How to Feed a Baby Snapper Turtle

A snapping turtle can grow from its tiny 2-inch proportions to a 1-foot long reptile. Before that happens, the turtle will need a large aquarium and proper care to ensure a long, healthy life. Snapping turtles live for almost 40 years, so be ready for the long haul when looking at baby snapping turtles. Feeding a snapping turtle requires providing the best food that the turtle might eat on its own in the wild.

Things You'll Need

  • Tank
  • Turtle pellets
  • Minnows
  • Meal worms
  • Crickets
  • Night crawlers
  • Fish tank
  • Freezer
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Collards
  • Strawberries
  • Butternut squash
  • Red-leafed lettuce
  • Microwave
  • Cuttlebone
  • Earthworm
  • Toothpick
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Feed your baby turtle once a day and add an extra meal time after two years.

    • 2

      Lift your baby turtle up and place in a separate tub for feeding. Turtles defecate one hour after eating and you can prolong the weekly aquarium cleaning by feeding the turtle in another tank.

    • 3

      Buy floating turtle pellets and sprinkle a couple into the top of the tank for your baby turtle. Allow the pellets to float on the water for fifteen minute and remove to avoid food accumulation at the tank. To know if your baby turtle is hungry, drop a few pellets in and see if it hungrily eats the food.

    • 4

      Give your baby turtle live food like it would eat in the wild. You can use minnows, meal worms, crickets and night crawlers. Store your live animals according to the directions from the pet food store. Minnows can be kept in a medium-sized fish tank. Meal worms are stored in the freezer.

    • 5

      Provide vegetables for your baby turtle. Baby turtles enjoy eating sweet potatoes, collards, strawberries, butternut squash and red-leafed lettuce. Heat the sweet potatoes and butternut squash in the microwave until soft and allow them to cool before placing in the tank.

    • 6

      Chip away at a piece of cuttlebone for calcium. Drop the piece of cuttlebone into the aquarium and wait until the next water change to throw it away.

    • 7

      Cut up a piece of earthworm to entice hatchlings to eat. Place the earthworm piece on a toothpick and offer it to the turtle.