Feeding and Nutrition :: silverslides

[nene]

I read before that it is ok to feed my turtle silverslides. I hope this is true, cause I bought my turtle Tuck some today and he loves them! I only gave him 3 cause I wasn't sure how much was too much to give him. So I guess what I'm wondering is, is it ok for him to eat them, and how much to feed them to him? He is a red ear slider by the way!

[jay2487]

Silversides are fine, I wouldnt let any turtle eat 3 in a day though, maybe 3 a week. They have lots of small bones so they are a good source of calcium. The only fish you need to avoid are; toxic ones like Green Spotted Puffers(which I doubt you buy a $6 fish to feed your turtle but either way dont buy as a pet and keep in the same tank)and others and goldfish, now goldfish range from comets to koi and many many others, some arent even gold so check what family there in before feeding. Also i hear carp family fish like Bala sharks are also as fatty and bad for your turtle as goldfish

[SINI5T3R]

I dont see why a little fat is bad for turtles. I think it would be good for them as they would need fat in the wild since they do Hibernate.

I feed my turtles nothing but Gold Fish and misc bugs that get caught around the house (Flys, crickets, stuff like that). Right now there are 7 gold fish in my turtle tank waiting to get caught.

[jay2487]

its not that fat is bad for them it's that they dont process it whatsoever. It just goes through them and makles a big mess in the tank and has been proven to lower their life spans. Goldfish are suggested to be fed to turtles once a month if that.

[worldpeace]

SINI5T3R, even if the argument about hibernating were true, you have to remember that turtles in captivity do not hibernate so they would have no need for the extra fat.

[SINI5T3R]

Yeah I know that worldpeace but as jay says that they dont process it what so ever, that totally rules out the hibernation thing anyway rite? lol...

[jay2487]

Well I mean I'm sure they get something from it, but from how I understand it, that turtles cant digest the extra fat and just waste it out, this makes the digestive system overworked and leads to problems down the road. I will have to find the links to the stuff I was reading and share it here. It is definitely not because they dont like them, when my big boy was a hatchling he would pass up guppies to go straight for the comets and ate goldfish tankmates 4 times his size piece by piece

[nene]

Thanks to everyone who replied! I will only feed them to him once a month!

[turtle man]

I dont see why a little fat is bad for turtles. I think it would be good for them as they would need fat in the wild since they do Hibernate.

I feed my turtles nothing but Gold Fish and misc bugs that get caught around the house (Flys, crickets, stuff like that). Right now there are 7 gold fish in my turtle tank waiting to get caught.

why not minnows? they cost the same much, and are more healthy its one thing to feed your res goldfish once in a while, but every day!!!I agree with you that a little fat is not bad every good res food has fat, but goldfish have ALOT of fat and giving your turtles ONLY goldfish is giving them a dangerously high amount of fat!!!lol,no offense but you should spend a a few bucks and get some pellets, I could go on telling you how bad you feed your turtles(flies ughh..so much protein!!...) but I think you get the point, lol!

[turtle man]

SINI5T3R, even if the argument about hibernating were true, you have to remember that turtles in captivity do not hibernate so they would have no need for the extra fat.

turtles in captivity are supposedto hibernate you should put him in your garage for a month and make sure the temp is under 55 it is suggested you do this if you want your turts to live longer

[Spike 7.62]

First, turtles in captivity don't need all that extra fat, so just don't feed them goldfish. Minnows are a better option if you insist on offering live prey.

turtle man, where do you base your opinion? Do you have sources to back up your claims?

-Spike

[LilTurtSquirt]

[Spike 7.62]

turtles in captivity are supposedto hibernate you should put him in your garage for a month and make sure the temp is under 55 it is suggested you do this if you want your turts to live longer

Who has suggested this to you?

-Spike

[turtle man]

turtles in captivity are supposedto hibernate you should put him in your garage for a month and make sure the temp is under 55 it is suggested you do this if you want your turts to live longer

Who has suggested this to you?

-Spike

my aunt in canada, she and her husband are wildlife studiers or something

like that, anyway she has a female res, who is nine years old,when i

was speaking with her about my turts she said that she puts hers in the

garage for a month or so, because thats the way it is in the
wild, i'm not saying i'll do it, but it makes sense.how do they
survive in the wild when its 20 degrees?
when i asked her why i would want to do it, she said that you dont have to, but they'll live longer if you do.

[LilTurtSquirt]