Turtles enjoy eating food from local ponds to your kitchen tables. What they eat depends on factors like species, jaw type and food availability in their environment – leatherback sea turtles for instance enjoy eating jellyfish and similar gelatinous items!
Avoid giving turtles food that is hard for them to digest such as bread, fried foods, dairy products, nuts and sugary snacks as these can seriously impair their health.
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Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
Your turtle needs a diet rich in vegetables and low-sugar fruit for proper health. In general, herbivorous turtles should consume 70-82% of their diet from these sources – in particular leafy greens such as kale, collard greens, dandelion greens as well as carrots squash corn peas are fantastic choices!
Fresh fruits that are suitable for turtles include berries, apples and bananas; watermelons and kiwis may also make good options. Since some seeds of fruits can cause digestive distress for turtles, make sure they’re removed first before offering the treats to your turtles.
Your turtle should eat meat from processed pet food sources such as drained sardines, trout flakes and turtle pellets as a source of protein. Insects such as crickets and earthworms or live feeder fish should also be offered occasionally as treats; it is best not to make these ingredients the mainstay of their diet.
Canned Fruit and Vegetables
Your turtle needs variety in its diet; however, any foods that could be harmful should be avoided. Fried foods cannot be digested properly by turtles; similarly, sugary snacks like candy and chocolate should also be kept to a minimum as these could negatively impact its health.
Alternative foods for your turtle could include canned fruits and vegetables without added salt, oil or pickling agents. Also ensure the produce has been thoroughly washed before feeding it to him/her.
Canned fish should form only a small percentage of your turtle’s diet, with all varieties such as anchovies and sardines suitable options. Be sure to rinse it under cool running water first in order to wash away any potential toxins or excess salt that might otherwise build up in it.
Canned Fish
Turtles can eat both traditional fish food like goldfish flakes from pet stores as well as various vegetables such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens, peas carrots squash and even apples. It is important to remember though that turtles cannot consume dairy products or meat because these do not provide their bodies with enough calcium and phosphorous for proper health.
Turtles should consume canned tuna that has been preserved with water as their best choice of fish to consume; this will provide ample amounts of protein while still leaving their body free from any possible toxins that may exist in wild-caught varieties.
If you decide to feed your turtle fatty fish, make sure it only accounts for 10-20% of their diet. Too much fatty fish could lead to an upset stomach and health complications in your turtle.
Human Food
An occasional treat of human food may be beneficial to turtles, provided it has been thoroughly cooked. Hard-boiled eggs (with their yolks removed), chicken, corn and apples can all make delicious treats for turtles; it is however essential that any uneaten food be cleaned out regularly so it does not develop bacteria and algae growth in their tank.
Leafy vegetables such as kale, escarole, endive and mustard greens should all be fed to turtles as nourishment for their diets. Iceberg lettuce which primarily consists of water with little nutritional value should be avoided as should feeds high in chemicals called oxalates which could harm them. Also avoid feeding them chives and parsley which contain high quantities of these chemicals that could be toxic for them.
Mealworms, blackworms, crickets and earthworms are ideal foods to feed to turtles as part of their diets. Freeze dried insects contain essential fatty acids needed for health in turtles’ diets; however, fresh foods should make up 80-90% of its diet.
