# Turtle Food



## foxysnake (Jan 14, 2008)

Just thought Id start a thread so I can get a bit more info about my gorgeous turtle who I call Shorty (he's a short-necked maquarie). He's been doing fine - when I first got him (ok, my other 1/2 bought him for me!), he was the size of a 50 cent piece and now he's the size of my palm. Anyhow, Ive only just found out that frozen food is really not good for him. So any heads up would be muchly appreciated - I love the little guy immensely and only want the best for him!! Shorty is in with little fish - neon tetras, but hes not overly interested in them. He's eaten 2 of them in about 4 months. I feed him him frozen turtle food from the petshop twice a day.
Cheers,
Dee


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## crush the turtle (Jan 14, 2008)

i feed my turtles frozen fish (from pet shop ) and beef heart..and ur probily over feeding,,i feed myn evry 2nd or 3rd day..


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## whiterabbit (Jan 14, 2008)

my boyfriend keeps turtles and since i have started feeding them pellets every day (its so fun to make them swim for it ) they have significantly reduced their feeding on the feeder fish in the tank with them , they are both about the size of my palm aswell. so maybe less frozen food to encourage hunting of feeder fish. also it has been noted that feeding frozen fish can cause a deficiency of thiamine as freezing deactivates it in the fish.


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## Tsubakai (Jan 15, 2008)

How old is he/she?

You should probably cut the feeds back to about every two days and feed it things like feeder fish, shrimp and aquarium plants. I get all my turtle food from Rossvale Aquariums in Cranbrook. If you want more specific info, send me a PM and I can give you a bit more detail - too tired now and will probably have forgotten I replied to this thread by morning.


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## Eastern Snake Neck (Jan 15, 2008)

Hi Dee,

My advice would be to do the following:
1. Stop feeding the frozen food and pellets.
2. Switch to a natural diet. Feed things that the turtle would find in the wild.

There is some more information on the subject in the Frequently Asked Questions on my web site.

Regards,
Michael.


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## Tsubakai (Jan 16, 2008)

Eastern Snake Neck said:


> Hi Dee,
> 
> My advice would be to do the following:
> 1. Stop feeding the frozen food and pellets.
> ...



By stopping feeding frozen food, do you mean the prepacked stuff? I assumed frozen shrimp and krill were ok (they are defrosted and washed to remove any excess salt or stuff but the ones I get are for fresh water fish)


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## Eastern Snake Neck (Jan 16, 2008)

Yes, I was referring to the commercially available red meat products.

As you point out, salt is a problem for turtles. Australian turtles (excepting the PNG and Kakadu form of Carettochelys insculpta) cannot process salt. If you feed them salt, they will develop kidney problems (and possibly die).

Fresh freshwater fish is better that (previously) frozen freshwater fish. 
Freshwater fish is better than saltwater fish.

Regards,
Michael.


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## tankbuster82 (Jan 16, 2008)

when they talk about how turtles can only eat under water. if a fish jumped out onto the land section would they pick it up in there mouth then go underwater and eatit or leave it ther?


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## foxysnake (Jan 16, 2008)

Thanks heaps everyone for your suggestions and ideas!! Muchly appreciated. I just never did realise exactly was going into the turtles 'premade/shopbought' food! Its alarming what information you get from a petshop and than what you should actually do/feed your pet! I was told to feed Shorty twice a day the rubbish I have been feeding him!! And I only want to be able to treat him right and have a happy healthy turtle, and the best for him really!! So thanks again,
Cheers,
Dee


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## michelleryan (Jan 16, 2008)

tankbuster82 said:


> when they talk about how turtles can only eat under water. if a fish jumped out onto the land section would they pick it up in there mouth then go underwater and eatit or leave it ther?



They are unable to 'grab' food that is on land. Just the way that they are, they are simply not able to move their head down to grab it.


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## crush the turtle (Jan 17, 2008)

michelleryan said:


> They are unable to 'grab' food that is on land. Just the way that they are, they are simply not able to move their head down to grab it.


 
sometimes when my turtles are on the turtle dock i wiggke a dead fish and they will grab and than jump into the water to eat it...


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## crush the turtle (Jan 17, 2008)

my turtle food

sorry about the massive pic


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## Strange1 (Jan 17, 2008)

Hi foxysnake,

Click the link in my signature and go to the food page. You can feed any of that to your shortnecks. Also feed them greens. Mine love grapes, cucumber, pumpkin and freshwater plants (Like val and Elodea). Try and cut down on the feeding aswell. My longnecks that are about 9cm SCL only get feed once a week, the rest of the time they nibble on some plants and clean up the tank.


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## Ristof (Jan 21, 2008)

My Turts could pick the food up off the ledge

I feed mine a mix of pallets, plants, feeder fish and frozen food and there is nothing wrong with them
All four are healthy


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## Eastern Snake Neck (Jan 22, 2008)

Hi Ristof

It is important to remember that turtles are an animal that hide any illness until it is too late to do anything about it. Birds do the same thing. If a bird or a turtle were to sit around looking sick, they would be attacked by predators.

With birds, they tend to drop off their perch. With turtles, they suddenly become weak.

Illness in turtles can take a long time to show. Quite often, an injured turtle will die 18-24 months after incurring what looks like a relatively minor injury (unless it receives proper care at the time of the injury). During the 18-24 months, the turtle will look and behave normally, and show signs of repairing its injuries. But, it can actually be slowly dying. A post-mortem may reveal signs of septicemia, but that won't help a dead turtle.

So, whilst your turtles may appear to have nothing wrong with them, this is not necessarily the case. Turtles that are dying from kidney or liver failure do not show any outward signs. I've known people that smoke a packet of cigarettes per day tell me that they are perfectly healthy and that there is nothing wrong with them...

In my opinion, if you stick to a 'natural' turtles diet as closely as possible plus meet all the other needs of turtles, then your turtles should be healthy.

The occasional inappropriate food will probably do no noticeable harm. But, the bulk of their diet should be the foods that they would find naturally in the wild - these are the foods that they have evolved to eat. Pellets and frozen foods do not fall into this category.

If you'd like to email me some photos of your turtles, I'd be happy to give you my opinion on whether or not they look healthy to me.

Regards,
Michael.


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## imalizard (Feb 1, 2008)

I feed mine crickets worms frozen turtle tucker and pellets some time


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## -Peter (Feb 1, 2008)

Australian Freshwater Turtles and frogs. Where the people who know turtles are

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AustralianFreshwaterTurtlesandFrogs/

most turtles can eat out of water generally but long necks need to have their head immersed to swallow. They can grab food out of the water and drag it in.


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