Feeding and Nutrition :: San Francisco Bay Brand Frozen Aquatic Turtle Diet

[kidzncatz]

I've been feeding Tubs this frozen turtle food a couple of times a week for the past couple of years. I see now (according to my "jagged edges" post) that I've been guilty of overfeeding. I am trying to rectify that and am feeding pellets (a reduced amount) every other day and offering veggies every day. However, she is showing no interest at all in the veggies I've offered (thus far, some darker lettuces and carrot.) I am wondering if this frozen turtle food is condusive to a heathier diet since it seems to be mostly veggies (the veggies are the first ingredients listed in the food)?? I am planning to continue offering the veggies first but would like to give her the frozen cubes on the days she is not getting pellets (partiuclalry when she turning her nose up at the veggies.)

I have listed the ingredients found on the frozen food packets if someone would be willing to check them out and give me your opinion? The frozen cubes are a bit pricey, which I of course do not mind if they are offering her some good nutrition, but I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the ingredients & what it all means (I apologize for my long-windedness and babbling- I am now a day PAST DUE with this baby & am not functioning at 100% brain capacity )

And also, I've been told to lay off the treats I was giving her (krill) and I see that krill is listed as the 3rd ingredient in this food. So would that be counterproductive to her healhier new diet?

Thanks in advance for your help...

Ingredients: carrot, anacharis, krill, romaine lettuce, turnip, pollock, bloodworms, dandelion greens, spirulina, algin, menhadin oil, viatmin premix, wheat flour, vitamin A acetate, cholecalciferol (source of Vitamin D3), vitamin B12 suppliment, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, pantothenate, folic acid, menadione, sodium bisulfite complex, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, inositol, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphoshate, betaine, d-alpha mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E.)

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude protein - min. 2.1%
Crude fat - Min. 0.3%
Crude fiber - mzx - 0.8%
Moisture - Max. 96%

Thank you again for your input...

[Starchick]

Sorry I can't address your actual question, but wow was I surprised to see so many 'real' ingredients as the main ones in that food, rather than wheat and corn fillers as the first or second ingredients. Very interesting!

Best wishes for a healthy delivery!!!

[kidzncatz]

Yeah, me too. When I actually took a good look at the ingredients I got hopeful that this would be a good thing to feed her every other day- maybe less once she starts liking the fresh veggies I'm offering. I want to start offering a larger variety to her but at this point I am lacking the time and energy to be much more creative than dark lettuce greens and carrot. It would be nice if I could feel confident she's getting good nutrients with this "easy" (albeit more expensive) way to offer veggies, at least on the interim.

Well, thanks for your response and "well wishes"- I'm teetering on the edge of sanity and reason these days!

[marisa]

I keep a packet of SF Bay Aquatic Turtle Food in the freezer and give it to my painteds as an occasional treat. They like it, and the ingredients are good, but you will find it's quite messy in the tank (feeding in a separate container is recommended). It works quite well with hatchlings as well, in terms of transitioning them over to including other veggies in the diet).

[kidzncatz]

Yes, it is one of the messier things to feed. It was actually after the discovery that even our new Rena Filstar XP4 couldn't keep the tank free of the debris, that we started feeding in our utility sink. What a difference!

As far as the nutrition goes, I'm thinking it will be ok to serve these every other day, until I can get her hooked on the fresh stuff (I am going to continue offering despite her stubborness.) In the mean time, it's good to know she is getting *some* veggies out of these cubes.

Thanks for your response

[Tilted]

The ingredients look good to me. You might want to try giving the turtles collard greens. My turtles don't really like regular lettuce, but they LOVE collard greens.

[marisa]

In moderation, I hope.

[Starchick]

I've just bought a package of SF Bay frozen turtle diet and a package of frozen bloodworms. How exactly do I go about feeding these things? Do I defrost it and just drop it in? I'm hoping to use it to give Hercules his meds without him noticing. Suggestions welcome!

[Starchick]

Hmm, so i defrosted the bloodworms and found out that there's nothing really holding them together, so that won't work. Does the other diet do the same thing? I'd really like to find a way to feed the meds, the shots are wearing on us both I'm going to continue giving them until Sunday but there will be a few days where Michael will have to do it and I hate to make him give shots.

[marisa]

What I do with the SFBATD is take a cube and quarter it, then drop the pieces in the tank frozen. It thaws quickly, especially with a turtle striking at it. And it gets messy as the thawed-out pieces start floating around the tank (therefore, feeding in a separate container of water is recommended unless, like me, you're planning to clean the tank that day or the next). I do the same with cubes of frozen bloodworms.

The quarter-cube size works well with my painteds. For my RES, who's bigger, I cut the cube in half. I want the pieces small enough so they'll eat them fairly quickly (less mess) but not so small that they'd be able to swallow the still-frozen pieces whole.

Could you just inject some of the med into pieces cut like above? Use as many pieces as it takes to use up the med that would have been injected.

[SpotsMama]

Another approach would be to inject the meds into a little shrimp or piece of shrimp. Or into an earthworm or piece of same.

However, isn't there a difference between the meds meant to be injected and the meds meant to be taken orally? At least for people, they aren't interchangeable. If it's meant to be a shot, it has to be given as a shot, and if it's meant to be swallowed, it has to be swallowed.

Why don't you just double check with your vet about giving the meds orally. if it works that would be wonderful!

[Starchick]

Very good ideas! The vet assures me that the meds are interchangeable. I hadn't even thought of shrimp, would regular people-food shrimp work? I've got precooked, frozen ones that are plain, could I use those? Earthworms are also a great idea, where would I find those? Are the ones sold as bait safe?

[SpotsMama]

I think the pre-cooked frozen shrimp would be fine as long as they aren't heavily seasoned. I get the raw frozen ones and microwave one for Spot as a treat when he's been good and he absolutely adores them.

And if it were me and I were looking for an earthworm, I'd go look under a flowerpot in the back yard. I think the ones sold as bait would be fine too as long as they haven't ingested a lot of chemicals like fertilizer or pesticide.

[Starchick]

Nope, no seasoning! Sounds like a plan to me! Thanks so much for your advice!

[pamelas]

Don't know if you still have a need, but here's my story. I had to give a 2 week course of antibiotics to our river cooter. Oral stuff. You ever try to get a turtle to open it's mouth so you can squirt down meds? Not a pretty picture and I was not going to tug on her foot or any other part of her. I took a cooked frozen shrimp and let it thaw. Then took paper towels and pressed the shrimp in the towels til it was as dry as I could make it. Chopped it into bite sized pieces and injected the antibiotics into the pieces to plump them back up. I would save one piece out as a starter course, drop that in the water so she would know what was coming. She'd inhale that first piece and of course wanted more. In went each piece full of the meds, she sucked it right down. There was no time for the meds to seep out of the shrimp into the water. I did this every day for 2 weeks..I know it's alot of shrimp but I got all the medication into the turtle and not in the water. Her injury healed beautifully and shrimp it still her most favorite treat.