The effect of animal feed was studied in the Arrau sideneck, by the evaluation of apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of the dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE) and gross energy (GE) of the meat and bone meal (MBM), poultry by-products meal (PBM) and fish meal (FM). The turtles used were 136 hatchlings from Projeto Quelônios da Amazônia, State of Mato Grosso. Experimental animals were raised in plastic containers, with continuous water flow and mean temperature kept at 29ºC. ADC was determined by the use of diets labeled with 0.1% of chromium oxide III (Cr2O3). The ADC of DM, CP, EE and GE were, respectively, 79.10, 87.61, 93.83 and 79.61% for MBM, 92.45, 94.89, 96.55 and 92.71% for PBM and 93.53, 95.13, 94.05 and 93.18% for FM. The best coefficients were obtained with the fish meal and poultry by-products meal.
Digestibility; energy; ether extract; protein; Podocnemis expansa
