What Kinds of Foods Do Baby Turtles Eat?

Turtles in the wild eat a diverse range of foods that provide a balanced and healthy diet. The recommended diet for pet turtles closely simulates the diet of wild turtles, often including live fish and aquatic plants. The diet changes as a turtle ages, with baby turtles requiring much more protein than adult turtles. Baby turtles eat plenty of fish, insects and other animals, and older turtles eat lots of plants, including seaweed, flowers and vegetables.

  1. Worms and Insects

    • In the wild, baby turtles eat worms, aquatic snails, land snails and insects, which provide the protein the turtles need to grow. Pet baby turtles also can eat worms, snails and insects. Because they prefer live food, avoid giving them frozen or dead food. This includes earthworms, mealworms, mosquito larvae and crickets.

    Fish

    • Baby turtles chase and eat tiny fish in the wild. Live fish provide protein and essential calcium because the turtles eat all of the fish, including bones. Pet baby turtles can be fed live fish, known as feeder fish. Those fish generally include small guppies, goldfish and sometimes shrimp. Live fish also provide much needed exercise for baby turtles.

    Fruits and Vegetables

    • Primarily carnivorous when young, turtles become omnivores as they age. This means they eat more meat when babies than when adults, and the adults prefer vegetables and plants to meat. It is important for baby turtles to eat some vegetables, however, such as small plants and flowers for wild baby turtles and vegetables and fruit for pet baby turtles. Popular fruit and vegetables to give pet turtles include finely chopped bananas, grapes and melon, and chopped carrots, cabbage and tomatoes.

    Aquatic Plants

    • Wild aquatic baby turtles occasionally eat seaweed and other aquatic plants. As they grow older, they begin to eat such plants on a regular basis. Popular aquatic plants for use in aquariums for pet baby turtles include water hyacinth, water lilies, elodia and duckweed.

    Commercial Pet Food

    • A wide range of commercial pet food is specially formulated for turtles. The food includes turtle sticks and even fish food; both are rich in vitamins and other nutrients. The commercial pet turtle food that is best for turtles is high in vitamin A and calcium. Cuttle bone, which is available at many pet stores, provides a steady source of calcium and helps to sharpen a turtle's beak.