First of all…we are so happy when people find our articles/posts useful for them. We feel like we are not just 2 turtles and 1 human who are running the blog simply for fun. Well,it is fun but we also want people to learn more about our species.
I have shared about Spinach in We Are Not Popeye, here are the other food to avoid: (copied from redearslider.com)
- Iceburg lettuce and Celery because they provide very little useful nutrition or fiber. They are fillers, a way to add variety but not nutrition.
- Spinach, Chard, Beets, Rhubarb because they have Oxalic acid and it blocks the absorption of calcium. These foods cause the turtle to become calcium deficient even if a good source of calcium is provided which can result in soft shell or MBD (metabolic bone disease) which is fatal.
- Beans, Mushrooms because they do not much nutritional value, and can cause gout.
- Raw meat, Frozen fish, Raw chicken because they will causes obesity, pyramiding, kidney problems << this used to be my problem.Mommy often gave me cook chicken…and I am a bit overweight now 😦
- Goldfish because it is very fatty, really no nutritional value for turtle
Now … here are what’s good for us 🙂 (also copied from redearslider.com)
- For turtles under 1 year old, feed pellets daily, as much as would fit in their head if it were hollow (not including the neck) and veggies every day (if they refuse, don’t stop offering it)
- For turtles one year and older, feed every other day at most (amount of food will increase with size of head), with veggies every day.
VEGETABLES **all rinsed thoroughly**
- Romaine Lettuce
- Mustard leaves
- Leaves of Radish
- Collard Greens
- Tomatoes (must be considered a rarity. too acidic to be a regular staple)
- Carrot
- Turnip
- Sweet Potato (cooked – boiled/ steamed/baked)
- Peas (occasionally – once a month max)
- Pumpkin
- Squashes
FRUITS **no more than once a month**
- Papaya
- Mango
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe/Common Melon
- Grapes (remove skin so its easier for them to pick at )
- Apple
- Pear
- Strawberry
- Figs
- Banana
WATER PLANTS **rinsed thoroughly**
- Anacharis
- Water Lily
- Duckweed
- Water Hyacinth
- Hornwort
LIVE PREY **as snack, once in a while**
- Feeder Fish (guppies, rosey red minnows)
- mealworms (no more than once a week as they’re very high in protein)
- mosquito larvae
- crickets (preferably gutloaded)
- cockroaches
- apple snails or other water snails
Me eating Cuttlebone
Getting Calcium
- cuttlebone (found in any pet store in the bird section – peel off the hard backing first, as they can’t digest it)
- Calcium Dusting (you can crush cuttlebone for this)
- Calcium blocks
Getting Vitamin A (Great for eyes ..especially if they are puffy)
- green leafy vegetables
- carrot
- squash
- cod liver oil
Remember!! don’t feed us same food over and over again because we can easily attached to it and refuse other food.
Take good care of our species, okay 🙂
Novroz
Kroten
Kurome
Papoe
Kame (R.I.P)
Underneath The Shell 
Can they eat cilantro? And i have heard that turtles weren’t really meant to eat fruits, so would it be better not to feed them fruits or just feed mostly veggies and some fruits? Oh! And btw, this article/blog/info was very helpful, thanks!!!
Hi plooploo,
I don’t know what cilantro is.
It’s okay to give fruit but not too often.
is it ok to feed my yellow slider corn
I read somewhere that corn is too sweet so that give your turtle corn too often
Cilantro is known as Chinese parsley or coriander
can you feed them just veggies and they will survive
Maybe. I am not quite sure but it’s better to vary their food
Can I feed my red eared slider dried mealworms?
Yes you can but not too much or too often as they contain high protein
Can they eat apples?
Yes, but not too much and not too often. But the skin is better as it contains vit e
Can my turtle eat cucumber? He seems to really enjoy it.
