Feeding and Nutrition :: Can I feed...

[Boogerbutt02]

Is any of the following not good for a turtle?

beef heart
chicken livers
shelled green peas
frozen spinach (Drained of all excess liquid)
prawns (peeled and headed)
fish food pellets crushed
garlic
unflavored gelatin

Thanks

[zero_tails]

a lot of these things should not be fed a a regularbasis or at all...and if u do decide to feed...do it seldomly as a treat. and why would you need garlic and unflavored gelatin?

[missibsu]

Meats of any kind nned to be cooked with no oils (usually boiled)...and even then it should only be offered as enticement to eat when your turt isn't eating as they are very high in protein.

Peas should be offered very rarely

Spinach is a no

Garlic is a no

Fish pellets I would guess is a waste, why not just buy turtle pellets?

I'm not sure on the prawns or the gelatin.

[jenaero]

I know gelatin can be used to make your own turtle food squares. It holds all the ingredients together.

[marisa]

You are going to make your own food for your turtle? I've seen receipes for it (and I used to make my own for a picky RES I once had). Included in at least one was the beef heart (cooked) and I've seen and used shrimp in my recipe as well. Organ meats like the beef heart and livers are very rich...The gelatin holds the ingredients together and adds protein.

Definitely no spinach, and wonder why you want to include garlic (as a taste enhancer, perhaps?) and the fish pellets. If I were to give peas (which I don't give), I'd give a few separately and rarely (I wouldn't have them as an ingredient in the food).

If these are the ingredients you plan to have in your food, I have to say you're making concoction that's high in protein and not particularly balanced. There should be a greater percentage of good plant matter (at least 50-60%) and any animal matter should be cooked. It would also be good to add some non-phosphorus calcium supplement to the mix.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Beef heart & chicken livers are high in protein so I would only feed once in a great while. My turtle LOVES eating those, I used to boil & then feed to her, but she doesn't get them anymore ever since I moved out of my parents' place (I don't cook a lot of meat at my house so the only meat she gets is in her pellets or maybe a feeder fish).

[Boogerbutt02]

Thanks guys...Marisa you are partly right... I just got two Oscar fish and the list of food I asked about was in the mix of food that an Oscar forum, suggested I freeze and feed to my Oscars, I was just wondering if the turtles would be able to eat it too... Again thanks, and sorry I didn't explain this earlier...

[Erroneous]

I have a similar thing with my fish in the turtle tank. My turtles (especially Spike) love to go around and suck up all the flakes that the fish don't get to in time. The nutritional value is similar to the pellets, though almost everything was just a little less % wise. Unfortunately, neither of my turtles seem to care for the fish. They won't even eat the adolescent fancy guppies when we put them in their feeding dish at lunch time. I do have a question though, is it bad for them to eat the algae wafers that we put in for the pleco? I can never stop Spike from getting to it before our pleco does.