Turtles, as natural omnivores, cannot merely eat just anything.
For one, bread is not the healthiest food for turtles to eat.
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Lactase, an enzyme responsible for breaking down dairy products and bread, is not found in turtles.
It is essential to know what type of turtle you own as different species have preferred diets and require different levels of care.
The most common pet turtles are aquatic ones such as red-eared sliders, box turtles, painted turtles, green sea turtles, or snapping turtles.
Is bread in small amounts appropriate for turtles?
Turtles cannot consume bread, even in small amounts.
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Domesticated turtles, most of the time, will eat whatever you feed them.
So it is your responsibility to plan out what your pet turtle should eat.
A person’s food may not be the best food for your turtle since our foods contain additives, spices, and preservatives, which can be harmful to your turtle.
What should you feed your turtles?
To ensure good health, turtles need foods that are high in nutrients, calcium, and vitamins.
You can feed them small fish, leafy vegetables, dehydrated shrimp, meats, insects, and cooked eggs.
You can also feed your turtle some fruits and flowers.
If you got your pet turtle from a pet store, you could also get turtle food, which is especially prepared to meet the turtles’ required nutrients.
What do wild turtles eat?
Turtles’ diets greatly vary depending on the environment of their natural habitat and their type.
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Wild turtles eat water plants, insects, worms, snails, small fish, and the remains of dead water creatures.
Protein is an integral part of their diet as this macronutrient is responsible for growth.
Baby turtles often eat meat, and only when they reach adulthood, do they start eating vegetables and plants.
How should you determine the best food for your turtle?
The primary considerations to determine the best diet for your turtle is its age and type.
It would also be helpful to know where the natural habitat of the species of your turtle is.
Taking note of these will help you determine which foods are suitable for your pet turtle.
What are the different subspecies of sea turtles?
Sea-turtles have diverse subspecies, most of which feed on jellyfish, sponges, or other sea creatures.
Those with stronger jaws can eat shellfish.
Green sea turtles are among the few herbivores in the subspecies. Their primary food is algae.
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As they feed on vegetation, green sea turtles are an essential component of the conservation of the coral reefs.
Painted turtles live on freshwater and feed on leafy plants, shellfish, fish, crickets and worms.
If you own painted turtles, get a different tank when feeding them to keep their main tanks clean.
To maintain a healthy shell structure, turtles need calcium.
And as turtles cannot eat dairy products, you must provide them with vitamin supplements.
Snapping turtles prefer eating live food.
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You can feed them small goldfish and minnows, which you can buy at pet stores.
You can also check your local grocery stores for frozen fish if small fish are not available in pet stores.
Included in their diet are crickets and crayfish.
Snapping turtles can also eat fresh fruits and vegetables.