General Care Discussion :: over feeding?

[marc_]

what will happan if i over feed my turtle?

[Tenodera]

Your turtle will grow fat and grow too quickly which will result in pyramiding and kidney damage which will result in death.

[marisa]

Why, are you thinking of doing so?

Overfeeding will cause to fast a growth, which will cause health problems (including shell problems) and will shorten the life of your turtle. You want to feed your turtle so that growth is slow, but steady.

[Safdar]

This excessive amount of food and also protien causes accelerated growth, premature sexuality, shell disfigurements (pyramiding), and even organ failure.

Remember to feed him the amount of pellets that would virtually fit in his head

[Caelestis]

Edit: Nevermind then, 4 pellets does fit his head anyway.

[Safdar]

In 15 minutes a turtle can chomp down many many pellets
That rule has no mathematical meaning or nutritional balance

Its the not the size of the pellets the causes these problems
Its all the nutrients in them

The size of the pellet doesnt affect its nutrition level

Your turtle can eat as many pellets as he wants but if the pellets have literaly no nutrition at all, then it is worthless

The "fit in head" rule isnt based on density, its based on howvere many nutrients can fit in his head

Caelestis just make sure you dont over feed him

[marisa]

I can't think of a pellet that doesn't have some nutritional value. Some are more nutritionally complete than others, but conventional turtle pellets have at least some nutrition.

The head-sized amount guideline is not based on nutrients fitting in the head. It's based on the actual amount (number of pellets) that would fit in the head, which is considered by many to be an amount that a turtle can eat without being overfed. The number of pellets will vary depending on their size.