What does a turtle eat?

To keep your reptile healthy, besides the environment, you need to consider what tortoises eat to provide them with a complete and balanced diet. In this article, we'll teach you the basics of caring for your reptile.

Land turtles have become increasingly popular pets in homes. They are easy to care for and can roam freely around the house without the need for an aquatic environment, making them much more attractive than water turtles.

However, they must have a terrarium with everything they need (temperature, lighting, and a bath, for example) where they can sleep and rest. Also, ideally, they should be in a yard with a garden, as they thrive outdoors.

What do turtles eat in the wild?

Land turtles eat a primarily vegetarian diet , based on leaves, stems, roots, flowers, seeds, and fruits found in the wild. They may also occasionally eat insects, earthworms, slugs, snails, grasshoppers, and other foods, depending on the species.

A very common mistake in feeding tortoises as pets is providing them with a diet with excess animal protein, which is far from their natural diet . Tortoises are also scavengers and will eat animal carcasses as well as feces.

It is impossible to 100% imitate the diet these animals follow in nature , but it is very important to try to make them as similar as possible so that they have good health.

A. Their diet in captivity

Before knowing what tortoises eat, you must consider their species, as each one must follow a different diet. Mediterranean tortoises should not eat animals, while tropical tortoises do, although in a very small percentage and occasionally.

• Testudo (Mediterranean Tortoise): 70% green leafy vegetables, 20% other vegetables and 10% flowers or fruits.

• Geochelone (Common Tortoise): 90% green leafy vegetables and 10% other vegetables. Flowers and fruits are occasionally offered as a supplement.

• Omnivorous turtles like the Terrapene turtle (North American turtle): 70% vegetables, 10% fruits and 20% animal proteins .

Once we know what genus our turtle belongs to, we must take into account some general conditions:

The food should have a 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus. Vegetables should be as varied as possible. For omnivorous turtles , animal protein should only be offered occasionally. For vegetarian turtles, never.

Even knowing what tortoises eat, it is very difficult to provide them with exactly what they need. That is why it is necessary to supplement the diet with calcium , phosphorus and vitamin supplements, which are necessary to maintain a strong and healthy shell. To obtain vitamin D , it is very important to have some sunlight every day.

B. Food for land turtles

Food should be offered in small pieces (depending on the size of the tortoise), mixed in the form of a salad so that they can eat anything. An example of a daily diet for a Testudo would be:

70% leafy vegetables: dandelion, clover, spinach , cabbage, chard, lettuce, turnip greens, cabbage leaves, fresh herbs , endive, celery leaves. It is not necessary to offer them every day, combine some and change them each day for others.

20% fresh vegetables: broccoli, tomato, cauliflower, pumpkin, cucumber .

10% fruit: apple, pear , orange, melon, watermelon, strawberry

Along with this, powdered vitamin and mineral supplements, mixed with food once a week.

Remember that water must always be available.

What don't turtles eat?

Now that you know what tortoises eat, it is important that you know which foods are prohibited or strongly discouraged because they can be harmful to their health.

Dangerous food for turtles

• Legumes and cereals : beans, corn, rice, lentils, peas, biscuits.
• Some Vegetables: Carrots, zucchini, peppers, asparagus, beets This group can be offered occasionally, but it is best to avoid them.
• Some Fruits: banana, grape , peach, kiwi, apricot.
• Others: mushrooms and sugar.

Whether it's to avoid obesity , liver problems, or digestive issues in general, follow this list. If you have any doubts about which products are good or bad for your pet, call your veterinarian or a pet store.

Food for land turtles

You can find various extruded turtle foods in specialized pet stores . These are complete, high-quality foods that allow you to feed your reptile more comfortably and quickly. However, they should never replace fresh vegetables or form the basis of the diet. Ideally, you should supplement them or use the food when you don't have enough green leaves.

Now that you know what turtles eat, use your imagination and create the best, most varied and complete salads for your chelonian . Remember that we have other interesting elements for you, such as housing (a hiding place) and substrate , as well as light and temperature.

If you've read this article this far, it's because, like us, you're fans of these ancient reptiles. We'd be very interested in your feedback on keeping turtles or not. If you have a turtle at home, tell us in the comments how you feed your friend. Finally, if, like us, you want to carry your favorite animal with you at all times, we have hundreds of products featuring this adorable shelled animal .