Fun Recipe Food for Sea Turtles

All species of sea turtles grow to enormous proportions, especially when they're kept in captivity in zoos and aquariums, where they can easily get bored. These are creatures that in the wild swim thousands of miles a year. One way to help enrich their lives is to find fun ways to feed them.

  1. Types

    • There are seven species of sea turtles, all with their own dietary needs. Sea turtles that are generally found in large public aquariums include the smaller species, the green turtle and the Kemp's Ridley. Most sea turtles are omnivorous, with the exception of the adult green turtle, which is vegetarian. Sea turtles will often taste anything once.

    Significance

    • Not only are the correct foods to be given to the correct species, but they must also be given in the way that most mimics the sea turtle's natural feeding habits. Although aquariums can't mimic the ocean, sea turtles can be fed in such a way that they're forced to search for their food as they would in nature. Just giving the food in an easily accessible way not only makes the sea turtles fat, but also makes them bored. Bored sea turtles are stressed and prone to getting sick.

    Recipe Suggstions For Carnivores

    • Carnivorous sea turtles can eat any meat; in the wild they will eat fish or crustaceans. The sea turtles will chase their prey. In order to mimic this behavior, small pieces of meat can be frozen into ice cubes and set to float inside the sea turtle's pool. The sea turtle will have to chase these cubes down and break inside them in order to get at the meat. The floating action will also mimic the movement of live fish, since some sea turtles will not feed on dead fish.

    Recipe Suggestions For Herbivores

    • Greens for plant-eating sea turtles can include commercial dried seaweed and pellet food made for plant-eating fish. Harvesting any of the sea turtle's natural food will also help. A treat could be to make a salad of any edible greens such as fresh spinach and lettuce. This has to be a very small bowl so as not to make the sea turtle sick. Both carnivores and herbivores could have their food placed in a large heavy plastic ball with a few holes drilled in it, so that the turtle has to knock the ball around in the water in order for the food to come out.

    Misconceptions

    • Releasing live fish into the sea turtle's tank is not recommended because these feeder fish can transmit diseases.