General Care Discussion :: Feeder Mice and Lizards?

[planet.caravan]

I have heard that gold fish are high in fat and contain less nutritional value than guppies

[TheComputerGremlin]

Okay, I'm late to the party, but here's my two cents:

1) Goldfish are fatty. We recommend limiting or eliminating them from the turtle's diet if at all possible. If they are your only choice, go for a fish every two months, rather than monthly. But whenever possible, rosie red minnows are the best. And, for you sadists, you can buy multiples and watch your turtle chase them down. I just gave mine 8 about three weeks ago, 4 were gone within minutes, the other 4 are still alive. For now. Biding her time, I assure you.

2) I would guess, no experience in the matter, but guess that your turtle would look at the mouse and be like, what am I supposed to do with that? Turtles don't naturally hunt down prey, they are happy surviving on fish, bugs, and plants, so it is more than likely that the mouse would end up drowning itself, and that's just inhumane. Also, as others mentioned, anything wild, unless you can vouch for everywhere it's been, isn't good to feed pets. Our pets lose their ability to digest nasty stuff over time, and so even if you were going to catch crickets, let's say, you need to make sure they don't come from an area that has any chemicals, parasites, etc. It's just not worth it when you can buy from the store.

If you decide to start feeding crickets or fish that you have caught, it's best to let your caught bugs or fish reproduce several cycles and only feed the home-raised ones rather than the wild-caught ones.

[SINI5T3R]

Nahh I dont think RES would look at a mouse and not be interested. My RES are interested in eating everything, even my own finger... I seen one on youtube rip the head off a pre-frozen feeder mouse that was sorta large, so im sure they would bite the crap out of the mouse I know it sounds mean but hey it would be somethin to see...

[rfjedi]

I saw a youtube video of 3 res turtles tearing apart a mouse... It was awesome... It took them about 2 seconds before they realized the mouse was in there and boom it was dead... SOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome... I havent done it because I dont wanna clean the mess but if the mess is not a big deal and its rarely then have a blast... There is no shortage of mice lol

[freshprince2146]

Even feeder animals deserve to be treated as humanely as possible. If you really want to go the mouse route, at least be kind enough to buy frozen.

I 100% agree with you.

The cycle of life is true and what not. But laughing and getting enjoyment out of watching a animal suffer is just mess"d up bro

With snakes its pretty much a instant kill and the mouse is dead in about 20 seconds. But with a turtle i can just imagine it nipping at the mouses tail and feet for minutes especially at the size your turtles are at right now.

In this case i would say go frozen.

[LittleResQNorth]

Totally agree with Jenaero and freshprince2146. I could feed an already dead mouse to a snake because that's the food they require but not to my turtles when there are so many other options for feeding them. Get some fish dude, if you're that into watching an animal suffer then die slowly then maybe you shouldn't be on this site.

[imderanged]

I have begun feeding my Pixie Frog mice. I decided to go the frozen route, not just because of ethical issues with feeding live mammals, but because I don't want some mouse to bite or scratch my frog! I've seen those vids on Youtube of turtles eating live mice and personally I wouldn't even give my turtle a frozen mouse after seeing that, it's a total mess for no good reason. A few rosy reds will satisfy their hunting instinct better than a drowning mouse anyway and be healthier for your turtle.

[SINI5T3R]

I didnt make this thread to try to sound mean or cruel or something. and I know that my turtles are too small to kill a mouse, this was just info for the future for when they DO get bigger. I myself think mice and all that should be treated like a pet untill feeding time but they are still ment for other animal food (or a little kids pet ) and personally, if i did feed my RES a mouse, I would prob flick it in the head just to make sure it didnt bite one of my turtles that was unsuspecting a fight...