Turtles consume many different forms of food in the wild. Herbivorous green turtles help maintain healthy coral reefs by eating algae; while hawksbill and leatherback sea turtles specialize in jellyfish consumption.
Captive turtles should derive most of their protein needs from vegetables and flowers (rather than fruits). Safe fruit choices include berries, melons and apples while vegetables such as kale, lettuce and cabbage should form their diet.
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Meat
Based on their species of turtle, adults Kemp’s ridleys tend to be hardcore carnivores who prefer crabs and fish while hawksbills prefer an amalgam of sea life as well as plants; otherwise their diet should consist of about 80-90% vegetables, flowers, and fruits; one of the most recommended food is ZooMed’s Hatchling diet which offers three distinct pellets that meet different nutritional needs; it does use artificial color though so as to maintain consistency across production lots.
Other suitable food choices for aquatic turtles may include Mazuri, Omega One or Reptomin turtle foods as well as red-leaf lettuce, hornwort, ghost shrimp or feeder fish and various vegetables such as zucchini squash radish peas. Meat may contain harmful bacteria parasites or viruses and should always be avoided due to health concerns.
Vegetables
Turtles as they mature typically switch their diet from meat-rich diets to plant-rich ones, typically feeding on fish, algae, plants and insects found in nature.
Turtle diets should include leafy vegetables such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens, bok choy and watercress; other alternatives might include watercress, radish or alfalfa hay as sources of nutrition. Avoid light leaves such as lettuce as these contain too much fiber but lack essential vitamins.
Fruit and flowers should make up only 10-20% of a turtle’s diet, as some fruits are high in sugar content that could throw off its nutrient balance. Some suitable options for feeding your turtle include pears, apples, bananas and strawberries and blueberries; if offering smaller portions, be sure to cut it up so it can easily digested by turtles.
Fruits
Turtles feed on submerged aquatic plants like anacharis, water hyacinths, azolla (fairy moss), and duckweed in the wild. Box turtles may also eat submerged flowers like geraniums, hibiscuss, or nasturtiums.
Make sure that when feedings your pet turtle fruit, any seeds should be carefully removed as these contain organic cyanogenic glycosides that could potentially pose health concerns for reptiles.
Fruits like berries, pears, apples, mangoes, star fruit and kiwis should be fed to turtles in small quantities for added nutrition and fiber intake. Unfortunately, however, too much sugar consumption could throw off their diet; juvenile turtles should have no more than two thirds carnivorous consumption while adults should only need half.
Insects
Turtles are predators in aquatic environments and feed on various organisms found there, including fish, amphibian tadpoles and frogs, snails, worms, aquatic insect larvae (earthworms), moths, crickets and waxworms.
Some turtle species are predominantly carnivorous while others feed on both plants and animals for sustenance. Babies or juvenile turtles require protein from animal sources for proper development while adults typically rely on plants.
Avoid feeding turtles dog or cat food as this contains high levels of fat that could contribute to obesity and nutritional imbalances such as thiamine deficiency. Incorporating heavy amounts of meat into their diet could contribute to shell pyramiding – an internal organ damage condition caused by shell calcification disease that leads to internal organ calcification – leading to an unhealthy state.
Fish
Marine turtles rely heavily on seafood as part of their diet, including live or frozen foods and vegetables to stay healthy. Turtle pellets containing protein may also play an essential part.
Land-dwellers may eat various plants, insects and even meat sources. Amphibians and tadpoles should not be fed as these may contain parasites that could potentially make your pet sick; additionally, an overly fish-based diet could lead to vitamin B1 deficiency which would necessitate medical intervention for treatment.
Box turtles should receive a balanced diet consisting of vegetables, fruits and leafy greens in their daily food supply. Aim to offer 10-20% as fruit with the rest being leafy greens. Include low-fibre vegetables like kale, Swiss chard, Bok Choy and Parsley amongst low calcium fruits such as figs, Apricots strawberries Raspberries dates. Flowers such as carnations Dandelions Hibiscus Roses etc can also be fed to their turtles occasionally as treats – provided these things don’t gobbled up by their owners!
