Raising live food

[MasterOogway]

Is it easy to raise live food? Is it costly to purchase live food or is that what most box turtles owners do verses raising live feed.i don't know how much live feed to feed weekly for a box turtle. Books always discuss variety and what to feed but don't give you an idea of how much or give an idea for the average amount of an adult or hatchling etc.

 

[lisa127]

I feed my box turtle nightcrawlers, occassional mealworms, and recently at the suggestion of someone here mealworm pupae. In the past I have also fed phoenix worms. I feed my box turtle every other day and often times it is various moistened turtle food, scrambled egg, organic canned dog food, etc. as the protein source. Once a week it is 2 big nightcrawlers. The mealworms I just feed as treats when he's looking cute...lol. I buy my nightcrawlers at Pet Smart. As for the mealworms, sometimes I buy those when I'm low on them, but I also just let them breed and replenish themselves. I have a leopard gecko that eats them regularly.

 

[MasterOogway]

Thanks !

 

[terryo]

I have an indoor bin (too cold here in the Winter for outdoor one). Just get a large plastic tub, cut up a bunch of newspaper, spray it with some warm water, throw in a bunch of red wigglers, left over table scraps (greens etc), and watch them multiply. Very easy to do, and you will always have a supply of food for your turtles. Also the castings from the worms are good for your plants.
http://www.cathyscomposters.com/

 

[MasterOogway]

I have an indoor bin (too cold here in the Winter for outdoor one). Just get a large plastic tub, cut up a bunch of newspaper, spray it with some warm water, throw in a bunch of red wigglers, left over table scraps (greens etc), and watch them multiply. Very easy to do, and you will always have a supply of food for your turtles. Also the castings from the worms are good for your plants.
http://www.cathyscomposters.com/

Thanks this is awesome!!

 

[pinkspore]

I raise mealworms in an indoor bin full of wheat bran, I just toss a chunk of potato or fruit in there everyday. When they're warm they shed a lot and I can find lots of soft freshly-shed ones as well as pupa and beatles. Mealworms can be done on a pretty small scale, I've seen them raised in small tupperware and shoebox-sized tubs. My colony is pretty extensive because I'm feeding my boxies as well as a gecko, some frogs, and a whole bunch of little birds.

I also have an outdoor compost heap where I can gather tons of red wrigglers every day. I'm not sure if that counts as raising them, maybe it's more a worm ranch than a worm farm? I know it's pesticide-free because it's my yard and I don't throw anything in there that isn't safe. One of these days I might turtle-proof that whole side of the yard and then they'll be able to dig their own worms out of the heap.

I have friends who raise Dubia roaches and superworms indoors, the turtles get those occasionally and enjoy them. Some people raise crickets but I find they're really smelly so I just buy a dozen from the store every now and then and chuck them in there for them to chase.

 

[MasterOogway]

I raise mealworms in an indoor bin full of wheat bran, I just toss a chunk of potato or fruit in there everyday. When they're warm they shed a lot and I can find lots of soft freshly-shed ones as well as pupa and beatles. Mealworms can be done on a pretty small scale, I've seen them raised in small tupperware and shoebox-sized tubs. My colony is pretty extensive because I'm feeding my boxies as well as a gecko, some frogs, and a whole bunch of little birds.

I also have an outdoor compost heap where I can gather tons of red wrigglers every day. I'm not sure if that counts as raising them, maybe it's more a worm ranch than a worm farm? I know it's pesticide-free because it's my yard and I don't throw anything in there that isn't safe. One of these days I might turtle-proof that whole side of the yard and then they'll be able to dig their own worms out of the heap.

I have friends who raise Dubia roaches and superworms indoors, the turtles get those occasionally and enjoy them. Some people raise crickets but I find they're really smelly so I just buy a dozen from the store every now and then and chuck them in there for them to chase.

This is great thank you. I like the idea of raising your own food for convenience & knowing how it was raised. I was not sure how to do it or if many do. Thanks again.

 

[kywest]

I raise dubia roaches for a variety of reptiles. They are easy to keep, tough as nails, don't stink, don't escape, and are supposed to be very nutritious compared to mealworms, super worms as they have a much lower chitin ratio. They only down side is the colony takes a while to get going (a few months) and must be kept warm (80-85). I highly recommend them as a primary source of invertebrate prey, supplemented with worms, mealworm pupae, crickets, spiders,etc!

 

[jaizei]

You should consider black soldier fly larvae, which are sold as calci-worms, phoenix worms, soldier grubs, etc as well. You can use them to compost table scraps, like red worms, but you don't have to avoid meat and dairy like you would with red worms. And there are some things worms eat that they don't, so you can make quite the complimentary system with them and worms.

 

[CharlieM]

Many people are getting into vermicomposting (worm composting) their kitchen scraps. Similar to what TerryO is doing. This creates great worm castings for plants as well as plenty of worms to feed the boxies.