what kind of food do turtles eat?

Question

I found a turtle in a michigan lake and I buy some food for the turtle and the food os called Tetra ReptoMin Floating Food Sticks but the turtle did not like that kind of food they eat?
I try to give her some lettuce and tomato but she did not like that what can I do?

Answer 1

Considering you found your turtle in a lake, you should put it back. (Unless it is injuered or otherwise unable to help itself, in which case you should take it to a vet.)

But, assuming i cannot convince you to put it back...

1) I am guessing that the turtle is under a lot of stress because it is in a new environment. It sounds like your turtle is mainly of the swimming sort, so make sure s/he has a large tank (at least 30 or 40 gallons) that is filled with water and has floating "rocks" for it to sit on. (Check out your local pet store to buy some.) With these things in it's cage, it will be more comfortable and more likely to eat.

2) I suggest you stick to the floating food sticks and assume your turtle is nervous. If it still refuses to eat them for the next day, try and figure out what it would naturally eat in the wild.

3) Do internet research to find out what breed it is and then what it would eat. It is likely that your turtle is an herbivore- feeding it anything with milk or meat will make it VERY SICK. So don't try it. Stick to the lettuce you are trying to feed it, also try non-citrus fruits.

4) If you find that your turtle is not in fact an herbivore (a variety of aquatic turtles do eat some meat) then it should still be eating things like fish rather than steak.

"Many turtles become less carnivorous in adulthood. Smaller vegetable part of diet is usual. A ratio meat : vegetable part vary upon species. For this example 2/3 should be a meat components:
live (!!) feeder fish, mice, mollusces, earthworms or insect larvae, commercial trout pellets, driet cat food, snails
The rest should be vegetable:
some water plants, dandelion, clover, lettuce, grated carrot, some fruits and other in similar ratio as for herbivores."

Good luck and be nice to your turtle!

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
what kind of food do turtles eat?
I found a turtle in a michigan lake and I buy some food for the turtle and the food os called Tetra ReptoMin Floating Food Sticks but the turtle did not like that kind of food they eat?
I try to give her some lettuce and tomato but she did not like that what can I do?

Answer 3

We would need to know the species to answer this right. Most wild turtles eat a diet of small fish, bugs, worms, crustaceans, shellfish, etc. As they get older, they begin to add dark leafy greens to the diet.

Tomatos, hamburger, and light green head lettuce are bad food choices.

The other issue is that capturing a wild turtle usually stresses it so badly it will not eat for a week or more- if ever. Wild caught turtles make terrible pets- they are used to big spaces, choosing their own temps and micro-habitats, etc. and they have no resistance to common respiratory illness that we humans carry all the time.

You can learn a lot more about caring for your species, and a photo gallery to help ID your turtle at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 4

Turtles in the wild will eat moss, algae, mosquito larvae, earthworms, dead fish, unless they can catch minnows. If you insist on keeping him, he can live on minnows, guppies, feeder goldfish, turtle pellets from the store. He needs a light to keep him digesting, warmish water so that he CAN digest his food and not want to mud under, which he cannot do in a tank, and a dry place that he can come out of the water and warm himself under the light. Read as much as you can before you decide to keep him. Turtle digestion and absorption is a fussy thing. Educate yourself for his/her sake. Does your turtle hiss when you pick it up? That is one foolproof way of knowing if it is a male or female, female hiss when startled.

Answer 5

Carrots, Lettuce, Specialized turtle pellets, Leaves, Rubarb, Tomatoes, Onions, Brocoli, Basically any vegetable without too much sugar

Answer 6

mil worms or a type of fruit and veggie mix. i had a turtle thats all she would eat but be careful i fed my turtle mil worms frist and that is almost all she eats. so the frist thing you feed her is most likly the thing she/he will eat the most.

Answer 7

Lean beef, fish, nightcrawlers, meal worms, feeder goldfish and guppies, leafy vegtables, bananas, papaya, etc.

Answer 8

shellfish.. like little shrimp and stuff and try like sediment from lake.

Answer 9

shrimp and cabbage(and/ or)