He can but not too many
Okay. I have had my turtle for almost 4 years since she was a hatchling. I made the mistake of discontinuing to offer her veggies because she always refused them. Now she won’t eat anything. What should I do? Plus her she’ll looks horrible. I didn’t change her UV light often enough (I just changed it the first time 3 years later!) I feel awful. I read so much about turtles but somehow didn’t know about changing the UV light. I was waiting for it to burn out and it just never did. Then the pet store told me I needed another one. I got her another one and use calcium blocks. What do you suggest I do to get her to eat veggies? Just give her only veggies until she eats them? I give her Omega One pellets and Omega One Frozen Aquatic Turtle Floating Blocks.
If she is in good health with the pellets…then it’s okay to continue it. Bus if you really want to try veggies, yes that’s how I did it…offer nothing but veggie till they finally eat it due to hunger. I did that with Kame.
Good evening. I was just gifted a baby red-footed tortoise whos carapase is maybe 4in. long. I am not certain how old he is, but he’s clearly young. Unfortunately I was completely unprepared when I received him (seeing that he..or she, was a surprise).
How much of each food item can these turtles eat and how many times a day can I feed him? I received him Saturday evening and have been desperately trying to figure out how to care for the little cutie. Sunday I attempted feeding him carrots, which he refused… I didnt have much that a turtle can eat so I went on a walk picking random things hoping to find something he’ll like…but with no luck.
I just gave him about a tablespoon of papaya which he scarfed down – i did read that he shouldn,t have it more than once a month, but about how much can he have that one day a month?
Any and all advice is welcomed- Thanks!
Hi Jack…welcome to turtle parenthood 🙂
Very useful. Thank you will be using this a lot more often for reference. Gotta take good care of my two Red ears, ( 6 years old, and 4 years old).
sorry but i really need to ask: what if you feed the turtle the same food for a month? will they still accept new food or they will just refuse it 😦
Depends on the food. If it’s vegetable usually they will accept pellet or insect or shrimp. But if it’s insect or shrimp then they will most likely will refuse pellet and vegetables
My apartment overlooks a pond; I’ve been feeding a family of Geese bread every day, and then The Turtles showed up, so I throw some to them. The Turtles love it, so I decided to look up what they Should eat. Not Bread! Your thoughts? (No more bread, sorry I did it)
Bread is not advised for turtles but if the turtles eat it maybe they are used to it… By the previous owner.
My suggestion is to buy lettuce and feed them with it. However, if the previous owner never fed them vegetables, most likely they will not eat it 😦
Thanks for your response. Many people around here feed the Turtles bread; I tried some kale instead and they ignored it. I’ll try some shrimp and s÷ what happens.
Vegetables are difficult to introduce if the turtles never eat it before. Good luck with finding better food for them 🙂
Wild turtles seem to really like bread, I think it’s what they’ve been fed by people and wild turtles will pretty much eat anything, they’re hungry. They will eat rice and beans if you throw it to them, they love meat especially (saw someone give them hot dogs). One common thing is that they seem to dislike veggies. Feed them turtle pellets too if you can buy some, there’s no stopping them from eating the bread.
Very helpful! Thank you!
You’re welcome 🙂
Why can’t a turtle not eat raw meat?
because they will causes obesity, pyramiding, kidney problems
Loads of useful information one question a friend told me they fed their terrapins cress I just wanted to know if this was ok.
I have to search cress because I don’t what is that.
Seeing the nutrition, I guess it’s okay
Really great! I’ve had turtles for years and your tips are very clear and helpful. Thanks a bunch. I’ll share this information and page with others.
Thank you Yasmin, I am very happy if the page helps other turtle lovers 🙂
Thanks for the helpful blog! One question. The pellets are fed every other day and veggies daily? Or are both the veggies and pellets only offered every other day.
You can mix them. Today pellet the next day veggie
I wanna ask can turtle eat abalone?
