# Redfoots eating turkey...beware...graphic



## ArkansasKelly (Jul 25, 2008)

Okay, here are the pictures I promised of a few of my redfoots eating on a turkey.



















Sure wish I had a camcorder because it would have worked better. LOL I was usure as to weather they were going to eat today because it is so hot, but they did. Yummy.

The other 2 did not come out yet, but when they do, there will be nothing left except maybe some feet.

ARKelly

Moved to pictures by the Moderator team.


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## egyptiandan (Jul 25, 2008)

Very interesting pictures Kelly  They are much calmer than my box turtles when they get a mouse, chipmunk or bird, all brought into the yard by the nextdoor neighbors cat. 

Danny


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 25, 2008)

egyptiandan said:


> Very interesting pictures Kelly  They are much calmer than my box turtles when they get a mouse, chipmunk or bird, all brought into the yard by the nextdoor neighbors cat.
> 
> Danny



LOL, thanks Danny. Yeah, they are pretty calm when they eat anything really. I guess they like to just sit back and enjoy. 

ARKelly


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## JustAnja (Jul 25, 2008)

Thanks for sharing Kelly  Definitely puts a different light on Redfoots huh?


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## Crazy1 (Jul 25, 2008)

Great Pics Kelly thanks for sharing. When looking at these you have no doughts they are meat eaters.


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 25, 2008)

Thanks Anja and Crazy,

It does go to show that they like their meat. If it was cooler out, they would have eaten it faster, but with as hot as it is, over 90*, I do not blame them for taking their time. LOL

I, personally, have never fed dog or cat food as a protein source. I prefer the real stuff. Weather it be fresh chicken, turkey, baby birds, road kill, dog kill, whatever. I have not seen them turn any type of "meat" down yet.

Most people would not have the stomach to do what I do, but I lost my soft stomach awhile ago. 

ARKelly


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## TortGirl (Jul 25, 2008)

WOW! Great pictures! I had no idea that redfoots are meat eaters. They look very happy.


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## JustAnja (Jul 25, 2008)

Yea Kelly I have a cast iron stomach as well  I can eat ice cream and perform a necropsy on a dead animal at the same time. lol


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## terryo (Jul 25, 2008)

OMG!! I am a city gal, and never saw anything like that. Poor Pio...if he saw that he would wish YOU were his mom instead of me. I wish I could try a little pinky, but I couldn't even do that. Oh well......Thanks for sharing that Kelly. Very interesting.


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 25, 2008)

JustAnja said:


> Yea Kelly I have a cast iron stomach as well  I can eat ice cream and perform a necropsy on a dead animal at the same time. lol



LMAO Anja! I will not even go into detail on some of the things I have to do here on the farm.  I can still eat though.

Terryo: Have you thought of feeding a frozen/thawed pinky? It would not be as bad as feeding a live one. Just do not watch!

ARKelly


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 25, 2008)

Oh yeah Terryo, I do not buy the whole city girl thing. I was born and raised in NW IN about 30 mins. from Chicago. LOL

ARKelly


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## terryo (Jul 25, 2008)

Sorry Kelly....the closest I ever come to a turkey is on Thanksgiving. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, going to the Bronx zoo was a biggie for me. I probably would love living on a farm though. When I moved to Staten Island, and got a little bit of property so I could have some ponds and flowers, I thought I was in heaven. But I am still a city gal at heart.


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 26, 2008)

No worries Terryo, I was just picking on you. I may have been born and raised in the city, but I beleive I was always a country girl at heart. I hated the city. LOL

ARKelly


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## drgnfly2265 (Jul 26, 2008)

Wow, that is very interesting. Thanks for sharing!!! 

__________________________________________________

Jamie

1 Sulcata (Bowser)

www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise


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## Itort (Jul 26, 2008)

Mine have been known to eat chicks, turkey poults, and ducklings along with the stray insect and small frog. I have come to conclusion they have cast iron stomachs. Has anyone seen any literature on relative intestion length of forest torts as opposed to grassland torts. I know in mammals carnivores and omnivores have shorter ones than herbivores.


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## Redfootedboxturtles (Jul 26, 2008)

Very cool, thanks for posting the pics. So what is left when they are done eating?


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 26, 2008)

Redfootedboxturtles said:


> Very cool, thanks for posting the pics. So what is left when they are done eating?



Basically, the only thing that was left was the "shell" of the turkey. They ate the head, breast, inards, belly and the butt. LOL What was left was the skeleton, wings and legs. The bones are alot harder when the bird is older so they normally do not mess with them, if they do not have to. And yes, they picked every ounce of meat off.

Younger birds such as poults, their bones are alot "softer" so when I feed that, nothing is left.

