Different Kinds of Turtles And Their Daily Diet
| |There are today hundreds of different types of turtles.
Some of them – you might know them such as alligator snapping turtle, box turtle, American snapping turtle, painted turtle, red-eared slider turtle, and wood turtle.
Each one of these has its own set of unique requirements including diet.
They need to get specific care in order to flourish and if you are planning to adopt one as a pet you must choose the one that best fits your experience level.
Know about different types of turtles and what do they eat…
1- The wood turtle:
The wood turtle does best with both an indoor and outdoor enclosure.
This turtle has a sculpted shell with varying shades of tan and brown. This type of turtle prefers a diet high in meat, strawberries, and other fruits.
2- Asian Box turtle:
This turtle has a high domed shell with non-webbed feet. The protective design of the shell affords the box turtle additional protection.
An Asian box turtle basically measures up to 6-10 inches in length when fully grown and they require clean, fresh drinking water daily and eat insects, worms each day.
3- The red-eared slider turtle:
The red-eared slider generally grows up from 7 to 12 inches in diameter and basically an aquatic turtle that requires an aquarium with water.
The red-eared slider turtle supplements its diet with diced-up carrots or leafy greens vegetables.
4- Painted turtle:
Turtles with different personalities are none other than so-called painted turtles. They measure up to 10 inches in size and have lived for 25 years.
The painted turtles reside well in landscape turtle ponds and like to eat goldfish, chicken and sometimes also like to eat leafy greens.
In case you are looking to tame these turtles, you may need to check before about what do they eat. This will make it easy for you to feed your turtles in the best possible way.
3 Types of Food That Turtle Loves to Eat
The most important tip for keeping your pet turtle in good shape is good food, enough place to swim and climb in the pond, and a good filtration system.
Your turtle must also have a simple shelter to retreat to when it wants to be out in the open. You can prefer shelter made out of selected stones or wood.
The food of turtles mainly depends upon the type as most of them are carnivorous when they are at a young age and when mature change into omnivores.
Mostly some feed on plants whereas others hunt small creatures actively for their food.
A turtle’s diet is based upon the species which are 300 in number and to which it belongs, its living place, and what it has the right to use.
If you have a turtle, then here are some foods to feed and keep healthy.
1- Vegetables
Feed leafy vegetables, which are best like red clover, dandelions, turnip greens, duckweed, plantain weed, water lettuce, carrot tops which are okay and work best.
2- Flowers
Like humans, turtles love flowers. It’s not to view and appreciate, but to eat, like lilies, hibiscus, borage, carnations, geraniums, and hyssop as turtle food.
3- Protein Sources
You have many sources of protein, which are safe to feed the turtles in the form of small amounts of cooked chicken, fish or turkey, boiled eggs, mealworms, earthworms, slugs, snails, crickets, and shrimp which are fine. Avoid raw meat as it contains lots of fat.
Well, the turtle cannot digest dairy products as their digestive system does not carry any enzymes required for breaking down the lactose which may make them sick.
Check how old they are as young age and adult turtles hold different diets based on the species and need to take care of the plants they are habitat to them. Try to keep poisonous plants out of their reach and clear from their water tanks.