Toxic Plants
For example, tomatoes are safe and they’re often a favorite of box turtles. But tomato leaves and vines are toxic. Other plants toxic to box turtles include rhubarb leaves, holly, oleander, avocado leaves and seeds, and plants in the nightshade family.[1]
What Foods Can Baby Turtles Eat?
People always ask, “What do baby turtles eat”? The answer is simple baby turtle food of course. But seriously baby turtles require a special diet when it comes to feeding them properly. They will usually take to lettuce of all kinds except for iceberg, worms, krill, river shrimp, mealworms and pellet food.[2]
What Fruits Can Painted Turtles Eat?
Shredded carrots, squash, and zucchini are great foods that turtles can eat, too. You can also go with edible aquatic vegetation such as water lettuce, water hyacinth, and duckweed. “For fruits, consider shredded apples and melons, as well as chopped berries,” recommends Dr. Starkey.May 28, 2015[3]
What Fruits And Veggies Can A Painted Turtle Eat?
What Do Painted Turtles Like to Eat MostVegetables, including spinach, kale, celery, red-leaf lettuce, beets, carrots, and tomatoes.Grass.Par-boil leafy vegetables.Fruit, like banana, cut melon, shredded apple, and berries.Water plants, such as duckweed, anacharis, water lettuce, water lilies, and water hyacinth.[4]
What Can A Painted Turtle Eat?
Painted turtles feed mainly on plants, small animals, such as fish, crustaceans, aquatic insects, and some carrion. Young painted turtles are mainly carnivorous, acquiring a taste for plants later in life.[5]
Can Painted Turtles Eat Oranges?
Most turtles are omnivores, which means that they eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and meat. As well as eating leafy greens, your turtle may enjoy a slice or two of orange, but you should remove the peel and any pips before feeding because these can cause illness.[6]
What Is The Best Food For A Painted Turtle?
Painted Turtle Food
Painted turtles are omnivorous, and will accept both animal and plant matter with equal enthusiasm. Along with fish, worms and insects, offer them green, leafy vegetables and aquatic plants such as water lettuce, water hyacinth and duckweed.[7]
Can Turtles Eat Mushrooms?
Terrestrial turtles also eat a variety of foods, from earthworms, grubs, snails, beetles and caterpillars to grasses, fruit, berries, mushrooms and flowers. Both aquatic and land turtles have been known to eat carrion (decaying flesh) when it’s available.May 12, 2014[8]
Are Mushrooms Safe For Turtles?
Box turtles can eat any mushrooms, from Chanterelles to Morels and Puffballs! Eastern Box Turtles are stretching their legs after brumation and are on the move. Wild foragers and food opportunists, Box turtles eat almost anything they can reach.Apr 20, 2020[9]
Will Box Turtles Eat Mushrooms?
Box turtles are omnivores. Diet in the wild includes insects, grubs, worms, snails, slugs, crustaceans, eggs, carrion, mushrooms, flowers, fruit and other plant material. Captive box turtles may be fed a diet that is 50% mixed fresh vegetables with some fruit, and 50% low fat protein like canned low-fat dog food.[10]
What Foods Are Poisonous To Turtles?
Toxicity level ranges from mild to severe, depending on the plant:Amaryllis (Amaryllis belladonna)Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)Asparagus Fern (Asparagus sprengerii)Avocado (leaves, seeds) (Persea americana)Azalea, Rhododendron species.Bird of Paradise shrub (Poinciana gilliesii/Caesalpinia gilliesii)[11]
Can Box Turtles Eat Poisonous Mushrooms?
Box turtles can safely eat poisonous mushrooms, making their own flesh poisonous if consumed by predators.[12]
Can Box Turtles Eat Crickets?
Captive box turtles may be fed a diet that is 50% mixed fresh vegetables with some fruit, and 50% low fat protein like canned low-fat dog food. Ideally the protein should be whole live foods like earthworms, mealworms, beetles, grubs, crickets, slugs and snails.[13]
Are Crickets Good For Turtles?
Turtles love insects, especially crickets. They are packed with important vitamins and proteins. You can buy them in bulk fairly cheaply at your local pet mega store.[14]
Are Crickets Good For Box Turtles?
When offered, some appropriate animal-based protein sources include grasshoppers, crickets, mealworms, wax worms, silkworms, moths, slugs, earthworms, and hard-boiled eggs. Commercially available reptile pellets provide an excellent protein source.[15]
What Can You Not Feed A Box Turtle?
Food Avoid to Feed Box turtlesBread, bakery products, and pasta.Candies, chocolate, and other products containing sugars.Processed meat and canned food.Avocado skin and pits.Tobacco leaves and products.Rhubarb.Tomato and potato leaves.Dairy products.[16]
Can Box Turtles Eat Brussel Sprouts?
Other good vegetables include asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrot, green beans, snap peas, tomato, yellow squash and cucumber. Check out the nutritional analysis of vegetables. Fruit: Fruit is a less essential part of the box turtle diet.[17]
Can Box Turtles Eat Raw Brussel Sprouts?
Brussels sprouts can be a real treat for tortoises. These tasty veggies can add color and variety to your turtle’s diet. The can also provide valuable vitamins and minerals that can keep your pet happy, healthy, and active.Jul 27, 2021[18]
Can Turtles Eat Brussel Sprouts?
