How often should i feed my baby turtle

Just How Much Food Should I Feed My Turtle?

Your turtle keeps begging, and you keep feeding. Your head starts to wonder, “Just how much food should I feed my turtle?!” Here’s the answer.

You should feed your turtle one cup of food every day or every other day. I recommend you feed your turtle a combination of pellets, vegetables, and insects.

Generally speaking, younger turtles under the age of 5 should be fed every day, while turtles over the age of 5 should be fed every other day.

How Many Pellets Should I Feed My Turtle?

I made this a separate section because I feel with pellets most people just don’t know how many to give to their turtles.

There are 2 popular theories about how much food (pellets in this case) to feed a turtle:

Feed them as much as they can eat in 15 to 20 minutes.
Give them enough food that would fit inside their head, if it were completely empty.

If you are interested in buying pellets for your turtle, I recommend checking out this cheap turtle food.

My Recommended Turtle Food

Below are my top choices for turtle food. They are all under $15.


My Top Pick Tetra Tetrafauna Pro Turtle Food	Price: ~$10 Nutrition: High Protein and Vitamin D3	Check Price On Amazon
Aquatic Turtle Medley Food - Freeze Dried Shrimp & Mealworms for Aquatic Turtle	Price: ~$15 Nutrition: High Protein and Fiber	Check Price On Amazon
Fluker’s Buffet Blend Turtle Food	Price: ~$8 Nutrition: High Protein and Vitamin A	Check Price On Amazon
Zoo Med Natural Aquatic Turtle Food	Price: ~$15 Nutrition: High Protein and Vitamin C, D3, E	Check Price On Amazon

If you want to feed pond turtles, you should check out my article what do pond turtles eat?

How to feed a turtle?

Below is the easiest way to feed a turtle:

Put a bunch of pellets into a plastic bag (like you would use for a sandwich), then squeeze the end and twist a bit so that it resembles your turtle’s head.
Put it up close to your turtle’s head to see how much bigger or smaller it should be.
After you get the correct size, measure it using a teaspoon, tablespoon or measuring cup.
This will get you the exact amount you should feed.

For most people, this will work out to a few teaspoons or tablespoons.

The first popular theory, that you should feed turtles as much food as they can eat within a span of 15 to 20 minutes, has a big problem in my opinion.

And that is how easy it is to overfeed your turtle using this method.

Can you overfeed a turtle?

Yes, it is certainly possible to overfeed a turtle. It can happen quite easily because turtles can become experts at begging for food.

Overfeeding your turtle is one of the worst things you can do for its health.

The thing is, a lot of turtle owners don’t know that they are overfeeding their pets because it seems like they are always hungry.

They don’t realize that turtles are opportunistic feeders that will eat as much as they can when given the opportunity because, in the wild, their next opportunity might not come for a long time.

Your turtle is smart, believe it or not. It will eventually associate you with food. When it sees you, it’s little lizard brain sends a signal that says “food!”, whether or not it is actually hungry.

You will need to ignore this type of behavior in the long-run if you want your turtle to stay healthy.

No matter what type of food you are feeding your turtle, it is important to have a high power filter that can eliminate their waste after they poop. You can learn more on my article about the best filter for turtle tank.

If you are afraid that your turtle might be eating too much, you should try to counter this by encouraging them to exercise more. An easy way to do this is to add ornaments to your turtle tank. I recommend checking out some of these cool ornaments that your turtle can climb on.

Freeze Dried Shrimp & Mealworms for Aquatic Turtle

How Many Vegetables Should I Feed My Turtle?

Now that you know how many pellets you should feed, let’s get to the other stuff now.

Remember, you shouldn’t feed an adult turtle pellets every single day.

How much and how often you should feed them depends on when they reach maturity.

When do turtles reach maturity (adulthood)?

For most turtles, this is between the ages of 5 and 8.

If you have a red-eared slider, you should check out my guide on the perfect red eared slider diet.

How often do you feed a turtle?

Now that you know how much to feed your turtle. you are probably wondering how often should you feed your turtle.

In general, it is best to feed your turtle every day or every other day. However, the exact answer depends on the age of your turtle. Here are some good rules of thumb for frequency of feedings:

Feed babies and juveniles (turtles up to 1 year of age) once a day.
Young adults should be fed every other day.
Mature turtles should be fed every third day.

