is it ok to feed my turtles live worms?

Question

My turtles are about one inch each and i give them pellets, dried worms, small pieces of squid and lettece, i heard that they LOVE live worms but the petshop (where i bought them from) told me to avoid live worms because th turtles might swallow not chew it and there for the worm will be alive in its body causing a lot of problems to the turtle and sometimes it might kill it! is that true?

Answer 1

I feed worms all the time to my turtles. They love them.
Baby turtles should only get tiny worms, they have them as fishing supply stores- red wrigglers, red worms -they're tiny and should be fine for your hatchlings. BUT..they are protein, feed worms once a week and just a couple. You don't want them growing too fast or the shell deforms.
Dont feed iceberg lettuce either, dark green lettuces are okay and dandilions are the best. Your goal is to provide enough calcium to grow that shell, it's their body. Protein is good, and important but it's all too easy to over do it. Cut out the squid, only as a treat once in awhile.

Be sure to provide a 10.0 UVB bulb over the turtle's home, without UVB he can't process and use the nutrients to grow and will either die or become severely deformed.

Answer 2

The person in the pet store who told you this a complete idiot. Earth worms and nightcrawlers are not parasites, and will be easily digested by the turtle.
They are a great source of protein and are very healthy. The person at the pet store was probably thinking tape worm, but nonetheless, this is why you DON'T ask advice at pet stores.

Answer 3

yes...search back on my previous answers

Bloodworms
Earthworms, Night Crawlers
etc


Safe Feeding List
Commercial Foods (This is just a few of them on the market)

• Tetra Reptomin
• Zoo Med’s Aquatic Turtle Food
• Exo Terra
• Wardley's Reptile Premium Sticks
• HBH Turtle Bites

Frozen/Canned (For treats)
• Spirulina-enriched Brine Shrimp
• Bloodworms
• Plankton
• Krill
• Zoo Med’s Can O'Crickets, Grasshoppers, or Meal Worms

Live Foods (Carnivorous)
• Aquatic Snails/Apple Snails/Water Snails
• Crickets (Gut-Loaded)
• Earthworms, Night Crawlers
• Ghost Shrimp
• Guppies or Rosey (no goldfish they are too fatty and have very little nutritional value)
• Mealworms
• Pinhead Crickets (for smaller turtles)
• Slugs
• Wax Worms, Super Worms

**be careful about Wild-Caught foods, they can carry parasites that can be transferred to your turtle. Freezing Wild-Caught foods for a month will help to kill off some parasites.

Fruits (small amounts for treats only)
• Apples
• Bananas
• Cantaloupe/Common Melon
• Figs
• Grapes (remove skin so it’s easier for them to pick at)
• Mango
• Melon
• Papaya
• Pear
• Tomato
• Strawberries
• Water Melon (Feed rarely)

**should be cut up in small, bite-size or match-like sticks that will be easy for the turtle to bite into and not choke on.

Vegetables
• Beans
• Beetroot
• Carrots
• Squash
• Sweet Potato [cooked - boiled/ steamed/baked]
• Peas
• Pumpkin
• Zucchini


Greens & Other Leafy Products
• Collards Greens
• Dandelion Greens
• Kale
• Mustard leaves
• Radish leaves
• Red Leaf Lettuce
• Romaine Lettuce
• Turnip Greens


**Stay away from Spinach. Make sure to cut the veggies in bite-size or match-like sticks so your turtle can eat them easily. Iceberg lettuce is good filler, but contains little/no nutritional value!

Aquatic Plants
• Anacharis
• Duckweed
• Hornwort
• Water Hyacinth
• Water Lettuce
• Water Lily
Copyright Myst

Hatchlings up to 3-4 inches
once a day
1-2 pellets, treat of protein, offering of plant matter, small 2 cm block of cuttlebone every 3 days

Sub Adults 4-8 inches
Feed every 1-2 days
2- 3 pellets, protein
large plant section
cuttlebone 3-4 cm every 3-4 days

Adult 8 inches or larger
feed every 2-3 days
3-4 pellets, protein- medium amount ex....couple of greens dandelion leaves
whole cuttlebone

Answer 4

I don't think so. A friend of mine has a RES and he gives it live goldfish all the time. The turtle will swallow the smaller ones whole and as of yet she hasn't had any problems. The acid in the turtle's stomach will quickly kill anything in there.

Answer 5

It is important to know who to listen to and who to ignore when it comes things like this. The pet shop people don't seem to have a clue.

Turtles in the wild eat live worms all the time- I can pretty much guarantee that they know how to do it.

For good care guidelines, try http://www.redearslider.com

Answer 6

be careful. Baitshop worms are oftentimes taken care of with chemical compounds to augment their "scent" or attrativeness to fish. a number of those chemical compounds are poisonous to salamanders and turtles.

Answer 7

yea you have to remember they eat that in the wild. You can give them flys to but make sure there alive