Turtles are semi-aquatic creatures that live in ponds and the sea. They can even be kept as pets in your house with an aquarium. In the US, around 2.3 million households have reptiles as pets, including turtles.

While having a turtle as a pet might sound weird or new, it is one of the reptiles with the most basic diet. Turtles are believed to be on earth for more than 200 million years and they follow a specific diet structure.


Turtles are omnivorous



A few turtles consume meat and a few follow a strict vegetarian diet. According to Live Science, turtles can be herbivorous or carnivorous based on where they live, what is available, and especially based on what kind of jaw it has. It is also based on their size, habitat, species, and age.

Turtles as pet

Turtles as pets do not involve much effort like it is required for a cat or dog, All that turtles require is an appropriate-sized aquatic tank at home, UVB lights, and a simple yet right kind of diet. Turtles easily get sick when they consume food that is not designed for them.



The diet plan

As turtles are omnivores, the food they eat depends on their choice of food from their young. A typical adult turtle (above 12 years) will consume more vegetables, fruits, and animal products, and turtles of age 7 to 10 mostly eat animal-sourced products.

According to WebMD, the leatherback sea turtles feed on jellyfish and sea squirts and the red-eared turtles mostly feed on worms, snails, and slugs. While water turtles are mostly carnivores, land turtles differ - either as an omnivore that prefers beetles and moths or as herbivores that prefer fruit and grass.



The National Geography points out that the turtle's diet should be omnivorous and they should consume a balanced meal containing meat, vegetables, and fruit. While young turtles, less than 7 years old, feed more on meat, the older it becomes, the animal should switch its diet to plants, vegetables, and fruits as its digestive system might find it complex to break down meat.

What food do pet turtles eat?

The animal-based or sourced food includes processed pet food like sardines, turtle pellets, and trout chow. You can also feed them boiled chicken, beef, and turkey cut into small pieces and cooked at home with no spices. Turtles as pets might also like a treat of live prey that include moths, crickets, shrimp, krill, feeder wish, and worms and you can get these insects from a pet store that supplies live feeds.

The plant-based food includes leafy greens, dandelions, mustard greens, and spinach. While they consume most of the leafy greens, turtles find chives and parsley toxic to their diet because of the high levels of chemical oxalates present in them. Pet turtles also consume apples, cantaloupes, bananas, berries, and mangoes. They also feed on aquatic plants like water lettuce, hyacinth, and duckweed.



Turtles are not very big in size and they do not require food on a daily basis. An adult turtle can be fed food once in two days based on its necessity and a young turtle should be fed once a day, two in certain cases. How often turtles need to be fed is based on their species.

Aquatic and land turtles prefer different ways to consume food when fed and more than quantity, the turtles can manage up to a level of food that can be consumed in 20 minutes. It may be a few pieces of meat and vegetables, or fruits and fresh greens, the reptile is equipped to consume continuously for 20 minutes and the quantity depends on their hunger for the day.