Feeding and Nutrition :: What do you think about feeding Aquatic Turtles these

[LadyBloodRose]

Prawns
Sand Shrimp
Mini Shrimp
Salmon Eggs
Stripe Shrimp
Rollmop Herring
Herring, Smelt, Shad, Squid
Mackeral

or any of the above soaked in either Brine, or Cured, or "Salted" , or Pickeled

[marisa]

How are these prepared? If they're salted or pickled, definitely no to any of them.

All are high in protein and should be a very rare treat. On special occasions, my turtles have been given small pieces of shrimp (the kind used in shrimp cocktails). I've given bits of salmon (but not the eggs) and not given any of the other foods that I know of.

How big/old are your turtles? None of the foods you listed should be a staple of the diet. Reputable pellets and plant matter, varied with other foods listed under the Feeding Section are what should be concentrated on.

[LadyBloodRose]

hun all my trutles cept for 3 are adults an only 1 is a RES. I feed a variety of diffrent foods an i do feed raw meat - beef-fish-deer-chicken-crayfish etc to my turtles this things listesd are NOT for a Staple food All my guys get fed nearly the same thing with teh acception of a change in perhaps vegitation time to ti

this was posted as an opinion as to what people think about feeding these items :p though your against salted an pickeled, but not cured?

[marisa]

Cured how?

All your turtles should have a variety of plant matter incorporated in their diets. I don't know what species your other turtles are, but an adult RES should have the bulk of the diet as plant matter.

Raw beef and chicken (especially chicken, which frequently is contaminated with salmonella) is a no-no.

Please don't call me "hon" (if that's what you meant).

[LadyBloodRose]

i call everyone "hon" or hun .

Anyway i feed raw meat because frankly a turtle in the wild isn't gona have someone cooking its food cooking it is a convenience to us an weither or not you do it is entirely up to you .

An Cureing meat is generaly Drying it - Like making "Jerky" in a sence

[marisa]

Turtles in the wild don't have access to beef-deer-chicken that I know of. Turtles in the wild are also much more apt to have parasites.

Meat can also be smoke cured and salt can also be added. Curing hardens the meat; I can't see how this would be easy for a turtle to eat...

[LadyBloodRose]

you'd be surprised what turtles in the wild can come across. Espiclay if you live in areas that are heavy in farm land like i do.

an no not all meat is smoke cured an salted an no it does not always harden the meat. I cure my own deer during hunting season. You don't have to add salt, or anything along those lines, nor do you have to do it till its hard as a rock infact you do it to your own specifications .

Alota things that turtles eat are not soft an mushie, theyw ouldn't need such hard beaks if everything just came apart so easily now would they? an if you have ever placed cured meat in water for a period of time it does soften.

if you need an example of turtles finding ":cured meat" in the wild just look at scavangers such as snapping turtles etc, who come across dead fish whom have slightly washed up on shore these fish are often sunbaked cured an durring flodos can get washed back out into the water. Any opertunistic scavanger would take the chance for a easy meal.

and as for hard, well some turtles do eat Muscles. talk about hard it hink those are alil harder then cured meat.

[marisa]

I'm well aware of what turtles can eat in the wild. I see plenty of them where I am. But that's the wild, where they'll eat because they don't know where or when they're next meal is coming from. For the turtles I keep (and consider to be "pets"), I wouldn't feed some of those foods you mentioned.

[megcornell]

Cured, salted, pickled, brine... none of those are even recommended for humans in large quantities. I wouldn't include them in a turtle's diet, they don't ADD any benefit, so what's the point? A diet should be based on the most natural diet possible. In the wild, turtles don't come across any substances prepared like that. And the carnivorous habits of snappers are a far cry from the more vegetarian diets adult RES' adopt. And not many turtles at all chow down on beef and chicken in nature.
It's great to get creative in adding protein sources, turtles like any animal like variety. But it should be a good variety.

