Should I butt in?

[Moozillion]

A very dear friend of mine and her 13 year old son are very excited because for the past 2 years they have been adopted by a wild box turtle: a beautiful Eastern intergrade. They have even named her Aphrodite. My dilemma is that the whole reason the turtle comes to their house is because she loves to eat their cat's dried cat food. The turtle comes by more and more often, and today had crawled all the way up into the cat's dish to pig out on dried kibble. The cat just sits and stares. My dilemma is this: I know cat food is not a suitable diet for any box turtle, and this one is relying on it more and more. Should I explain this to my friend and suggest she put the food up out of reach for the turtle? My friend is such a great animal lover that she has always been vegetarian, and would want to do what's best for the turtle. If they put the food out of teach the turtle will almost certainly quit coming to their house, which they would feel very bad about. Thoughts???

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

A very dear friend of mine and her 13 year old son are very excited because for the past 2 years they have been adopted by a wild box turtle: a beautiful Eastern intergrade. They have even named her Aphrodite. My dilemma is that the whole reason the turtle comes to their house is because she loves to eat their cat's dried cat food. The turtle comes by more and more often, and today had crawled all the way up into the cat's dish to pig out on dried kibble. The cat just sits and stares. My dilemma is this: I know cat food is not a suitable diet for any box turtle, and this one is relying on it more and more. Should I explain this to my friend and suggest she put the food up out of reach for the turtle? My friend is such a great animal lover that she has always been vegetarian, and would want to do what's best for the turtle. If they put the food out of teach the turtle will almost certainly quit coming to their house, which they would feel very bad about. Thoughts???

The fattier the cat food, the unhealthier it is for box turtles, even though they are omnivores. Beef, for example, is worse for them than chicken because it contains more fat. Either way, though, you are right that it's best if the box turtle did not eat it at all. If your friend really is an animal lover, then she will understand. In fact, that might inspire her to offer other types of food that are more suitable and more nutritious for boxies. However, in general you don't want to be provisioning wildlife anyway, because then they will come to rely on it. That could get them into trouble. In this case, if the food attracts raccoons, then the box turtle could end up injured or eaten. So, in the long run it's probably best not to feed the wild boxie at all.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Some cat food is okay (for a box turtle) - but maybe she could start cutting up some fruits and veggies to put in as well. Since he's a wild turtle, he's probably getting other food as well.

 

[graine]

This is kinda like feeding the bears...educator regarding tort diet. Introduce her to tort friendly food for example matzori (sp?) have her place the cat food out of tort reach. Unfortunately we don't have a "way back machine" and we can't change the past. This is what I would tell my friend. I hope this helps.



Gary tortise fan

 

[Tom]

I fear that GTT is right. Just a question of time until that food attracts something that will also eat the turtle. Best thing she could do is stop feeding it. If they want interaction with a chelonian, they should go get one and house it properly to prevent escape or injury.

Sadly, this sort of interaction almost always leads to the premature death of the animal. Best thing a human can do for a wild animal is make them terrified of people. Wild animals who are not afraid of people die. They get shot, run over, eaten by pets, poisoned, etc. If she is truly a lover of animals, the nicest thing she could do is NOT give this turtle any reason to come anywhere near human habitation.

 

[jtrux]

Hmmm, guess i'm the only one with the opposite opinon. Who cares, it's been going on for two years, so be it.

 

[Moozillion]

I really appreciate the feedback, especially the reminder about raccoons. The cat's food has also recently attracted a raccoon which my friend was also excited about and sent me a photo of it. I will pass all this info on to her and let her follow her heart. Knowing my friend, my bet is she'll put the food up where the turtle can't reach it, so it'll go elsewhere. Thanks again!

 

[ascott]

they will come to rely on it.

This is a really bad thing as well...sounds like you are going to offer up some words for discussion with your friend...good luck.