Other Turtle Discussion :: Schreckstoff???

[imderanged]

I was looking up something about rosey reds/fathead minnows and read they make a chemical called Schreckstoff...this intrigued me so I clicked the link for Schreckstoff. This is some kind of "warning chemical" that some animals can make when they are being preyed upon, the other fish smell it and are warned of predators in the area. I wondered if my turtle could smell it too, because I have noticed that if she does catch a fish and eat it, it seems like this "triggers" something in her and she goes on a killing spree...anyway I read the article and it says that they don't know exactly how the mechanism evolved, but one theory involves actually attracting more predators to compete with the original predator so the prey has a chance to escape! They did some studies that show predators reacting to the chemical! This is interesting to me...maybe there is a real scientific reason my turtle seems to go nuts and kill and eat all the fish at once, the chemicals the fish release may driving her to kill. WOW. Has anyone else observed this behavior in their turtles?

[Caphits]

Yup. Once the fish freaks out once, my turtle goes crazy for a while. After a bit though, i guess it wears off. I am feeding fatheads and rosies, but i see them go after the rosies MUCH more than the fatheads....there are currently 2 fatheads in the tank...no rosies.

[imderanged]

So far pickle has not eaten any of the gray colored fish either. I have the feeling the orangy red attracts her attention much better (I have no idea about the kind of color vision reptiles have, maybe that will be the next thing I look up online) Of course it is also possible that she goes after the redish ones out of HABIT because that's what I have been feeding her all along....

[Caphits]

Well, actually, when I first put in the fatheads, he chased them around. But now, they can swim very slowly right in front of his face, and it wont even phase him.