Moreover, you need to give your turtle a healthy, balanced diet of more than just turtle pellets.

Here are some more good rules of thumb when it comes to how much of each type of food:

Turtle pellets should make up no more than 25% of all food eaten.
Leafy greens and vegetables should make up ~%50 of all food eaten.
Other food sources, such as mealworms, shrimp, fish, etc. can make up the remaining ~25%. You can buy Dried Shrimp & Mealworms for Aquatic Turtle here for $3.

This ratio should apply to juvenile and young adult turtles. As turtles start to mature, after that 3rd, 4th or 5th year, it’s better to bump up the % of leafy greens and vegetables to around 75% of their total diet.

What do you feed a baby turtle?

Below is a schedule of when and what to feed a baby turtle:

Monday: Enough pellets to fit the size of their head
Tuesday: Leafy greens
Wednesday: Mealworms and shrimp, vegetables
Thursday: Leafy greens and vegetables
Friday: Leafy greens
Saturday: Enough pellets to fit the size of their head
Sunday: Leafy greens

As the turtle ages, I would phase out one of the pellet feeding days and replace it with leafy greens and veggies. If you have a Red-Eared Slider, you should check out my article on how much to feed a Red Eared Slider baby.

This then begs the question, how many leafy greens, vegetables and treats should I be feeding them?

For things such as feeder fish (which I usually don’t recommend), mealworms, shrimp, insects, etc., I would apply the same head-sized rule but allow for a little leeway. This means that you can give them slightly more than the size of their heads, as a lot of this food is not quite as dense and nutritious as the turtle pellets.

For leafy greens, you don’t need to measure at all! Here’s what you can do.

Grab a handful of kale and drop it in your feeding tank or your tank, and let it float. Don’t feed your turtle anything else.

If your turtle is like most other turtles, he or she won’t immediately nip at it. This is because turtles, in the wild, are able to feed on vegetables at any time, and generally only do so when they are hungry.

Eventually, he or she will.

Notice how much was eaten throughout the day, and that should be a general measuring stick of how many leafy greens to give them.

For vegetables (which you should usually cook), I would also follow the head-size rule but still give a little leeway. Turtles can gorge a bit on vegetables, and they will still be healthy.

If you have a snapping turtle, you should check out my article on what do snapping turtles eat?

How much should I feed my turtle?

Feed as many pellets as can fit inside their head was it empty (be strict on this).
Offer as much feeder fish, mealworms, shrimp, etc. as would fit around the size of their head (can be a tad less strict with this).
Give a little bit more veggies than the size of their head (less strict).
Feed as much leafy greens as they will eat in one day.

You will want the leafy green portion of their diet to be a staple food, so I would keep trying the following things until you hit on something that they enjoy eating on a daily basis:

Kale
Dandelion greens
Cabbage
Mustard greens
Water hyacinth
Water lettuce

For vegetables, I would recommend that you steam or cook them first to soften them up, and place them in a feeder bowl as they usually will sink to the bottom.

Some good vegetables:

Softened carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, squash or green beans.

How to feed turtles?

In order to feed a turtle, first wash your hands with warm water. Do not use any soap.

It is important that you drop the food directly in the water (unless you have a box turtle). Turtles must eat while they are in the water to help with digestion. If you feed your turtle while they are on land, they risk the chance of choking or other digestion issues.

How Much Should I Feed A Baby Turtle?

When it comes to baby turtles, I would recommend that you simply follow the empty-head rule, just as with young and mature adults.

This is where that plastic bag can come in hand again.

The only difference this time is that you will be feeding them pellets or protein sources every day, instead of every other or every third day.

With baby turtles, it can be quite easy to overfeed them, so I would err on the side of caution, and be quite strict with the amount of pellets that you feed them.

The best times of the day for feedings are usually during mornings and afternoons. When it comes to buying food, check out why I buy my turtle food on Chewy.

How Often Do Turtles Eat?

In the wild, a turtle usually eats everyday. However, this is not always the case since it can sometimes be hard to find a food source in the wild. Therefore, a turtle usually eats as much as they can when they find food so that they will still have enough nutrients if they don’t find food the next day. A pet turtle should eat once a day in order to get the proper amount of nutrients and vitamins.

Can You Overfeed A Turtle?

Watch out!

Don’t make the same mistake that I did.

Every knowledgeable turtle owner and enthusiast out there would agree that overfeeding is one of the worst things you can do to a turtle.