According to experts, Brussel sprouts are safe for your tortoise to eat. However, we must keep in mind that anything excessive may result in health issues for your tortoise. Brussel sprouts are a member of the cabbage family. It is a small type of cabbage that takes 80 to 100 days to mature.[19]
What Vegetables Can Box Turtles Eat?
Acceptable vegetables that should represent a high percentage of the box turtle’s diet include collard greens, beet greens, mustard greens, broccoli, turnip greens, alfalfa hay, bok choy, kale, parsley, Swiss chard, watercress, clover, red or green cabbage, savory, cilantro, kohlrabi, bell peppers, green beans, …[20]
What Can You Not Feed A Box Turtle?
Food Avoid to Feed Box turtlesBread, bakery products, and pasta.Candies, chocolate, and other products containing sugars.Processed meat and canned food.Avocado skin and pits.Tobacco leaves and products.Rhubarb.Tomato and potato leaves.Dairy products.[21]
Can Box Turtles Eat Shrimp?
A Box turtle’s diet should consist of live foods as well as fruits and vegetables and good quality greens. They love earthworms, slugs, snails, mealworms, superworms, crickets, pillbugs, pinky mice, etc. You can also feed them shrimp, sardines or other fish.[22]
Can Box Turtles Eat Cooked Shrimp?
Can Turtles Eat Cooked Shrimp? You can feed cooked shrimp to your turtle, but it should only be fed once in a while as a treat. Some pet turtle owners prefer cooking the shrimp before feeding it to their turtle, to ensure that any bacteria and nasty bits are boiled off.Nov 11, 2020[23]
Is Shrimp Good For Turtles?
Shrimp are a common food for aquatic pets, but make sure you buy the right type for your turtle. The tiny dried shrimp available to be fed to fish will often not work for most turtle species. The shrimp that turtles eat are often larger, and can be broken in half for smaller animals. Fruits and Vegetables.[24]
What Can You Not Feed A Box Turtle?
Food Avoid to Feed Box turtlesBread, bakery products, and pasta.Candies, chocolate, and other products containing sugars.Processed meat and canned food.Avocado skin and pits.Tobacco leaves and products.Rhubarb.Tomato and potato leaves.Dairy products.[25]
Can Turtles Eat Sea Shrimp?
They mainly eat sponges, but also occasionally a small amount of tunicates, shrimps and squids.[26]
Can Turtles Eat Human Food?
They especially like leafy green veggies, so kale, collard greens, and mustard greens are both healthy and delicious for them. They’ll also chow down on carrots, squash, green beans, and peas. As far as fruits go, you can give them bananas, apples, and pears, among other things.Jul 28, 2022[27]
What Household Food Can Turtles Eat?
Animal food sources.
Animal-based food sources for turtles can include processed pet foods like drained sardines, turtle pellets, and trout chow. You can also feed them cooked chicken, beef, and turkey. Live prey can include moths, crickets, shrimp, krill, feeder fish, and worms.[28]
What Should You Not Feed A Turtle?
Feeding wild-caught fish and amphibians is not recommended, as they may contain parasites and other infectious organisms that may affect the turtle. Raw meat, fish, or chicken from the grocery store does not contain a balance of calcium and phosphorus for a turtle and is not recommended as a food source for turtles.[29]
Can Turtles Eat Junk Food?
Avoid regular feeding of fatty foods.
If a turtle eats too much fat, it can contribute to kidney problems and cause obesity. And yes, turtles CAN become obese![30]
Resources
[1]https://animals.mom.com/plants-poisonous-box-turtles-2354.html
[2]https://myturtlestore.com/premium-baby-turtle-food/
[3]https://www.petmd.com/reptile/nutrition/what-do-turtles-eat
[4]https://www.atshq.org/what-do-painted-turtles-eat/
[5]http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Chrysemys_picta/
[6]https://petkeen.com/can-turtles-eat-oranges/
[7]https://reptilesmagazine.com/painted-turtle-care-sheet/
[8]https://www.livescience.com/45539-what-do-turtles-eat.html
[9]https://www.facebook.com/moundsstatepark/photos/a.1010993652253278/3239862799366341/%3Ftype%3D3
[10]https://avianandexotic.com/care-sheets/reptiles/box-turtle/
[11]https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/plants-toxic-to-turtles.htm
[12]https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/eastern_box_turtle1
[13]https://www.avianandexotic.com/care-sheets/reptiles/box-turtle/
[14]https://www.hartz.com/the-benefits-of-treats-for-your-turtle/
[15]https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/turtles-box-feeding
[16]https://www.atshq.org/what-do-box-turtles-eat/
[17]https://www.completecritter.com/box-turtle.html
[18]https://turtleinformation.com/can-turtles-eat-brussels-sprouts/
[19]https://www.turtleholic.com/can-tortoises-eat-brussel-sprouts/
[20]https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/turtles-box-feeding
[21]https://www.atshq.org/what-do-box-turtles-eat/
[22]https://www.turtlerescues.com/box_turtle_care.htm
[23]https://www.petsgal.com/can-turtles-eat-shrimp/
[24]https://www.hartz.com/the-benefits-of-treats-for-your-turtle/
[25]https://www.atshq.org/what-do-box-turtles-eat/
[26]https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/sea-turtles/diet/
[27]https://petkeen.com/human-foods-that-turtles-can-eat/
[28]https://pets.webmd.com/what-do-pet-turtles-eat
[29]https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/turtles-aquatic-feeding
[30]https://www.turtleholic.com/what-foods-bad-turtles/