Feeding and Nutrition :: Salmon & Mackerel

[Evelyn]

Hi All,
When you feed canned Salmon or Marckel , feed the bones to.
The bones are so well cooked and they are loaded with calcium and other minerals. There maybe a lot of salt added to the canned fish so rinse the fish off under ranning water.
I have been adding the marckel to my dog and cat food and they love it. I leave the bones. I feed it to the turtles to about once a week.

Evelyn

[DavidY]

mmm, good idea. Thanks!

[megcornell]

It's not a good idea to leave bones in pet food- whether its for cats and dogs or turtles. The bones pose a choking hazard and can lead to intestinal perforations and the like. Calcium is easy to supplement so it's best to add calcium to meals by just adding a supplement.

Also, something like fish should be a rare treat, not a weekly one.

[zero_tails]

well in canned foods like that the bones are really really soft, softer than commercial pellets. well, the ones i know of anyways, never really though of this, thx! o but megcornell is right, dont feed them fish fish bones..i even choke on those once in a while if i dont eat bony fish carefully, lol

[marisa]

My turtles occasionally get the bones from canned salmon (rinsed very well). They are smallish and aren't sharp. For smaller turtles I break them slightly so they crumble into smaller pieces. None of my turtles has ever had a problem eating them.

[DavidY]

Are they like sardines? Those things, you can eat the whole thing bones and all and you can hardly tell there's any bones at all. I don't know if it's what they soak them in that softens the bones or what.

[Tenodera]

I love eating the soft bones in canned salmon. Never occurred to me that Serra wants some, too.

[marisa]

I like eating the soft bones in canned salmon as well---they're good for you. (I don't like the skin, though, and try to peel it away before I mix up the salmon). Since I've had multiple turtles, I give most of the bones to them.

They're similar in texture to the bones of sardines (I only buy canned sardines that have the bones in them as well), although perhaps a tad bit harder because they're a little larger.