I would have taken a picture of the "leftovers" but one thing I cannot stomach is maggots and they had already entered the body cavity so I quickly through it to the dogs. I will not leave a carcass overnight because it would attract unwanted guests.

I just gave a turk to my boxies so I am curious to see how they will take to it.

ARKelly

FYI: They still prefer chicken over turkey though.


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## Redfootedboxturtles (Jul 26, 2008)

How many redfoots do you have?


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## Caitlin718 (Jul 26, 2008)

I'm sure they were very happy they got that turkey for dinner. :] I know I always am. xD


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 26, 2008)

Redfootedboxturtles said:


> How many redfoots do you have?



I have 4 adult cherryheads outside and 6 babies inside. When we get poults back in, I am going to see if the youngin's will eat one. I am sure the 6 week old turkeys would be way to big for the little ones. LOL

Caitlin: You enjoy turkey for dinner, huh? I have 60lbs of breast meat in the freezer. How many ways can turkey be fixed? LMAO!

ARKelly


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## ZippyButter (Jul 26, 2008)

ARKelly,

This info is new to me, so I can try giving my boxes some raw chicken or turkey. They have been fed cooked chicken once in a while but not the raw one. Very interesting. I did not grow up in a farm ( always wish I did) but I still learn how to prepare a chicken, duck for a meal from fresh ( you have to know how to cut the vein and to pluck its feather and clean every single organs of the poultry) Talking about this makes me hungry


Minh


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 27, 2008)

ZippyButter said:


> ARKelly,
> 
> This info is new to me, so I can try giving my boxes some raw chicken or turkey. They have been fed cooked chicken once in a while but not the raw one. Very interesting. I did not grow up in a farm ( always wish I did) but I still learn how to prepare a chicken, duck for a meal from fresh ( you have to know how to cut the vein and to pluck its feather and clean every single organs of the poultry) Talking about this makes me hungry
> 
> ...



Of course, this is just my 2 cents, but I would not feed anything that has been cooked. What they eat in the wild is raw and I would be afraid cooking something would take away nutrients or what not.

As far as feeding bought chicken or turkey from the grocery store, that I could not say weather it would be good or bad. . I guess you would want to get something that is all natural and not full of preservatives and the like. Again, just my 2 cents. LOL

Maybe someone else would have thoughts on that?

ARKelly


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 27, 2008)

On a side note, my poor boxies never even got a chance to taste their turkey. My puppy, Panda Bear, broke into the pen and stole it. Looks like I need to do some reinforcements now. :-(

ARKelly


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## ZippyButter (Jul 28, 2008)

ARKelly,

I tried to give some raw chicken to my boxies this morning, they snipped then walked away, so I fed to my Res and Painted, they gulfed it down in no time. I guess these boxies never had a raw chicken meat in their lives. I bought my chicken at Asian Market, the natural kinds that have the free ranged at the farm. They are pricey, but worth it.

Minh


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 29, 2008)

ZippyButter said:


> ARKelly,
> 
> I tried to give some raw chicken to my boxies this morning, they snipped then walked away, so I fed to my Res and Painted, they gulfed it down in no time. I guess these boxies never had a raw chicken meat in their lives. I bought my chicken at Asian Market, the natural kinds that have the free ranged at the farm. They are pricey, but worth it.
> 
> Minh



Minh,

Don't give up yet. I had a few boxies that would not touch their "meat" until it was rancid. IF you can stand the thought and the smell, leave it out there for a few days and see what happens.

Glad to know that the chicken will not go to waste though. I bet the water turtles were very happy. 

ARKelly


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## Redfootedboxturtles (Jul 29, 2008)

Just be careful with feeding raw chicken. Kelly you have an our door enclosure correct? I think that because of gems and stuff feeding raw meat in a small enclosure where the bedding isnt changed and the cage cleaned daily can cause a problem. 

The same can be said about putting raw chicken into your water turtle enclosure especially if its a fish tank type set up. Salmonella can really become prominent in fish tanks where raw chicken is fed, even if the water seems clean and well filtered.


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 29, 2008)

Redfootedboxturtles said:


> Just be careful with feeding raw chicken. Kelly you have an our door enclosure correct? I think that because of gems and stuff feeding raw meat in a small enclosure where the bedding isnt changed and the cage cleaned daily can cause a problem.
> 
> The same can be said about putting raw chicken into your water turtle enclosure especially if its a fish tank type set up. Salmonella can really become prominent in fish tanks where raw chicken is fed, even if the water seems clean and well filtered.



You are right about germs and such. I did not even think about that. I was thinking only of feeding raw stuff when in an outside pen like mine. Thank you for bringing that up. 

Another consideration is if you do have an outside pen and it is NOT animal proof, leaving raw meat in the enlcosure overnight would not be a good idea either. It tends to attract predators.

I apologize for not being more detailed.  I have a tendency to be vague. 

