What do Turtles eat?

Bored with dogs and cats we are rooting for turtles this season. They may not be as cute and furry as the little puppies and kittens, but they make excellent pets too. Just watching them crawl is mesmerizing enough to keep you engaged the whole day.

The best part is that they ask for low-maintenance. Little cleanliness and tasty food are all they care for.

But What Do Turtles Eat?

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Turtles have different food needs depending on their species. Giving your turtle a nutritional diet is significant to sustain its life. Since Turtles are omnivorous; they eat both, plants and animals. Since turtles are omnivorous, i.e., they eat both, plants and animals, explore the Here’s a list of food that you need to feed your turtle to keep it happy, active and most importantly alive.

While feeding your pet turtle, you need to make sure that you are well aware of its breed. Red-eared slider is the most popular amongst pet turtles. 

#1. Commercial Pelleted Food

Made especially for turtles, this food will float and won’t fall apart as easily as other pelleted food. At least 25% of a turtle’s diet should comprise of Pellets.

#2. Feeder Fish Or Insects

Feeders like comet goldfish are a great source of protein, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin A.

Pellets, Feeder fish, and crickets are easily available for purchase at pet stores, while the required fruits and vegetables can be bought from the local grocery stores.

What Do Turtles Eat In The Ocean?

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Sea turtles may be carnivorous, herbivorous, or omnivorous depending on their species. Green sea turtles have a finely toothed jaw which helps them in consuming a vegetarian diet consisting of sea grasses and algae. These are herbivorous sea turtles. Surprisingly enough, green sea turtles are carnivores from the hatching to their juvenile period. They turn into herbivores in an eventual process.

A hawksbill has a narrow head and jaws suitable for fetching food from cracks in coral ridges. They mostly feed on sponges, tunicates, shrimps, and squids.

Loggerheads' and ridleys' are all for crushing and grinding. They mostly feed on crabs, mollusks, shrimps, jellyfish, and some vegetation.

Sea turtles can be maintained on a carnivorous diet in a zoological environment