I was wondering what people's views are about feeding my box turtle raw meat versus cooked meat. is it necessary to always cook the meat you give them? Is there a concern about the bacteria etc. in the uncooked meat? I just throw this out there because in nature they eat carrion at times and it definitely is not cooked. besides insects and worms I hear they also eat small lizards, fish etc. I feed my dog and cats a raw diet and I've never had any problems with illness. I know there is debate on whether they should receive cooked or raw I was just wondering if there is the same debate in the turtle and tortoise world. Just wanted to get peoples thoughts and opinions on this. Thank you.
Raw versus cooked meat
- Thread starter leigti
- Start date
New to box turtles but mine get raw ground turkey, raw beef hearts but cooked chicken. Bugs get eaten live/raw and since I don't see my boxies using a little Colman camping stove to cook their bugs I done see why you can't give them raw meats.
I would not offer any meat that was not organic.....and even that is not the same as if the tort/turtle came across a natural meat treat in the wild....those wild animals would likely have never been force fed antibiotics, meds for illness and such.....
I think that raw organic meat should be okay. I do remember my reptile vet saying that I could feed raw fish to my box turtles. I haven't actually fed them any of this raw. When I had just moved into this place, though, I would give them a walk in the yard and when I went to get them they had little white feather fluff on their mouths. This happened with several of them, and I couldn't figure out where they were getting it. Then I found a dead bird that was so old it was probably bird jerky. Yum Yum!!!
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