What Do Pet Turtles Eat?

Variety is the most important thing to have while picking food for your pet turtle or tortoise. Turtles are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plant and animal foods. It is important to know what kind of turtle you have when picking out the right diet for your turtle, so make sure to identify it correctly.

  1. Land Tortoises

    • Land tortoises can all be fed mainly the same kind of diet. Feed your pet land tortoise 95% vegetables and 5% fruits. The majority of the vegetables should be dark green leafy vegetables, such as collard, mustard, radish, turnip, kale, cabbage, dandelions, bok choy, broccoli leaves, clover, legumes, cut grass and cut weeds. You can feed your land tortoise, in lesser amounts, spinach, Swiss chard, red leaf, romaine, beet greens, thawed frozen mixed vegetables, peas, cauliflower, green beans, squash, green peppers, and clover. Tortoises like fruits, but they are low in nutrition.

    Box Turtles

    • Box turtles should be fed differently. Young box turtles eat mainly animal material such as earthworms, slugs, snails, beetles, millipedes, spiders, crayfish, grasshoppers and chopped up pinky mice. Adult box turtles should be fed 50 percent animal material and 50 percent plants. The fruits and vegetables listed for tortoises are the same for box turtles.

    Aquatic Turtles

    • Aquatic turtles should be fed a varied diet. You can buy floating food sticks at a pet store. Feed small turtles chopped earthworms, snails, slugs, shrimp in the shells, chopped up whole fish (frozen and thawed to kill parasites), chopped mice, and gut-loaded insects. As they age, they will eat more dark green leafy vegetables, such as those listed above. You can also put small live fish in the tank for eating once a week. Turtles love to hunt, so this will make your turtle happy.

    Proper Nutrition

    • Be sure to keep your turtle or tortoise's pen or aquarium at the right temperature. This will help digestion and keep your turtle from getting diseases. You should have a good sun lamp attached to your turtle's home. Turtles with poor nutrition will be lethargic, have cloudy skin patches or milky eyes.

    Clean Living Space

    • Your turtle will be a messy eater, so be sure to keep the turtle's living area clean to prevent infection from spoiled food. Your turtle will live for a long time, fifty years or more, so be sure to feed him properly and keep him tidy to have a happy, healthy turtle.