What do you guys use for Protein for your RF's.

[methos75]

Reading over the care sheets it seems that that RF's need more protein than other Torts and I was wondering what you guys use to cover the Protein Basis and how often you feed them Protein. Some have suggested using canned Cat food but I am iffy on that, I did feed mine some Beef hearts today that I feed my Alligator Snapper and they enjoyed them greatly it seemed.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Mine will eat just about anything ... pinkies, chicken, earthworms, superworms, boiled eggs, beef heart, bloodworms ... etc.

 

[methos75]

Well I got tons of Pinkies, Super Worms, and Beef hearts since my Turtles get those also, about how often? Is once a week sufficient?

 

[Kristina]

I typically feed a protein meal once every couple of weeks, with worms and bugs as "snacks" in between. For protein I generally offer low fat fish. I don't think Redfoots come across many cow hearts or cans of catfood out in the wild, lol, but I am sure they do occasionally come across a dead fish washed up on a river bank

 

[methos75]

I breed Roises for my Turtles, they can eat those I guess LOL

 

[Kristina]

They can, but rosies don't provide a lot of nutrition. I meant something like salmon or mackerel.

 

[methos75]

I'll give them something tasty, I got some trout here also.

 

[scuseme]

I am new to this, but my guy seems to love those packaged meal worms. I am planning on giving them to him about once a week.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

I feed protein once a month ... but mine are outside most of the year and can get their own buggies and worms. I agree that they wouldn't come across beef heart in the wild, but they would come across other dead mammals that beef heart could respresent. Chicken/Turkey = dead birds. Boiled eggs = wild bird eggs. Cat food = Fish (depending on the kind) ...etc.

 

[pdrobber]

mazuri has some protein right? can it be used to make up some of the protein in the diet? if I got RFs I'd probably use meal worms, but how often do people give them?

 

[LindaF]

See turtletary.com. Weekly I give my guy the dry proplan maintenance cat food soaked in water. He loves it. I occasionally give him worms as a treat instead of the cat food but I do that because he really enjoys a good wiggling worm. During the spring and summer he likes to find his own worms while the sprinklers run.

 

[tortoises101]

I recommend live, gut loaded insects such as crickets, butterworms, and cockroaches. I don't recommend mealworms due to the hard chitin. Earthworms and nightcrawlers also make good protein sources. I also think that cat food may also be offered in small amounts once a week.

 

[Candy]

Dale, Ruby and Eddie get raw elk meat. They love it. I don't feed it very often though. I also will give them egg sometimes.

 

[superpooper]

Raw meat goes bad quick in a warm terrarium, I use aquatic turtle pellets, high in protein and it doesn't smell.

 

[Madkins007]

(This is aimed at Red-foot Tortoises)

Within reason, edible protein is edible protein. Your tortoise's cells don't much care if the protein came from fish, egg, worms, or cat food.

However, it very much makes a difference what else it is getting in the meal. In order to help keep the intestines working right, we want t offer about 50-75% of the calories as carbohydrates, 20-25% as proteins, and 5-25% as fats. What this means is that we need to watch the balances. A lot of processed pet food is a lot of proteins and fats as well as odd fillers. Mealworms have a hard-to-digest shell. Pinkies are a lot of fat and not much calcium (few developed bones yet). Fish generally lacks iron but beef lacks Omega 3s, etc.

In other words- the best 'meat' for your tortoise is a variety, just like greens and fruits. Most bugs and larvae (even mealworms, once in a while, and sized properly for the tortoise are OK), most worms, lightly cooked eggs, most kinds of fish/poultry/beef/pork, organ meats, etc. Avoid overly processed or spiced stuff and fatty meats, and when practical, leave the bones/shell in it.

How much? This is probably the bigger question. They certainly like their meat, obviously can digest it properly, and it doubtless adds some real benefits, but wild feeding studies vary widely by how much they really eat of it. The consensus seems to be that it really is not that big a chunk of most Red-foot wild diets. When they DO eat meat, it seems to mostly be termites and butterflies, with occasional bits of carrion (which makes sense- how often would a tortoise be the first scavenger at a carcass? They probably mostly get the leftovers.)

I offer some meat once every 2 to 4 weeks, although I might add a bit as almost a treat in between. I only offer meat more often if it is in the form of live bugs or worms, which I don't count the same way as most meat- which I think of as a 'rich' food.

I understand why some keepers, especially those with larger herds, prefer processed foods- cost per serving, storage, preparation issues, etc. For my small group, however, most of these are not a big concern so I can use 'real' foods instead.

 

[Yvonne G]

I have fed my YF tortoises moistened Trout Chow upon occasion.

 

[Candy]

Raw meat goes bad quick in a warm terrarium, I use aquatic turtle pellets, high in protein and it doesn't smell.

Just think of how bad it is by the time they reach it in the wild in Brazil. It should probably have bugs all over it by that time, hey, extra protein huh?

 

[tortoises101]

Raw meat goes bad quick in a warm terrarium, I use aquatic turtle pellets, high in protein and it doesn't smell.

Just think of how bad it is by the time they reach it in the wild in Brazil. It should probably have bugs all over it by that time, hey, extra protein huh?

Hey that DOES make sense! They probably wait for it to soften before tearing into it, and by that time, who knows what the carrion could be contaminated with?