Although most turtles are omnivores, don’t take that too literally: different foods offer your pet different benefits. What’s more, your turtle’s diet should also depend on its age, weight, behaviour and species. As with everything else, the golden rule is to mimic conditions in the wild as closely as possible.

How should I feed my turtle?

Always feed your turtle in the water, not on land. Turtles need water to swallow their food.

How much should I feed my turtle?

Turtles are real gluttons. Even if they’ve just been fed, they’re going to ask for more. Don’t give in: you know what’s best for them! Turtles are cold-blooded; unlike us, they don’t need food to maintain their body temperature. They only use the energy from their food to grow and to move. The amount of food you should give your turtle therefore depends on its size, age, activity level and species. Turtles are more active when it’s warmer, so you can give them more food during spring and summer.

The more you feed your turtle, the dirtier your turtle’s water will become. This is caused by food remaining in the water and by your turtle’s own secretions. As you can see, it’s in your own interest to feed your turtle the right amount of food. The right amount should be eaten by your turtle within 5 minutes.

After owning your turtle for some time, you’ll know exactly how much that is; however, in the beginning, you’re going to have to work out how much food to give your turtle. Let your turtle fast for one day. After a single day of fasting, give your turtle an accurately measured amount of food and observe your turtle as it eats. Once your turtle begins to be fussy, it has eaten enough. In the future, give your turtle half this amount of food.

How often should I feed my turtle?

The frequency with which you should feed your turtle depends on its age. Young turtles grow faster, so they need more food than older animals. The type of food you should feed your turtle also depends on the animal’s age. You’ll find more information about this below:

Younger than 6 months

• Feed once a day.
• 90% animal protein.
• Additional nutrition: you can give your young turtle extra calcium via egg shells, cuttlebones or calcium supplements.

6 months to 2 years

• Feed every 2 days.
• 90% animal protein.
• Additional nutrition: you can give your young turtle extra calcium via egg shells, cuttlebones or calcium supplements.

More than 2 years old

• Feed twice a week.
• 50% animal protein.
• No additional nutrition required.

Please note that this is only a recommendation and applies only to turtle species which eat both animal protein and plant-based food.

Of course, you can decide to skip a day if your turtle is gaining too much weight. You can weigh and measure your turtle to monitor its growth. This can be done on a monthly basis using kitchen scales. You can measure the length and width of your turtle with a ruler or callipers. Although there aren’t any official size guidelines for a turtle, a self-made table and some common sense will help you to analyse your turtle’s development with just a few measurements.

It’s best to feed your turtle in the morning. Just like humans, turtles digest their food best during the day.

What should I feed my turtle?

Turtles like a lot of food but some foods are better for them than others. You should always feed your turtle with a variety of food. A varied diet, provided in the right amount, will have positive effects on your turtle’s health and its lifespan.

Ready-to-eat food

Of course, ready-to-eat food from pet shops is useful, but it’s better not to use it as the mainstay of your turtle’s diet because it doesn’t contain all the necessary nutrients and vitamins. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t give your turtle ready-made food. Personally, we’re fans of Sera’s food which we find to be good value.

Shop-bought food is good as a supplement, particularly for younger turtles. But make sure that you give your animal other food as well!

Meat and fish

Not all turtle species eat (a lot of) meat. More than 80% of the diet of a red-eared slider, for example, consists of plants and vegetables. In addition, the amount of meat you can give your turtle depends on its age and behaviour: while the diet of young turtles consists of 90% animal protein, 50% is enough for older animals. It’s also a good idea to restrict the amount of meat you feed aggressive turtles.

You can choose to give your turtle live animal protein or dead animal protein. Live food (crickets, grasshoppers, worms, etc.) can be bought from a shop or you can go hunting in your garden. However, it’s important to feed these animals well before you give them to your turtle (even if you buy them in a shop) to ensure that they provide your pet with nutrients. Live fish, such as guppies or platyfish, are also fun to feed your turtle; they allow your turtle to hunt for itself.

Plant-based food

Even when it comes to plant-based food, exactly what and how much you should feed your turtle depends on its species. Yellow-eared and yellow-bellied sliders don’t eat fruit, for example. However, the following rule applies to most species: the older the animal, the more it needs plant-based food. You’ll notice that your turtle eats the plants in its water. Because of this, you should never give your turtle poisonous plants. Give your turtle leafy vegetables, although don’t opt for lettuce: it will cause diarrhoea.

Nutritional supplements

In principle, nutritional supplements aren’t necessary if your turtle enjoys a varied diet.

• Vitamin A can be found in animal fat and carrots.
• Vitamin B can be found in yeast, meat and legumes.
• Vitamin C is in lots of food; your turtle won’t be deficient any time soon.
• Vitamin D3 is very important but isn’t found in food; your turtle gets this vitamin from UV light.
• Vitamin E can be found in legumes and seeds.
• When it comes to vitamin H, it’s important not to feed your turtle raw eggs because they break down vitamin H and harm your turtle’s metabolism.

You can give your turtle extra vitamins which you can buy in pet shops. Sprinkle them once a week over your turtle’s food – it’s pointless to put any supplements in your turtle’s water, because your turtle will not ingest enough. Pay attention to the expiry date of your supplements!

Instead of buying supplements from the pet shop, you can feed your turtle live insects (ensuring that they are properly fed beforehand for optimal nutrition for your animal).

You can also provide calcium in addition to your turtle’s normal food: feed your turtle calcium supplements, egg shells or cuttlebones. This is particularly beneficial for young turtles which grow quickly. However, this is not strictly necessary unless you can see that your turtle is deficient in calcium (rickets). If this is the case, its shell will become soft or deformed.

Foods to be avoided

Even if your turtle is an omnivore, it’s not a good idea to literally feed it everything. Some foods are not healthy for turtles to eat:

• Bananas contain too much sugar.
• Lettuce gives turtles diarrhoea, something which you’ll want to avoid.
• Although turtles like to eat cat food as a treat, dog food is out of the question!
• Turtles like to eat insects, but not all insects can be eaten by turtles. Avoid insects which bite or sting, such as wasps.
• Some plants are poisonous to your turtle, including ivy, a well-known example.
• Raw eggs break down vitamin H and harm your turtle’s metabolism.