Turtles love fresh vegetables and flowers. Be wary when feeding them anything with dairy products as these can be difficult for them to digest. Additionally, avoid feeding your turtle any foods which are highly salty.
Commercial turtle pellets provide a good balance of essential vitamins and minerals; supplement this diet with other foods for an extensive diet for your turtle.
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Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
A turtle diet should contain both plant matter and protein in equal measures. Aim for 80-90% vegetables (preferably dark leafy greens) and 10-20% fruits in its daily food consumption; fresh or frozen options can both be offered, although those containing oil or salt (e.g. fried vegetables) should be avoided.
Many vegetables suitable for turtles can already be found in your refrigerator: kale, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, bok choy, spinach, radish carrots and squash are among them. Berries bananas peaches melon apples all make delicious feeding options!
Turtles should avoid eating certain vegetables, such as head and iceberg lettuce which contain mostly water with minimal nutritional value; carrot tops with lots of added sugar without providing any necessary vitamins; broccoli which contains oxalates that block calcium absorption by turtles; dairy products may be unsuitable due to lacking the necessary enzymes to break them down; bread should also be avoided due to providing no essential nutrition.
Canned Fruits and Vegetables
At their core, turtles require a diet rich in both vegetables and fruits for proper vitamin absorption. Some turtles require additional protein when young and growing rapidly – to meet this demand you can offer your turtle drained sardines, fish flakes or pellets, meat (cooked chicken is great!), eggs or leafy greens as suitable protein sources.
As turtles cannot digest dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt easily, as well as contain high amounts of oxalates that impede calcium absorption, it’s wise to provide your turtle with other sources of calcium like powdered oyster shell or crushed eggshells several times each week for their food.
Make sure to give them access to fresh water in an easily cleanable bowl at all times; dust their food twice weekly with reptile multivitamin and calcium supplements to make sure they receive all of their essential vitamins and minerals. Also ensure they have access to clean freshwater at all times!
Canned Fish
Many pet turtles can benefit from consuming canned fish as part of their diet, particularly sardines, trout and salmon which contain omega-3 fatty acids that support cardiovascular health. If your turtle seems reluctant to eat the food you provided it should be cut up into bite-size pieces to aid its swallowing and consult a reptile vet immediately – refusal could indicate illness or other issues with its health.
Aquatic turtles tend to be omnivorous creatures and should consume both animal protein and vegetables. Tetra ReptoMin is designed specifically for aquatic pets such as turtles and is easy for them to digest.
The vegetable portion of a turtle diet should consist of non-sugary fruits and vegetables such as leafy greens, squash, carrots, bell peppers, as well as non-toxic aquatic plants such as water hyacinth and duckweed. Vitamin A deficiency is often an issue among turtles; make sure that the vegetables offer enough of this essential nutrient.
Live Food
Turtles must hunt for food to survive and its essential that their diet includes live prey such as small fish, aquatic plants and worms. When feeding live frogs or tadpoles to your turtle, avoid doing so because these may contain parasites or diseases that could harm him/her; you could offer other foods such as snails, earthworms, moths crickets or waxworms instead.
Your turtle should eat plant matter like kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, parsley and spinach for their plant food source. Incorporating non-toxic aquatic plants like water hyacinth, duckweed and azolla is also suitable; carrots, squash and green beans also make good vegetables to add into its diet; apples, bananas pears and berries make nutritious snacks!
Young turtles require animal proteins as part of their diets and half for adults. When selecting food specifically designed for turtles, such as pellets processed at low temperatures with probiotics included, make sure it does not include preservatives or artificial flavors, which could harm them over time.
