Other Turtle Discussion :: Turtle Obesity

[sarah]

I was just giving my cat some treats and I realized that all the pets I've ever had have been fat. lol
The cat I have now I got when she was a baby and have had for almost 5 years and she is over 20 pounds now! (which is quite big)
I guess we feed them a lot
I was just curious about the effects of obesity in turtles though.
With 6 people in the house it's hard to monitor who feeds which pet how much and when so if Bobbi eats to much, does it really hurt that much?
Just wondering because I don't want to do anything that would be harmful to her health.
Any comments would be appreciated.

[TexasJagsFan]

Nope Yrtle seems fine, but our cats at fat!

[jenaero]

Obesity is dangerous for any animal. I can't imagine it would be much different for a turtle than a human. Puts massive stress on the internal organs which can lead to organ failure/death.

I'd suggest you hide the food. Make sure you're the only one feeding your turt. Bring the food with you to school or work if you have to and tell the rest of your family that if they want to feed him, they can throw in some lettuce or something.

[butterfly]

I have a cat also which Ive had since she was born. I have always kept her on a rigid cat food only diet, no treats and no human food, to keep her weight down. Ive seen obese kittys and its sad to look at them all covered up in fat, unable to even play around. My cat is lean and fit and she is nine years old. She runs all the times in here playing around as well for exercise.

My turtle is not fat either even though I worry about her being so. I put her on a diet anyways since she seemed to be growing a little too quickly. The black line around her shell has reduced since shes been eatting less.

I got a beta fish now and Im watching what it eats as well. Wouldnt want him to get huge and sick. Ive always heard that being fat is very dangerous for animals.

The only things fat in my house are me and my husband. Thankfully our pets are lean.

[jenaero]

lol. Same here. If only I could make myself stick to a diet like I make the turts do.