good protein?

[austinSOLO]

so i am going to hopefully be getting a red foot soon, it should only be a couple of months old and my biggest question was about protein and what to give for protein. i was thinking boiled egg every two weeks. can you guys tell me what you feed/fed hatchlings?

 

[wellington]

Just giving your thread a bump. If you don't get any answers, send bigred a pm

 

[austinSOLO]

alright thank you

 

[terryo]

I never fed mine protein until they were 6 months old. Now I feed, boiled chicken, fish, hard cooked eggs, worms.... But I only feed protein once every few weeks. Some people feed pinkies, but I just can't do that. I even make a scrambled egg. Sometimes canned Venison.

 

[austinSOLO]

so until 6 months you just feed them greens and fruits? and do you use calcium because i heard not to until older but it didnt make sense to me

 

[RonHays]

Spring mix and Mazuri. You can't go wrong.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I used to give my redfoot tortoise access to slugs and snails. She loved these, and the snails were good because they provided not only protein, but calcium as well.

I also gave her the occasional chicken leftovers, with the bone included so she could wear her beak down. She loved that, too!

Unlike my box turtles, the redfoot was never interested in insects or earthworms. Seems like mollusks and vertebrates were the only meat she liked.

 

[Madkins007]

I have never found a good reason to NOT offer some protein and calcium to young'uns- but they certainly don't need much!

Meat protein is an interesting issue- wild torts need it to make up for the poor nutrition in the local plants, but what we offer in captivity is a lot more nutritious.

Meat should not make up much of the diet- about 5% or so most of the time, or about a good meal every couple weeks. What kind of meat you offer is not real important. In the wild, the most common meats for red-footeds are carrion, termites and butterflies.

In captivity, I personally prefer live foods when possible- slugs, snails, soft-bodied bugs and larvae, etc. Like Geo said- worms do not seem to be a favorite. After that, I prefer things like chicken, egg, oily fish, and so on. Since it is such a small part of the diet, you can even use a decent quality, low fat dog or cat food with little risk.

 

[terryo]

so until 6 months you just feed them greens and fruits? and do you use calcium because i heard not to until older but it didnt make sense to me

I never gave supplements of any kind until they were 6 months old. Plantain is a weed that is very high in calcium, so is grape leaves. So for the first 6 months, I tried to give as many greens that would give them the nutrition they needed without a supplement. I raised both my Cherries according to Terry K. (NERD) old care sheet. I still say it's my favorite for a new keeper. After 5 years, I still consider myself a new keeper, and am always hesitant to give any advice. So, I can only say that my Cherry Heads seem to be healthy and smooth, and content it that means anything.

Here's Pio outside this week.

 

[mightymizz]

So are pretty much any slugs ok for them to eat here in the USA? Slugs just seem so....gooey or potentially harmful to eat?

With snails, do they just bit through the shell and eat it also?

I have fed earthworms that come out after a long rain and my redfoot seems to enjoy those. I never thought about slugs and snails.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

So are pretty much any slugs ok for them to eat here in the USA? Slugs just seem so....gooey or potentially harmful to eat?

With snails, do they just bit through the shell and eat it also?

I have fed earthworms that come out after a long rain and my redfoot seems to enjoy those. I never thought about slugs and snails.

Some redfoots like earthworms, but it seems like most don't. If yours is one of the ones that do, then that's no problem.

As for snails and slugs, as long as they have not been feeding in areas that have been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides, and as long as they are not carrying parasites, then they are very nutritious for tortoises and box turtles, and most really seem to relish them.

Slugs may be bitten in half, or just swallowed whole. Snails that are small enough, or have a thin enough shell get chomped to bits in the tortoise's strong beak. Those that are a bit bigger or have thicker shells also get swallowed whole. This appears to do no harm, and the shell seems to get completely digested, as I have never found shell shards in turtle droppings. Snail shells are made of calcium carbonate, which is the most readily absorbed form of calcium for turtles (mammals appear to prefer bones, which are made of calcium phosphate). Nevertheless, I have always been careful about the size and robustness of snails I offer my turtles; I suppose they do pose a choking hazard if they are too wide or too thick.

 

[austinSOLO]

thanks for all the info, i usually find slugs in the grass after it rains so i could feed him those

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oh yeah that is a really smooth shell!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

thanks for all the info, i usually find slugs in the grass after it rains so i could feed him those

If it's not too cold out, you could let him hunt them down himself.

---

Here's Pio outside this week.

oh yeah that is a really smooth shell!

Yeah, he looks great. Just like a wild redfoot.

 

[mightymizz]

Obviously this would be an answer based on opinion, but what is the likelihood that your typical slug/snail in the wild would be carrying parasites here in the USA?

Are we talking 50%? or is it much lower?

Thanks so far to everyone's responses. I'm still amazed at how much I've been learning.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Obviously this would be an answer based on opinion, but what is the likelihood that your typical slug/snail in the wild would be carrying parasites here in the USA?

Are we talking 50%? or is it much lower?

Thanks so far to everyone's responses. I'm still amazed at how much I've been learning.

Snails in wild areas - especially wetlands - are going to have a heavier parasite load, because they serve as intermediate hosts for parasites whose ultimate hosts are birds.

In a backyard, parasite loads are likely to be much lower, because those snails are not in proximity to as many birds.

Like I said, when I kept box turtles and later a redfoot tortoise, I let them feed on slugs and snails all the time, and they were quite healthy. Granted, I did not take their stool to a vet for testing, but I wouldn't unless the turtles were showing visible signs of oppressive parasite load anyway. Since they weren't, I take that to mean that the snails were not infecting them with parasites, at least not appreciably.

 

[austinSOLO]

i live in washington state so what do you think the likelihood of slugs and snails having parasites?

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

i live in washington state so what do you think the likelihood of slugs and snails having parasites?

I'd say it depends on whether you have a suburban backyard, or a rural property. If you're in the 'burbs, I'd say the odds of parasites are pretty low. If you live in a remote area, the parasites are probably more likely to show up.

 

[austinSOLO]

i live in a gated neighborhood, not much woods except by the golf course, but mostly houses

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

i live in a gated neighborhood, not much woods except by the golf course, but mostly houses

Then it's fine. As I said, my suburban box turtles and redfoot tortoise ate slugs and snails for years, and they did great. The only reason my Russians aren't getting them is that I haven't found any around here.

If you're really concerned, you could always just set up a little 10-gallon tank and cultivate your own pond snails and/or ramshorn snails in it, and just harvest a few out of there from time to time. Then they're even more likely to be parasite-free.

 

[Madkins007]

This is not my area of expertise, but most parasites specialize to a decent degree. I really doubt local slugs would carry many parasites that will be a problem for exotic tortoises. If this was a real concern for tortoise keepers, I think there would be more info about it online.