Feeding and Nutrition :: great idea for feeding DBTs or other turtles who eat meat!

[zoologist]

i needed an easier way to feed the Diamond Back Terrapin and mud turtle we have at my nature center. it was getting to be a pain to defrost and peel shrimp on a daily basis so we started just giving them fiddler crabs.... not enough variety. SO! i decided to do what they do at the charleston sea turtle hospital..... "sicles"!

i defrosted a bunch of shrimp, cut up some squid and gutted and chopped some finger mullet. then i put a day's worth of food in each section of an ice cube tray. i filled the trays up with water and froze them solid... voila!

Squidsicles, fishsicles and shrimpsicles!

and they are a HIT with buddie our DBT. you can feed them frozen (we do) or put them in a container to defrost. SUPER easy to do! we like to feed them to her frozen because they dont fit in her mouth so she has to chase them around the tank

hopefully y'all will want to try it out!

[gwennie]

Anyone ever had a problem with defrosting and refreezing and then feeding?

I know you're not supposed to do that with human food, and I don't do it with turtle food.

Sounds like an awesome convenient idea though ^^

[TheComputerGremlin]

Why are you not supposed to defrost and then refreeze foods? The USDA says it's fine!

Refreezing
Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through defrosting. After cooking raw foods which were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods. If previously cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the unused portion.

If you purchase previously frozen meat, poultry or fish at a retail store, you can refreeze if it has been handled properly.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Fo ... /index.asp

[zoologist]

well, you can use fresh squid shrimp and mullet if you have it on hand and then freeze it, its just out of season for us so we dont right now

[gwennie]

I've worked in hospitiality/kitchens for ten years, and thawing something and then refreezing is very bad for food safety - it really depends on the temperatures you're keeping the food at overall, and it that temperature is within the safe zone or not, and how long it's been thawed, etc.

Thawing and cooking and the refreezing, yes, that's fine, but I would never thaw out completely a protein of any kind and then refreeze it, ever. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a chef that would say any different, despite what the USDA says in that quote.

New studies have shown that you can do it with some proteins safely, but I think it's better to be safe than sorry. It also tends to make the meat tougher and compromises the taste somewhat, which is another reason why it's a kitchen no-no.

[zoologist]

i'd like to remind everyone that these are for turtles.... who in the wild would eat rotting meal gladly... specially diamond back terrapins.

[jozzep]

I've worked in hospitiality/kitchens for ten years, and thawing something and then refreezing is very bad for food safety - it really depends on the temperatures you're keeping the food at overall, and it that temperature is within the safe zone or not, and how long it's been thawed, etc.

Thawing and cooking and the refreezing, yes, that's fine, but I would never thaw out completely a protein of any kind and then refreeze it, ever. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a chef that would say any different, despite what the USDA says in that quote.

New studies have shown that you can do it with some proteins safely, but I think it's better to be safe than sorry. It also tends to make the meat tougher and compromises the taste somewhat, which is another reason why it's a kitchen no-no.

Totally agree.......I would never refreeze defrosted food no matter who says so.

As per the fishsicles, wouldn't the chopped fish make a mess in the tank once it defrosts and falls apart?
I just chop the fish into meal size pieces and freeze them. Then i feed one piece at a time.

[zoologist]

the fish isnt chopped up, neither is the squid or the shrimp. if you're thinking of grinding up the ingredients, thats not what im talking about.

they are whole shrimp, cut pieces of squid and fish. if you freeze them without the water then they stand a higher chance of becoming freezer burnt then them being frozen in water, hence the icecube tray.

[jozzep]

the fish isnt chopped up, neither is the squid or the shrimp. if you're thinking of grinding up the ingredients, thats not what im talking about.

they are whole shrimp, cut pieces of squid and fish. if you freeze them without the water then they stand a higher chance of becoming freezer burnt then them being frozen in water, hence the icecube tray.

That's makes sense. Yeah i was thinking all 3 blended together and made into cubes.

[zoologist]

lol no! that'd be such a mess