ARKelly


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## ZippyButter (Jul 30, 2008)

Don't worry about samonella in the container of the water turtles, I feed them in seperate feeding container, as you all know RES and Painted Tort are messy eater. And I don't intend to feed these water torts raw meat often, they love little feeder gold fishes, roaches, bugs, worms, lettuce, crickets...and their pellets.. Thank you for reminding us of the danger of feeding raw meat to our torts.

Minh


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## alice (Jul 30, 2008)

really interesting post, are theese your own turkeys your feeding them?


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## 70ridgeway (Jul 30, 2008)

im a bit confused at the moment im new to keeping redfoots and have been told to feed only cooked chicken,due to bacteria,so am i right in thinking small amounts of uncooked meat is ok ,great photos by the way and im sorry to question this but i want to get things right with my torts.


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## Itort (Jul 30, 2008)

One point we keep in mind is Kelly knows these turkeys intimately as far as diet, housing, and health. Kelly raises turkeys for a living and therefore has total quality control.


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 30, 2008)

Itort said:


> One point we keep in mind is Kelly knows these turkeys intimately as far as diet, housing, and health. Kelly raises turkeys for a living and therefore has total quality control.



Thanks Itort, just another tad of information I skipped over. As usual. I am so not good with words. 

Alice: As Itort just pointed out, yes I do raise the turkeys I feed so I do know what goes into them as far as diet and such.

70ridgeway: I'm going to let someone else answer your question, if you do not mind. I guess I do not have problems feeding fresh meat to my guys because what they get is what I raise, but I am not sure how others feel about it.

I do NOT want to give the wrong advice by any means.

Anyone else have an opinion about feeding raw meat?

ARKelly


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## ZippyButter (Jul 30, 2008)

ARKelly,

That's why this country is so great. One can gather many great ideas and opinions, then make decision about what is best for your torts. I've read some infos about boxies that live in the wild, they not only eat raw animal flesh but sometimes eat the carcasses of death animals. With our domestic torts, to prevent of passing germs, bacteria to ourselves and other people, it's always wise to wash our hands after handling them. I bet your turkeys taste better than other commercial brand !

Minh


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 30, 2008)

Well said Minh!

"I bet your turkeys taste better than other commercial brand"

Actually, they probably taste the same. I grow birds for Butterball. (big cheesy grin)

ARKelly


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## Lil' Tortie (Jul 30, 2008)

Crazy1 said:


> Great Pics Kelly thanks for sharing. When looking at these you have no doughts they are meat eaters.



I am also shocked! Do you think it's good to feed my leopards and sulcata meat awso?


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## ArkansasKelly (Jul 30, 2008)

Lil' Tortie said:


> Crazy1 said:
> 
> 
> > Great Pics Kelly thanks for sharing. When looking at these you have no doughts they are meat eaters.
> ...



No, leopards and sulcatas are strictly vegetarians where as redfoots and yellowfoots are omnivores.

I am not 100% sure, but if the leopards and sulcatas did eat the meat, it might make them sick.

ARKelly


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## 70ridgeway (Jul 31, 2008)

i wasnt questioning the fact u feed fresh uncooked meat its that there is so much different advice given on feeding and raising tortoises,sometimes u dont know if ur coming or going i have 3 different types of torts and redfoots im only just learning about some say dont feed meat some say u have to cook and others use fresh uncooked it can be conflicting sometimes.But i will give it a try.


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## Itort (Aug 1, 2008)

One other point to keep in mind is Kelly is feeding the whole bird. These are not plucked, cleaned, and butchered like in grocery. The nutriant value is probably higher and the birds are cleaner (its a closed package till the torts get it).


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## jackflash (Aug 6, 2008)

WOW!!! I've read that in the wild redfoots have been known to hunt in packs to bring down small deer and livestock. Great pictures. They show a side of redfooot behavior that some owners don't like to talk about. Just kidding,I have two that are about a year old and a lot smarter than any of the N.A. box turtles that I've seen or kept. 
Take care, jackflash.


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## terryo (Aug 7, 2008)

jackflash said:


> WOW!!! I've read that in the wild redfoots have been known to hunt in packs to bring down small deer and livestock. Great pictures. They show a side of redfooot behavior that some owners don't like to talk about. Just kidding,I have two that are about a year old and a lot smarter than any of the N.A. box turtles that I've seen or kept.
> Take care, jackflash.



Double Wow! I would love to read that article.


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## bacaraj (Aug 8, 2008)

I've been feeding my redfoots live pinkie mice about once every 7-10 days 9basically when the snakes eat) and they love them and will by pass all their favorite foods (strawberries, cantaloupe, hibiscus, and Mazuri) to get to the mice. They also do one strange thing they always eat the stomaches last.


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