Feeding and Nutrition :: Lady Bugs?

[zuse]

Can turtles eat lady bugs? My dorm is crawling with them and some already fell into the little feeding hole on top of my betta's tank. It wasn't interested, but I'm sure the same could happen to Turtle. Wasn't sure if they ate bugs in the wild.

[jenaero]

My thought on that is they probably don't taste very good. With some bugs and other animals the bright coloring means they're either toxic or just bad tasting.

[zuse]

Yeah, I was sort of thinking that.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Lady bugs spit a nasty smelling yellow-ish juice on your fingers as a defense mechanism so that's the reason I have never tried to feed Sheba one of those. I figured it would prolly taste as bad as it smelled! Yuck!

[kneenuh]

my turtle ate a garden snail while she was out there....

We couldn't stop her in time, but I wasn't too concerned since they eat aquatic snails...

but yeah, lady bugs are foul smelling creatures.

[adam85491]

Was your turtle in water when it ate the snail, it must have been, but you say out there, so...?

[marisa]

They're are regular lady bugs and there are also Asian one that have become invasive in some places. Aside from the possibility of being unhealthy, they don't look like they'd have any real nutrition to them. Turtles do eat bugs in the wild, but they'd likely be aquatic bugs found on the surface of the water.

[kneenuh]

Was your turtle in water when it ate the snail, it must have been, but you say out there, so...?

oh sorry. No, she was in the garden when she ate a garden snail.

[adam85491]

They can't eat out of the water, though?

[Ozzyy]

yewah i thought that too
mabey she kept it in her mouth and swallowe dit when she wneto the water

[kneenuh]

no way.....she was out there for a couple hours. She chowed down on it.

I thought they wouldn't eat out of water either....but hey, it happened!

[4Lancer4]

Really, they can''t eat outta water?, mine eat outta my fingers whether they are in water or out, When hes out, i realize that they have trouble chewing on the pellets, but other than that i think they can eat outta water, it just has to be really really soft or really really small

[N4784N R4613]

Have you ever had a REALLY dry mouth? Well if you have, have you ever tried to eat while your mouth was REALLY dry like that? Well, if you have, that is what it is like for a RES eating out of the water.

[pumpkinsherbet]

aquatic turtles have no salivary glands, so they couldn't swallow it proper like. snails are slimy, that may help it go down. but i'd still keep an eye out, though, since they can't properly swallow they could probably choke on it.

i had no idea lady bugs sprayed stink. they freak me out anyway, get you all hypnotised and fly off with no warning. *shudders* it's like a nasty mind trick.