Always err on the side of caution, underfeeding a turtle is much more preferable to overfeeding them.

In nature, it’s nigh impossible for a turtle to overfeed, as they are slow and aren’t able to easily catch high-protein sources of food such as fast-swimming fish and shrimp.

In the care of an unknowing turtle owner who believes their turtle seemingly has a bottomless pit of a stomach however, it is quite easy!

Overfeeding can lead to 2 big health problems:

Obesity (yes turtles can get fat!).
Turtle shell pyramiding.

Pyramiding is the one you want to avoid because it is irreversible.

Pyramiding happens when a turtle’s shell starts to grow too fast. The scutes can stretch out and separate, and start to look like sharp “pyramids”.

The same condition is also common in pet tortoises (tortoise shell pyramiding).

If you suspect that you are overfeeding your turtle, we recommend immediately reducing the amount of daily food by 25%. Additionally, you should try switching full meals with small treats. One great option is floating treats, which force your turtle to swim to the top in order to eat it.

How to Tell If You Are Overfeeding Your Turtle

There are folds of fat that develop around their legs even when their legs are not retracted.
Noticeable folds of fat that develop around their legs when retracted.
Their scutes are widely-separated (the lines that separate the scutes will become larger and larger).
If the edges of their shell start to turn upward.

I would pay close attention to that last one, as that’s the one that starts to develop first.

If you notice the edges of your turtle’s shell start to turn upward, it’s a sign that you should probably be feeding them less food.

If you have a snapping turtle, you should check out what do you feed a snapping turtle?

Summary

Feed as many pellets as can fit inside their empty head.
Give slightly more (or less) mealworms, feeder fish, shrimp, and vegetables, as can fit inside their empty head.
Offer them as many leafy greens as they will regularly eat.

 Dillon
Guides

How Many Pellets to Feed a Baby Turtle? – TurtleOwner.

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As a new turtle owner, one of the most essential things that you have to know is how much you should feed your turtle. When I got my first turtle I was really panicked because I couldn’t find some good information. But over the years I tried a lot of methods and techniques, and I finally got the hang of it. So in this article, I am going to share with you everything that I learned.

How many pellets to feed a baby turtle? The amount of food that a turtle will eat is determined by its age and size. There are a few methods that will tell you how much food you should give your turtle, two of the most known are the 15 minutes method and the size of the head method.

Now let’s take a closer look at those methods, and then at how to make a proper feeding schedule for your turtle.

Different Methods of of Choosing the Amount of Food for Your Turtle

As I said there are a lot of methods out there, but two of the most talked-about are the 15 minutes method and the size of the head method. I tried both of them and did extensive research to find out what other people have to say about them.

The Size of the Head

This method says that you should feed your turtle the same amount of food that it would take to fill its head ( without the neck ) if it were hollow.

The simplest way to put this method into practice is to find a small container, like a medicine cup, a shot glass, or a bottle cap. This container has to be approximately the same size as the head of your turtle, without the neck. Then you fill that container to the top, and then you can feed the food inside the container to your turtle.

You don’t always have to use a container, you can always just estimate the food that you would need to fill its head. If you sometimes give your turtle a little too much food, and sometimes you give it a little too much, things will be just fine. Your turtle won’t be affected by small differences.

This method works great because it takes into consideration the size of the turtle, and gives you a fixed amount of food that you have to give your turtle. And as the turtle grows the amount of food will change.

This is the method I use to feed my turtle, and the results are great so far. During my research, a lot of people that used this method had great results, and nobody had any problem with it.

Before moving to the next method I want to add that overfeeding your turtle can be a major problem. Unlike most animals that just get chubby if they eat too much, turtles will also develop other health problems, like pyramiding, which affects the growth of the shell and it’s irremediable.

The 15 Minutes Method

The 15 minutes method is very simple, you give your turtle a lot of food, and let it eat for 15 minutes. After that, you remove the food.

As simple as this method might be it’s definitely not the best one. This is because turtles, wild or pets, are opportunistic feeders by nature. This means that they will eat everything that they can in the fastest time possible because they don’t know when they will have the chance to eat again. Even if you feed them regularly they will not abandon this mentality.

Another way to think about this is how much food can a normal person eat in 15 minutes. At a normal rate, most people will be full if they eat constantly for 15 minutes. And if they eat at a fast pace, there is no doubt that they will be more than full. I know that turtles and humans function differently, but this comparison is to show that the idea of a timed meal is not that great when you compare it to a fixed amount of food.

