When it comes to feeding your aquatic turtle, you don’t want to be worrying about whether the food you’re giving them contains enough protein, you’d rather wholeheartedly know that it has the right balance of vitamins, minerals, and proteins that are necessary for the health and growth of your turtle.
With an array of turtle food on the market, how can you know which is the best food for aquatic turtles? Relax, we’ve got the answer.
We’ve compiled a list of the top five best foods for aquatic turtles, as well as a helpful buyer’s guide of things to consider when purchasing food for your aquatic turtle. Alongside this, we’ve answered some frequently asked questions that might have crossed your mind.
The Zoo Med Natural Aquatic Turtle Food is made with added vitamins and minerals for your turtle’s health!
Each container of food from Zoo Med has been scientifically formulated to meet the dietary requirements of aquatic turtles at each of their life stages.
The pellets float making it easier for aquatic turtles to locate and eat their food on the surface.
Pros
This natural turtle food contains no artificial colors or preservatives.
For Turtles over 6″ 5/16″ pellets.
Contains 25% protein to keep your turtle strong and healthy!
Cons
One customer claimed that this container of turtle food was smaller than they were expecting.
The Zoo Med Gourmet Aquatic Turtle Food is scientifically formulated to meet the dietary needs of growing turtles with a shell length of 2 to 6 inches.
This food adds a nice high protein treat to your turtle’s diet with the addition of dried shrimp and mealworms.
This Zoo Med food contains whole cranberries which are a natural food that a lot of North American species of aquatic turtles eat.
Pros
Contains no artificial colors or preservatives.
Added vitamins and minerals to help maintain your turtle’s health.
This food is all natural, so you don’t have to worry about giving your turtle any hidden nasties!
Cons
A couple of customers claimed that this food dirtied their turtle’s tank water more quickly than they were anticipating.
The Fluker’s Buffet Blend Aquatic Turtle Food is a combination of vitamin fortified pellets, freeze-dried river shrimp, and freeze-dried mealworms.
This unique blend ensures your pet will receive the proper balance of essential protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals.
This freeze-dried food is specifically designed to mimic what your aquatic turtle would eat in the wild!
Pros
The pellets float to the surface to make it easier for your turtle to eat their food.
This food is enriched with vitamins and minerals including calcium and vitamin A and B to support your pet.
Perfect for carnivorous turtles!
Cons
One customer struggled with cloudy water after using these pellets.
The Best Food For Aquatic Turtles Buying Guide
There are a few things to consider when buying aquatic turtle food, but it mainly comes down to considering their age, looking for foods with natural ingredients as well as protein to maintain their growth.
You’ll want to make sure that you buy a food that is balanced in protein with vitamins and minerals to keep your turtle happy and healthy. An improper diet can be lethal for turtles in captivity and is arguably the most common cause of health problems developing in turtles. Don’t be tempted into buying lower quality food for your turtle, as it might not contain the right balance of ingredients to keep them healthy. After all, we all want our pets to thrive!
Check out the features below before clicking ‘buy’.
Age
Something to consider when buying the right food for your aquatic turtle is which age the formula is targeted at. Lots of brands make food that is formulated to meet the dietary requirements of aquatic turtles at each of their life stages.
As a result, it is important that you do your research and pick the right food for your turtle’s age to ensure that they’re getting all the nutrients that they require for their growth.
Natural Ingredients
When it comes to purchasing food for your aquatic turtle, you should make sure that it contains plenty of natural ingredients that are easy to digest for your turtle. This is because, in the wild, turtles will consume a broader range of foods ranging from insects, plants, and berries too.
By choosing a turtle food with natural ingredients, you’ll be mimicking their natural diet by providing them with similar food to their diet in wild. This is good and healthy for them, as it’s the closest thing they’ll get to the foods they’d naturally find and eat.
Floating Pellets
Something you should consider when purchasing food for your aquatic turtle is whether the pellets float or not. Aquatic turtles have to be in the water to eat because they need the water to wash down their food.
Floating pellets can help a turtle to mimic hunting and foraging behaviors that they’d need to exercise in the wild to survive, as well as ensuring they can swallow their food with the help of the water that they’ll also swallow on the surface.
Floating pellets also make it easier for your turtle to locate their food. If the pellets sink, your turtle could struggle to find them amongst the plants and other objects that you keep in their tank and the pellets will also get soggy the longer that they spend submerged in water.
Floating pellets help to minimize this risk, ensuring that your turtle gets enough food.
Proteins, Fruits & Vegetables
Arguably one of the most important factors to consider when looking for food for your aquatic turtle is the protein content.
A moderate protein content and low carb content is best for your turtle’s health. Aquatic turtles are primarily meat-eaters (most often insects in the wild) while they are young.
This is because they are young and need protein and other nutrients in order to grow and fully develop. However, you need to ensure that you’re finding the right balance between protein and vegetables, as too much protein can cause shell pyramiding and abnormal growth.
Therefore, when doing your research, make sure that you choose a food that contains a good balance of protein, fruits, and vegetables. Make sure that the food is also low in carbohydrates and fat. Too much of either can lead to obesity and other health problems.
Something important to consider when choosing a food is whether it contains enough vitamins to support your turtle’s health.
You should ensure that the food is enriched with vitamins and minerals including calcium to promote healthy bone growth. You should also specifically look for foods with vitamin A and B to support immune function, vitality, and good health in your aquatic turtle.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I feed my aquatic turtle?
You should find a food that is specifically designed or suitable for aquatic turtles that has a good balance of protein, fruit, and vegetables to mimic the food they’d eat in the wild.
You should avoid feeding your turtle wild-caught fish and proteins to amphibians as they may contain parasites and other infectious organisms that may affect your turtle.
Raw meat, fish, or chicken from the grocery store does not contain the right balance of calcium and phosphorus for a turtle and is not recommended as a proper food source for them. Instead, you should look for food with freeze-dried protein such as shrimp!
If your aquatic turtle won’t eat, the temperature could be affecting your turtle’s appetite.
Since turtles require their environments to be a certain temperature, if your aquarium is not warm enough this can significantly affect their appetite, as it tells them it’s time to start hibernating.
Make sure that your turtle tank is warm enough for them by regularly checking their tank temperature with a thermometer.
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