLED prey, since sometimes they carry diseases that cause damage or rot to the turtle's own shell.

[Cim*Forever]

Thanks for all the replies guys I think I will stick with my feeder fish. Hes not actually interested in them, which is why I thought variety with shrimp might be fun. But I don't think id want to risk it if he decided to turn into a live feed eater

[grey goose]

I buy the freeze-dried Krill and give them some once every three weeks to a month. It lasts forever and they love it!