[LadyBloodRose]

Pickeled, cured, an brine are often how some of those are found when ya go out shoping thus the only reason thats even encluded in the above mention of food items

hwoever they can be obtained without such additives to it. Which is anouther reason for said post. To see what people belive about the above posted foods.

[DavidY]

Hmm, interesting thread...

I'd say the typical off the shelf jar of anything found in the grocery stores is going to be loaded with sulfites and other preservative chemicals. I don't know what effect those will have on turtles but I have several friends who get terrible headaches after eating anything that contains too much of that stuff. One guy likens that stuff to embalming fluid. lol! Too much salt is also not good for the heart so I would be cautious about that too.

As far as eating meat and chickens, I saw a wildlife documentary on turtles where they showed a pond where a bunch of terrapins were basking and there looked like RES among them. Then they showed one big terrapin sneak up on a large bird that was wading in the shallows (I think it might have been a dove or something). It grabbed the bird and started dragging it into the water. All of a sudden all the other basking turtles jumped in the water and swam over and began tearing the bird apart and eating it. So I'd say meat and chicken could make up part of a turtles diet. But like you all said, RES should always have more vegetation and not just meat, and I don't think LadyBloodRose was suggesting a meat only diet.

I agree with Meg that a variety of protein sources is a good thing. As for me personally, I don't like pickles and I couldn't see a turtle going for anything preserved like that. But if they like it I don't see the harm if it's offered as a treat once in a while, as long as they don't get headaches from it!

[LadyBloodRose]

lol! good one david .
As far as preservitives go everything has it in it yes even comerscial turtle foods, they dun always list everything on the cans
meat only diets dun provide everything, never did i say meat only! GAH MEAT WOOT! >.> This is simply an exploration in more possible treats an sources of protein an even treats if you ate the same ol thing every day of your life because thats all you had you'd eat it an still be bored with it.
So why can't turtles even captive ones have a bit of spice in their lives with new, intresting an odd foods.

even snappers eat some vegitation in their diets :p meg .

An dave i've seen something similar on discovery channel, involving young waiding birds in Lousiana, as well as the ever glades its definately intresting to watch!

Though if anyone aint figured it out yet, this is not just apost for RES's but for all "aquatic turtles" thus why the name of the thread is What do you think about feeding Aquatic Turtles these not What do you think about feeding RES's This

[DavidY]

Ah that's true I guess there's preservatives in just about anything in a can or a jar. And I also recently read how snappers should have some vegetation in their diet too. I never realized that before.

Yup, spice up their lives I say! more variety, a change in scenery, rearrange the furniture from time to time, some sexy lingerie, ya the works!

[LadyBloodRose]

lmao! yea dun think the Lingerie would go over well with my girls XD lol Tokar might take offence to it to lol shes a lil manly for a girl, an cooter she just doesn't have the legs for it XD.

Variety is a fun thing! I love rearanginga n tryin new stuff with my guys. like yesterday i changed from river rock to sand in my RES an Softies tank well lest say my softie has been pullin a vanishing act XD. Its great can't wait to see how well she hunts in it now. an my Res is just enjoying digging in the sand.

i dun like to do things for my convenience, i prefer to do it for my pets an the more natural to me for them the beter

This summer, i fully plan to take a trip down to the hole (its a local swimming area lil over an hour or so away in a national park area) an take a 10 gal bucket an bring home a cupple hundred Crayfish ya can;t move without stepin on them down there heh.

Workin on seein about orderin from Trout atm from a hatchery, as well as some brim, bluegill $ sunfish, catfish, an some bass. Adding some shad, an broadhead minnow in there to. So between ALL my tanks from my turtles to my predatory fish tanks are gona have some yummy new fish ta chow on!

[DavidY]

WOw, now that's going to be a lot of variety! I've been thinking about taking a dip net down to the local lake and catching some of the baby fish (sunfish I think) that swarm the shallows in late spring around here. That'll have to wait a few months now...