Homemade Painted Turtle Food

The painted turtle, Chrysemys picta, is a freshwater aquatic turtle often kept as a pet. In the wild, turtles are largely carnivorous, though they also eat plant matter, especially after adulthood. Although it is perfectly acceptable to use a store-bought pellet feed for a portion of your turtle's diet, many turtle-keepers prefer a homemade approach to feeding.

  1. Meat

    • If you choose not to use any pellet food, you still need to meet the nutritional needs of your turtle, especially when it comes to protein. Many zoos and aquariums feed their turtles "turtle gelatin" or "turtle pudding." There are many recipes for turtle pudding on the web and in books. One simple turtle gelatin is simply beefheart and gelatin mixed with a vitamin made for reptiles (with Vitamin D and calcium) in a blender. Freeze the mixture overnight in ice cube trays. Once thawed, the beefheart gelatin can be used as a staple in place of turtle pellets. You should also feed your painted turtle a variety of live or dead guppies and tadpoles, crickets, aquatic snails, and mealworms. Meat should make up about 70 percent of the painted turtle's diet.

    Vegetables

    • In a food processor, combine a variety of the following: romaine lettuce, redleaf lettuce, squash, yam, zucchini, collard or mustard green, kale, carrots, pesticide-free burmuda grass, water hyacinth, water lily, duckweed, and anachris. You can also add a powdered vitamin, such as Vionate. This vegetable slaw will make up about 30 percent of the painted turtle's diet.