Feeding and Nutrition :: shrimp and prawns?

[Hamza]

i cant get acess to brine shrimp so can i feed my trutles normal shrimps or prawns like twice a week? I dont know what else to feed them... i found some crickets but im not sure i understand what you mean by gut loaded? Can some one help me out?

[sonyj]

Shrimp (very high in protein) should be offered at as a treat, so do not feed it more than once a month. I've never fed crickets or gut-loaded them so someone else will have to answer that. If your turtle has a healthy balanced diet from a reputable pellet (which contains his protein source) and daily veggies, then I wouldn't worry about feeding live foods too much. You don't want to overfeed things with protein which can cause over-growth and health problems later on.

[cam722]

First off, are you feeding your turtles any pellets or are you just feeding them fresh foods? Gut loaded means that the crickets have been fed "foods" that are high in calcium. You can buy freeze dried crickets that have been gut loaded, or you can go through the trouble of doing it yourself. Considering that they should only be occasional treats, I go for the freeze dried crickets. Although your turtle can have shrimp/prawns, they should also be treats as they are very high in protein.

How old and what size are your turtles?

[Hamza]

well i got 6 RES, two of them are hatchlings and the other 3 are about 4 inches and the oldest is about 5. I dont know wha tto feed them on regulary bases. I cant get any reptile food or pellets. So i dont know what to do! Do th koi gold fish large pellets do the job?

[marisa]

Why can't you get any pellets for your turtles? Fish food on a continual basis doesn't provide what turtles need. Your larger turtles should be eating a fair amount of plant matter (look elsewhere on the site for what is good to give) along with other foods. The hatchlings really should have turtle food to add balance to the diet, and offering them plant matter would be good as well.

[Hamza]

well im living on a remote place.......i dont have acess to pet stores that often. im doing research for the university. i have my turtles in a 400 gallon tank. i have acess to alot of live food but not commercial. Even at the pet store they do not have reptile sticks. INstead they have the koi sticks which look the same. Well those work?

[cam722]

Is there any way you can order them online? I don't believe goldfish food is good for turtles, as it doesn't provide them with the proper nurition for a turtle. As marisa suggested, your larger turtles should be getting veggies. Are you offering them calcium in any form?