What to feed the turtles? Tips for Beginners

If you decide to have a tortoise in the house, then, first of all, you must clearly realize that the turtle is not a toy, but a living being. This is a real wild reptile that does not climb to its owner on his knees and will not rumble like a cat, but rather just will not react to you in any way and can even painfully bite.

Nevertheless, turtles are often kept in apartments as pets, because they do not require such care as a cat or a dog, do not spoil furniture, do not shit in corners, do not bark. A walking turtle need only in summer in sunny weather, and even then not every day. It should be remembered that, being by nature a cold-blooded animal, a turtle needs heating and proper nutrition, receiving with food what it receives in nature. Therefore, the question of what to feed is one of the main.

The widely held view that the turtle can be given bread, cheese, milk, cottage cheese and even cat food, is initially erroneous. And yet what to feed the turtles?

By the type of feeding turtles can be divided into three groups.

• Predatory. Almost all these species live in water, and therefore feed mainly on food of animal origin (mainly fish and seafood), which makes up 70 to 90% of their diet, and only 10-30% is plant food. The main product in the diet of such turtles is lean fish. Before feeding the turtles with fish, the meat should be cleaned of bones and cut into small pieces. Once a week, give them low-fat boiled meat, which is saturated with animal protein. As the vitamins are the meat of snails or worms. In winter, multivitamins should be given for prevention. You can also use ready-made turtle food, which is sold at pet stores (for example, "Aquarius Turtle Menu" or "Tropical BioREPT").
• Herbivorous. These turtles consume about 90% of plant and 2 to 10% of animal food. They are usually fed with a mixture of vegetables, herbs, fruits with the addition of proteins and vitamin-mineral supplements. Before feeding the turtles, the mixture should be finely chopped. Turtles for up to a year need to be fed daily, but do not leave the food for more than 2-3 hours. Adult turtles are recommended to feed 2-3 times a week. For a turtle, this is not dangerous, but rather, on the contrary, it only works. In no case should you give the dog a black bread, milk, citrus peel and fruit bones, because they contain alkaloids. Also, some types of houseplants should not be given food. You should not abuse sweet fruits, grapes, cucumbers, cherries, spices. In summer, turtles enjoy dandelion, mother-and-stepmother, clover, as well as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and so on. Once a week, you should give mineral supplements (carbonate, calcium palmitate, borogluconate, glycerophosphate, bone meal, crushed egg shell) and protein (raw liver, bran, dry yeast, cottage cheese, boiled egg, minced meat).
• Omnivore. Eat both animal and vegetable food in a combination of approximately 50x50. What to feed the turtles of this group is clear from their name.

Contain turtles are recommended in terrariums. With proper nutrition and appropriate care, they can live more than 30 years.