What do turtles eat?

Question

My husband found a little turtle under our house yesterday and he is now in a box in the back yard. I put a dish of water in there and was thinking of putting lettuce or something in there to be sure that he doesn't starve.

Answer 1

This will depend on the species of turtle. The right diet for one species is terrible for another.

It should also be noted that capturing turtles causes them a lot of stress, and keeping them in conditions that are not what they like is also stressful. Wild caught turtles rarely make good pets... or for that matter, live very long.

Please release it as soon as is reasonable so it can get back to its life.

Should you decide to keep it, please read this article first- it is packed with good starter info to help you know what you are getting into: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/firstturtle.htm




Now- as for lettuce and some of the other suggestions here...
NO turtle, or most other animals, will do well on a diet that includes much of the typical light-green head lettuce, such as Iceberg. The stuff just contains almost no nutrients. The fact that many animals like it does not mean anything (just like how most kids like sugary pop with no nutritional value!)

SOME turtles can eat SOME lettuces- older pond turtles, for example, start to eat greens when they get big and start to get slower. Most tortoises can eat some dark leafy lettuce (endive, escarole, etc.) as part of a larger diet. Box turtles eat some veggies, but mostly bugs and such.

Pond turtles do not need and should not have grapes or fruit either. Where would they get stuff like this in nature?

I know that a lot of this stuff is passed around as proper care, but poor turtles have had absolutely terrible care info passed around about them since the 1940's- we knew it was bad for them even back then!

I also know that your turtle will gladly eat this stuff. This does not prove anything other than turtles will eat stuff that is bad for them- but so will most other animals in the wild or captivity.

Answer 2

#1 Identify the species. Use a field guide, either print or online, for your area.
#2 Get some books on turtle care.
#3 Don't expect proper advice from people that post on Yahoo answers, you will seldom get it. Why are people giving you advice without knowing the species? Here's a clue- don't feed turtles freaking lettuce! Why do people think you feed turtles lettuce?
The link Melissa posted looks like a good starting point. Notice that LETTUCE is not on the list. Neither is RAW HAMBURGER, another thing non-turtle people think turtles eat!

Answer 3

Well you should keep it in clean water and give it light the temperature for a turtle should be 80 degrees f
they don't eat lettuce alot because it doesn't give alot of vitimins
you can find earthworms or crickets to feed it. and bock chow if you know what that is and buy some at the pet store turtles can be tricky to care for

Answer 4

From what I understand there are turtle foods at the store, but also a fresh selection of veggies are great for the diet.. Carrots, lettuce, anything you can serve fresh.. Take time to look them up online or speak to a member of staff at a large pet store. There may be certain things that turtles can't handle as far as digestion goes. There are also many fruits you can give, but again it depends on what breed of turtle you've got and what they can and cannot digest.. Certain foods may be poisonous as well.. Deffinately check it out online or talk to a professional.. Or even a breeder if you can locate one.

Answer 5

Like madkins said it depends on the species of the turtle. For a freshwater turtle it is worms and crickets. They do well with any non poison ness insects. For dry turtles it's is mostly the same thing but with leafy greens instead of algae.

Answer 6

This is probably a box turtle. They eat berries that grow near the ground ,put a strawberry in the box and watch him go.

Answer 7

First, no longer all turtles consume the comparable issues, in simple terms like some human beings are vegetarian and others arent. Shrimp is the main important eating regimen of a few species. Shrimp is likewise a significant contributer to a minimal of one version of shell illness. Turtles are tremendously effective in employing their foodstuff- they actually do no longer choose very lots, so its alright to enable them to circulate slightly hungry sometimes- like while attempting to stress them to alter meals. The 'nutritious pellets' would flavor terrible to the turtle (they DO have flavor buds) and could no longer be as healthful as you think of, exceedingly after the tradgedy with the risky catfood and dogfood, I dont comprehend if identity have confidence any form of petfood. that's effective to do particularly reseach on them earlier you start to remember on them by myself. frequently, stay or clean foodstuff is greater healthy and style is important. try offering some pellets alongside with acceptable stay/clean foodstuff and spot what varieties of consequences you get. it may be greater effective to renowned the species of your turtle to supply you greater information. :)

Answer 8

According to my source:

"Never, ever feed a turtle without knowing what type of turtle your dealing with and what is health for it to eat. If you start giving your turtle wrong food… you’ll make your pet sick. Just because they WILL eat something – doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy".

Answer 9

i used to have a red eared slider
they can eat lettuce, turtle pellets, worms, and sometimes even live fish
my turtle shared a tank with my fish and some got eaten or nipped at

Answer 10

If you live near the sea put the turtle back outside and let it find its way back to its own environment.
Turtles are omniverous. They eat fish, crabs, sea-weed, jellyfish, urchins, grass.
But I say let it go.