Turtle and foods with copper.

[Oni Angel-Hannya]

Have a common snapping turtle,and some of the prepared foods he likes have copper sulfate in them.I read something one time about liver toxicity and turtles.He likes Massivore,yet this food contains copper.If this is toxic,can someone recomend a prepared food for me that wont harm my boy.And a option for whole foods would be good too,seeing as a turtle that gets this big will need something more hearty than pellets!! I am going to keep this guy for life,i don't bail out on adoptions,besides,he'll outlive me which is very cool.

Thank You.

 

[SimonL]

Snapping turtles tolerate high levels of toxicity lol. I mean, the eggs laid by the ones that live in the Hudson river are classified as hazardous biological waste . They eat sludge and diapers and who knows what garbage that gets dumped in the Hudson.

Seriously though...I'm fairly certain that most commercial turtle foods contain it.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Copper is a heavy metal, but I don't think it has the same effect on reptiles as it does on fish. I can't imagine there is enough copper in those pellets to effect an animal as hardy as a snapper. I've seen them living in really stagnant, polluted water before. They really are true survivors.

I'm a firm believer in feeding turtles varied diets and not just something off the shelf in a pet store called "turtle pellets". Sure, it may work for some but not for me. I mean when you break it down, there are over 300 species of turtles. Do you think the guys at Zoomed or Terafuana experimented with all 300 species to see how there food works for all those different species? Heck no, they probably just tried it out on Red-eared Sliders seeing how they're the most common species in the pet trade. You can even break it down further to the different sexes of some species. For instance, Map Turtle females get huge and eat lots of shellfish and crustaceans while the males mostly eat plants. I doubt these pellets compensate for that if this is all you were to feed them.

Ok, I'm done rambling.......You can still feed your snapper pellets as they are a good source of any vitamins and minerals you've missed feeding other more natural things. Prawns, smelt, tuna, freeze-dried shrimp, shrimp pellets, koi pellets, cichlid pellets, earthworms, crickets, snails, aquatic insect larva, tadpoles and some aquatic plants are all part of a good diet for snappers and most other more carnivorous species of turtles. You can feed minnows as treats from time to time but goldfish are like junkfood and make a poor diet. Hopefully Miguel will see this and tell you what he feeds his snappers. Good luck with your turtle and show us some pics!

 

[Oni Angel-Hannya]

I know they are very common and not on everybodys need-to-have list,but this guy looks straight out of the prehistoric period. He has alot of look to him since hes a juvie and not riddled with algae.Looks like a little dinosaur.I've read extensively on how to handle them,so as not to injure yourself or them. Carapace length is exactly 4 3/4".I handle him all the time,as i will do when it is grown.Since i don't put him outside,i think his future,adult home would be in my basement in a homemade pond.

 

[SimonL]

Snappers usually get pretty mellow in captivity, at least when out of the water. Handling is easier than you think.

I feed mine a mix of about ten types of "predator" and turtle pellets, frozen fish and shrimp, as well as giant meal worms, roaches and occasionally frozen pinky mice. Snappers will eat fruits and veggies in the wild too, so I feed veggie pellets too.

 

[phantoms]

i agree with sol, give it a varied diet. in the past i have kept a couple common snappers for a couple months at a time and have now an alligator snapper for the last 7 yrs. got him as a 50 cent size baby and he is now a hefty 18 inch adult! i keep mine in a 300 gallon stock tank. its heavy duty rubbermaid. its got a 5.5 foot diameter and is almost 3 feet deep. you should look at your farm and fleet stores or something similar. its got a built in drain too. i use a pond filter in the tank. i use a titanium heater to heat the tank. probably be better then just getting a kiddie pool. its stronger. when my guy was younger he ate trout chow pellets ( which you can get at a feed store), night crawlers, crayfish, insects like crickets and meal worms, fish, and thawed out rodents) now that he is bigger he ignores pellets and i mainly feed him thawed out rodents (adults), thawed out fish (that i caught), fillets from the sea food place, shrimp, frog legs, and large crayfish. mine has never eaten veggies, but when i worked at a pet store a few yrs ago we had a common snapper that would eat collard greens and kale.

 

[Oni Angel-Hannya]

i agree with sol, give it a varied diet. in the past i have kept a couple common snappers for a couple months at a time and have now an alligator snapper for the last 7 yrs. got him as a 50 cent size baby and he is now a hefty 18 inch adult! i keep mine in a 300 gallon stock tank. its heavy duty rubbermaid. its got a 5.5 foot diameter and is almost 3 feet deep. you should look at your farm and fleet stores or something similar. its got a built in drain too. i use a pond filter in the tank. i use a titanium heater to heat the tank. probably be better then just getting a kiddie pool. its stronger. when my guy was younger he ate trout chow pellets ( which you can get at a feed store), night crawlers, crayfish, insects like crickets and meal worms, fish, and thawed out rodents) now that he is bigger he ignores pellets and i mainly feed him thawed out rodents (adults), thawed out fish (that i caught), fillets from the sea food place, shrimp, frog legs, and large crayfish. mine has never eaten veggies, but when i worked at a pet store a few yrs ago we had a common snapper that would eat collard greens and kale.

Thank You for your input.I will heed this advice.

 

[DeLgAdO]

Have a common snapping turtle,and some of the prepared foods he likes have copper sulfate in them.I read something one time about liver toxicity and turtles.He likes Massivore,yet this food contains copper.If this is toxic,can someone recomend a prepared food for me that wont harm my boy.And a option for whole foods would be good too,seeing as a turtle that gets this big will need something more hearty than pellets!! I am going to keep this guy for life,i don't bail out on adoptions,besides,he'll outlive me which is very cool.

Thank You.

the copper is fine. Copper is an essential trace nutrient to all high plants and animals. In animals, including humans, it is found primarily in the bloodstream, as a co-factor in various enzymes, and in copper-based pigments. However, in sufficient amounts, copper can be poisonous and even fatal to organisms.

The levels in the massivore are only in trace amounts, so it does no harm, it only benifits.

 

[Oni Angel-Hannya]

the copper is fine. Copper is an essential trace nutrient to all high plants and animals. In animals, including humans, it is found primarily in the bloodstream, as a co-factor in various enzymes, and in copper-based pigments. However, in sufficient amounts, copper can be poisonous and even fatal to organisms.

The levels in the massivore are only in trace amounts, so it does no harm, it only benifits.

Thank You. I was asking because i read once that feeding the feeder goldfish is bad because the farms they are raised at medicate with alot of Copper.In the same article i read that the goldfish can retain most if not all of the copper,which in-turn will poison the herp.I guess that was aimed at people who use goldfish as a staple.My turt will not even have one it's whole lifetime!! Thanks guys.

 

[Tucc185]

As far as diet goes, I read an article a few years back about feeding habits and stomach content of wild common snappers in the northeast. In many cases up to 70% of their stomach content was vegetable or plant matter (algae included). I can't remember where I found this article but I will post a link if I come across it again. Anyways I think this is strong evidence that as they mature a primarily herbivorous diet should be given, with live and meaty foods being occasional supplements. I feed my snapper the frozen turtle diet that ocean nutrition (?) makes, its carrot and anacharis (aquatic plant) based but also has bloodworms and krill in it as well. He gets minnows, krill, or clam every week or so as well.