I don’t know what abalone is. Sorry
Hi, abalone is a type of mussel right? I did a Google search. The nutritional information says it’s a bit high on sodium and cholesterol, so I’d say treat it as meat, and offer as a treat. My personal advice. So not to eat daily. I offer my turtles meat (chicken, turkey) or seafood (salmon, shrimp) every 2-3 weeks. They love it. The younger turtles can eat meat and protein more often than adults but I try to prevent them from forming a habit of only wanting to eat meat, so i do not feed too often. I provide pellets and a good variety of veggies on a daily basis and fruits maybe once or twice a week. This page is awesome for turtle tips and you can follow our turtle family on Instagram too, tani_happy_turtle. I posted some infographics on suggested foods and unsafe foods that I got from another great Facebook turtle care page.
Thank you Yasmin
Hi,
Thank you for your suggestions. I still have a question. Is it fine for the turtles to eat melon?
One more question, what is the problem about the turtle eating fruit more than once in a month? Mine eats papaya or banana once or twice a week and she looks fine, she is 15 years old.
Hi Gabriela,
I read about it long time ago and not quite sure whether I remember it correctly now…but one of the reason is they can cause diarrhea
My hatch-ling res turtle was not feeding and even she scare of my but I successfully teach her to feed my hand if u want to see this please visit my video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXzLlsEWdqQ
i’m loving this article… thanks!
You’re welcome… I hope it helps you
Can turtles eat snow peas? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_pea
HI Courtney, I honestly don’t know. I only follow what I have shared in this post
Hello. Thanks so much for all the info in your blog!
I was gifted a yellow bellied slider with about a 3.5″ shell and we named him Touche. After he became accustomed to us ( it took a month before he would bask in front of us), we moved him to his own 125 gallon pond until winter. His previous owner fed him bell peppers every day. Iv’e tried romaine, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, with no luck. I put water lettuce, water hyacinth in his pond which he takes bites out of occasionally. He wouldn’t eat cucumber at first, but now he will. He loves earthworms.
Are red, yellow and green peppers okay to feed Touche. Also, what about earthworms?
I have never heard someone feeding turtles pepper. I can’ say anything about it.
I feed my turtles worm occasionally, not too often because worms have very high protein.
Maybe you can try turtle pellets once in a while if he still doesn’t want to eat vegetables
I have a small terrapin not sure how old she is. She eats her aquatic turtle trail mix diet very good but when I offer her other foods she can have she refuses to eat it. What should I do? She also loves it when I talk to her and hold her.
One of my turtle used to be like that too but I tried feeding her vegetables for days till she finally ate it
Hello, Thanks for your great article! I have a 31 year old RES (had him since he was a couple weeks old) and he’s going to benefit from the new food recommendations you’ve written about 🙂
Hi lee, I am happy the article helps you
Just wanted to say thank you for all the great information.
I got a rescue redeared slider about four months ago and it has been a learning experience. I new nothing four months ago but I like to read lol and have done lots of that.
He Poppy was about six inches four months ago and now is eight or nine.
They grow fast I have found out.
I had him in a 20 gallon tank and now I have him in a 60 gallon and just got a 100 gallon tank and I have a big yard and we are going to have a great time this spring and summer. I have kiddy pools and one is a turtle lol just a coincidence that I had that. I have been feeding him three different types of pellets that say balance diet on the label and one has three different types of food in on can which is very cool. He seems to be doing very well but I have a long way to go on getting his tanks all dialed in. I want to have some fun with trying to put the tanks together and get the filters dialed in and heaters and just get it done in such a way that he is as happy as I can make him. I have all the stuff to make it a turtle condo lol .
I never dreamed turtles where so cool and fun. It’s going to be a lot of fun and a lot of work getting his condo built but it will be a fun project. I seen some cool stuff on utube so I will figure it out.
I am working way to hard right now because I have no filtration and no heat so pulling water and cleaning tank almost daily. I put him in the tank 12 hours and take him out for 12 or close. I only have to lights that aren’t uv a or b but that’s something I do have to buy. Been trying to get through the winter and we are almost here. I will send you pictures if you want.
cbrucejohnson@gmail.com if you want to chat.
Thanks to all and God bless
Sincerely
Bruce and Poppy.
Hi Bruce, so nice for you to stop by and share about Poppy.
Is this diet the same with all turtles?
Fresh water turtles
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