General Care Discussion :: feeding small mammals

[fish21]

i was at the vet and he advised me to drop a prekilled pinkey mouse in for my turts to have a treat. he said that they would get a lot of vitimins that can not be found in turtel food. it is actually a food item in the wild., when a small mouse swims across the water a large turt will eat them. mine take them down no problem. they each get one twice a month insted of food that day. if you decide to try this do it in a seperat feeding tub as it can get messy in case you turt dosent eat it whole and trys to shred it.
fish

[missibsu]

Ok, I don't have a problem with feeder fish, but that is just gross...vet recommended or not, I couldn't do that. It gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

[sonyj]

I totally agree with you Missi. That's one food Koopa will just have to miss out on because I will not suffer through it.

[jenaero]

I keep pre-killed mice on hand for my snake but I'm not feeding them to my res. I know they're a good source of calcium but so are feeder fish. If you're willing to do it then go for it, but I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't have the stomach for it. The chances of a res finding a pinky mouse anywhere near a pond is pretty remote anyway and I like to keep my turts diet as close as I can to what they might find in nature.

[marisa]

I've never fed any to my turts, but do know of some other keepers that do and recommend them as part of the overall diet (occasionally). Some species of turtles do feed on carrion in the wild if it's available..

[fish21]

it works out nicley for me bacause i have about 15 snakes around. so i aloways ahve some left over mice pre killed. but like i said make sure you feed them to your turts in a seperate tub of water. messy messy messy

[marisa]

I'm not sure I'd feed regular mice from the wild. You don't know what they've eaten. (I know turtle would eat them in the wild if they came upon them, but these are pets.) Pinkies are really tiny and hairless.

[Andrew7769]

"pinkys" are small pre-killed mice babys that u buy frozen they are not alive i dont have any snakes but i might think about doing that but im not so sure

[fluffytheturtle]

Yep. I couldn't do it either. But that is probably what my turtle ate in the wild. She is native to my area and she probably ate mice and small birds. Grosse! That is why I guess you can give them chicken (cooked and no bones).

[industrial_girl_2000]

Yuck, yuck, yuck!!! I would stick to earthworms. Less messy, and those are messy enough!