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I receieved some fuzzies in the mail on friday.. this is what happened.. all 3 were interested but they had a problem, I think the video shows what the problem was.
#2 was interested and even bit the toe, I thought for sure he'd break it off but even I had trouble with the scewer and the skin.. I have more videos but photobucket is taking it's time.

also I asked my mom to get some small worms on saturday, she didn't come home with worms, but maggots labeled as "mousies", they have a tail and looks sort of like a very fat grey maggot, any ideas? I have pics of them as well but they're to big, I'll post them once I get a photo editor on the PC again.
Video

Ah, Rouen, that's just great! You must be so releaved!

I'd chop the mice up to where the turtle only has to grab and swallow. You want to make this as effortless as possible. Also, if it doesn't seem to take away from the palatability...I'd dust them a little. Pinkies/fuzzies are very low in calcium.

As far as the skewer, I think it is mainly to poke the food item and make it look alive. You don't necessarily have to impale the food. I've never needed to use this method, though, as pinkies are usually eaten with ferocity.

Great video, again!

Phoenix worms can look like fat, gray maggots. Their mouthpart can look a little like a tail also. If it always appears that they are "walking backwards", they're probably phoenix worms...hahaha..."mousies"....hahahaha.

I'll upload the pic so you can see, they're very large though and may take some time to load, the critters themselves are roughly about half an inch long.. I hear they make excellent fishing bait.

I've got 50 of the things, it looks like the head is on the end thats tailless, I'm not sure though.
looks like photobucket resized it as well, still a little large though.
The maggots

What the heck is that?!! Hahahahahaha, it actually does look like a mouse! Oh man, this is cracking me up!

I have no earthly idea what that thing is. I've been doing this for a long time, and have fed my turtles just about everything under the sun...but, this is a new one to me. I'll do some searchin'.

Thanks Ken, I did a quick search myself and one site said they are aquatic and the tail is their gill, but mine came in wood shavings, go figure.
let me know what you come up with.

Apparently, some say Redtailed and some say Rattailed. Ah, common names. Well, since the tail is not red and does resemble a rat's tail...I guess it's Rattailed.

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/livestc/ef500.htm

http://weloveteaching.com/hopepond/macrobug/macrobug.htm

http://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG369/notes/rattailed_maggots.html

The last link is pretty good.

As an avid fisherman as well as herp keeper, I can't believe I've never ran across these things before. I guess they're mainly used for ice fishing, which I've only done twice. If anyone can locate a mail-order company for these I'd be very interested. How much did the 50 cost, Rouen?

thanks Ken.
$3 something, I'm tempted to let some of the mature, I'll be even more so if they turn out to be something the hatchlings like.

Yeah, I here you. Let us know if the turtles like them.

It sounds like you have to feed the adults, which may make culturing tough.

#1 had 3 "mousies" in 10 minutes!
#3 ate 2 and #2 had none but he watched them, thats a good sign, I left one in his container to see if my abscence makes him hungry.
for something that they've never seen thats a great turn out, I got some video as well and a few pics.


video

OMG!!! That was soooo funny! The sound effect with the squeaky bird chirping in the background was hilarious. 'Mousies' are squeaky!

Thanks a bunch for sharing.

LOL, it's hard not to get the birds in the background, budgies dont stop chattering for a camera and with 5 of them they can make quite a bit of noise when they want to.
I have some really good news, at 5 pm I checked #2 to see if he ate the maggot and this is what I found.

he has his own container so I know for a fact he ate it, there was also a pretty good sized stain next to the remains which was my first clue.
this is him and the stain, you can kind of see it, he was in the process of leaving the scene of the crime, for being soft bodied they're no more messy than the meal worms.

Yay!! That's great news!

Thanks for sharing.

That's great, Rouen! This is a big step in getting them over this hurdle.

I tried just wiggling it and that worked to get their attantion but I quickly lost it when they'd come to sniff and I couldn't make it move very well, they seems to like it more then it was actually scewered then I could make it "run" from them.. I thought about chopping the peices even smaller but that would be harder to move.
now that I know they'll eat them I just have to find a good supplier here.

I receieved some fuzzies in the mail on friday.. this is what happened.. all 3 were interested but they had a problem, I think the video shows what the problem was.
#2 was interested and even bit the toe, I thought for sure he'd break it off but even I had trouble with the scewer and the skin..

Rou,

You made me post..

Great Video! Good feeding response! No problem with that. That guy really wanted it! The long rod is only necessary to entice them... but that was not even necessary HERE!

As stated in one of our emails... finely chopped pinkie limbs.....dusted with calcium D3. No larger than 1/16" or smaller.

Instinctively, It's is a powerful attractant to all subspecies of boxies....and has high caloric values. I have used it on many, many month old hatchlings.

I guess I should have said; I use surgical scissors on the limb and almost shred the limb for very young boxies. I should have been more clear. Sometimes being that I've posted this often; I forget to mention it again.

Glad you finally received them; I was worried.

I just viewed the maggots and all. Great! Looks like the ones we use for ice fishing here! I wonder about their nutrition intake? In any case you have some options now.

Thanks for sharing.....

That was wonderful!!
I feed all my turtle alone because they do tend to try to intimidate one another. It's great that the #2 baby ate when it was alone.
Those mousies.. lol I've never seen anything like that in my life.
Where did your mom find them? You may have said but I missed it if you did.
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PHRatz

a locally owned bait shop, some sell them some dont, can't hurt to make a few phone calls and ask around if you're looking for some.

>>a locally owned bait shop, some sell them some dont, can't hurt to make a few phone calls and ask around if you're looking for some.

Oh ok that won't work for me.. we don't have any bait shops here.
Since I've seen them & I know what they look like.. I can always check around online.
Thanks for the info!
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PHRatz