Feeding and Nutrition :: Turtle Jello Shots

[Apple]

Gotcha! Thanks!! That's pretty much what I figured, just wanted to make sure.

[Mr. Tuck]

Can someone please explain to me just how much gelatin i should use. Since Knox isn't available in my area, I used a store brand. It came in a small size (the size of a small box of jello, which in itself had four packets inside) and a larger free pour size. Mine came out with the consistency of gummi bears, yet i believed I follow all directions accurately.

[ReneC]

For each 1 cup of the slurry mixture, (which contains all your veggies, fruit, calcium, etc) you need one cup of boiling water and two packets of gelatin. Knox gelatin packets are 1/4 oz each, so you need about 1/2 oz of unflavored gelatin powder. Make sure you fully dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water BEFORE you mix it with the cup of veggie slurry. I made the mistake of mixing it all together before it was fully dissolved and I had lumps of gelatin in my shots when it was finished. OOPS!

On the bright side, after they were finished, I gave one to my little guy and he LOVED it!!! Talk about begging!

I used 1/4 c blueberries, 1 very small sweet potato, 1 apple peel, 1/4 of the apple flesh, 2 carrots, 1 bunch of kale, some green leaf lettuce, some romaine lettuce, 1 medium tomato, 1/2 of a cuttle bone, crushed, about 1/3 of a can of tuna plus the water from the can, a few shakes of dried krill and some turtle pellets. I threw all that in the food processor and came out with about 5 cups of this lovely slurry that resembles what I used to see in my kid's diapers when they were ill. LOL! Once I mixed some with the gelatin and water and let it set up, it came out somewhat gelly like but not firm. Probably because some of the gelatin lumped up and I had to remove it. No problem. I simply scooped small amounts of the muck out onto wax paper and froze the little lumps then popped them off and into a zippy bag and back into the freezer. I have dubbed them "Turtle Turds". I was able to make a huge bag of them and I still have 3 cups worth of the veggie slurry bagged and frozen for the next batch. So glad I found this forum. For those of us who "accidentally" became turtle parents, it is a wealth of information. THANKS!

[Mr. Tuck]

Thanks for the advice. I've never made gelatin before, so I didn't even know if I was doing anything wrong. Luckily my turtle still ate it, and I have a ton of the 'slurry' left over.

[mstmst]

Silly question...Should the vegetables be cooked first or just raw ???

[steve]

Uncooked would be fine.

[stopgaming]

Tried this method of "Veggies" today. I can't wait to see some results from Kale and Calcium powder!

Tip #1 Freeze the Jello!
Tip #2 Feed the turtles outside of the tank!

Thanks!

Update

I made my own batch with Kale Raw(tons) + Fluker's Aquatic Turtle Buffet Blend Food + Zoo Med Gourmet Aquatic Turtle Food + Calcium Powder and threw it in a blender.

I made the gelatin by itself and then mixed (thoroughly) the "Kale Buffet". Put it in the fridge and let it cool.

While it cooled I threw some Zoo Med Gourmet Aquatic Turtle Food in the blender by itself and sprinkled it on top of the Jello while it was still soft (but not liquid).

My turtle devoured his jello blocks (not frozen) but the top sprinkles and shredded kale seemed to have left quite a mess in my tank.

To prevent the mess I should have turned off my filters Especially my Aqua Clear Power Head 70 which I use for water movement

I also noticed that my "Kale Buffet" mix was so dense it sank to the bottom of the Jello tray. Leaving all the goodies on the bottom half of the Jello.

To prevent this I'll use a larger tray and/or use less gelatin mix.

All in all, I am very happy to see my turtle finally eat some veggies!

[dora]

Total Success!!!
I made it with my magic bullet

[eaw]

I made the original recipe, since my turtles don't like to shed their scutes alot, and have a few retained ones.

Holy crap, I think I 1)may have killed my blender, 2)did not realize how much stuff I had to jam into it! I put the ingredients in from the bottom up, starting with the tuna and calcium powder. Worst idea ever. It took me 45 minutes to almost get everything blended together.

On the bright side, my turtles LOVE it. I will definitely be making it again. This is an awesome recipe.

[sdellin]

I couldn't figure out how to give my guys calcium powder. This is a great idea. I'm going to make it today!

[sdellin]

Suppose I could throw in those worthless frozen turtle food blocks I bought. I can use them up that way. They are worthless feeding the turtles. The pieces are so small when they melt that the turtles just bypass them. Anyone else use that frozen turtle food?

[metal-otaku]

my question is did the recipe compensate the amount of cal. put in with that of the gelatin? is it possible to give them to much cal?

[sdellin]

I'd like that question answered as well. How much calcium? I'm using the new recipe on the first page of this thread.

[steve]

Calcium is mainly absorbed with Vitamin D3 - so veggies, pellets and cuttlebone should be plenty. If you're adding additional calcium, I don't think it's necessary to add much in a balanced diet.

[Into_the_Mystic]

Suppose I could throw in those worthless frozen turtle food blocks I bought. I can use them up that way. They are worthless feeding the turtles. The pieces are so small when they melt that the turtles just bypass them. Anyone else use that frozen turtle food?

I bought some last week, and they pretty much disintegrate when put in the water.. I am going to try to put them on his basking area next time and see if he will eat it.

I did make a batch of jello shots last week as well, but they didn't come out very jello like. I froze 2 trays of cubes, and just break off tiny pieces now, but they fall apart even frozen.