There are a few people out there that recommend this feeding method, but there are a lot more than say that is a sure way to overfeed your turtle. And I have to agree to feeding your turtle this way is not a good choice.

Between the two methods, I would definitely recommend you the size of the head method. Besides the reasons that I already listed, there is another important reason. It allows you to have a more diversified feeding schedule.

How Often to Feed Your Turtle | Turtle Feeding Schedule

The first thing that you have to take into consideration when thinking about how often you have to feed your turtle, or when making a feeding schedule, is the age of the turtle. Baby turtles need a different amount of food than juveniles, and juveniles need a different amount of food than adult turtles. So let’s take a look at each age group.

Feeding Schedule for Baby Turtles

Out of all the age groups, baby turtles need to eat the most often. This is because they need a lot of energy to grow. When turtles are at this stage in life they experience the fastest growth rate. And to be able to grow so fast they will need a lot of energy that they will get from eating.

So baby turtles should be fed every day using the size of the head method. Using the 15 minutes method will surely result in overfeeding especially in this case.

Making a feeding schedule for a baby turtle is very easy, you have to feed them every day. Now let’s move to juveniles, here you can have some flexibility with their feeding schedule.

Feeding Schedule for Juvenile Turtles

Turtles grow from babies into juveniles. turtles usually become juveniles after they reach 4 inches, this usually happens when they are between 8 and 12 months old.

A juvenile won’t grow as fast as a baby turtle, but it will still grow faster than an adult. So they will still need to be fed quite often. So here you have two options.

You can either feed your turtle once every two days, the amount of food that it will take to fill their head. Or you can feed them half of that amount every day.

There is no difference for them if you feed them every day, or if you feed them every two days, as long as the amount of food is right. So it’s up to you to choose which way you want to do it. I would recommend you to feed your juvenile turtle every two days, this way the chances of you forgetting to feed your turtle are smaller.

And if it ever happens that you forget to feed your turtle once, don’t worry. In the wild turtles can go weeks without eating. Sof forgetting once in a while is bad, but your turtle won’t be affected.

And if you go with the once every two days method I would also suggest you set up a reminder on your phone that will repeat itself on certain days, or every two days. This way the chances of you forgetting are way smaller.

Feeding Schedule for Adult Turtles

Adult turtles grow very slowly, and after some time they will not grow at all. So they won’t need as much food as babies and juveniles.

So the best way to feed your adult turtle is once every 3 days, using the size of the head method. This might seem too little food when you compare it to the rest of the age groups, but remember that due to the way the size of the head method works, the size of the food portion also increases so there is no problem, your turtle is getting way more food than it got as a baby when it was eating daily.

Again to make sure that you don’t forget the best thing that you can do is to set up a few reminders on your phone or mark the dates in the calendar. But if you forget and skip one of the feeding days, there is no problem, as I said turtles can go months without eating so they won’t care at all if you forget to feed it once.

Occasional Treats

Another thing that I want to address is that you can occasionally give your turtle treats. As long as they are not too big, you can give your turtle a few live fishes, or similar things that they like, without warning that you disturb their feeding schedule.

Conclusion

So this should cover everything that there is to know about how you should feed a baby turtle. But in case you have any questions, you can leave them in the comment section and I will answer them as soon as possible.

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How many times a day should a red-eared turtle be fed?

The red-eared turtle is the most common type of domestic turtle. This reptile has a medium size, an interesting color and has a fairly high level of intelligence. In terms of intelligence, it surpasses many other species of its kind.

Red-eared appeared in artificial terrariums many years ago, now such a pet can be purchased at any pet store. She is considered a long-liver: under favorable conditions, a pet can live thirty - forty (30 - 40) years. However, many owners of such a reptile do not know how often, what and how much to feed your red-eared turtle . In our article we will try to answer this important question.

What to feed

Under natural conditions, red-ears mainly feed on crustaceans, fry, small fish, as well as insects and snails. The reptile also needs plant food.

At home, it can be fed with various types of commercial food. It is important that the pet's diet is varied, so it should be added to the diet and natural food. It is worth noting that this type of turtle needs to be fed with water, as they are not able to produce saliva on their own.

How much and how often should I feed my red-eared turtle?

It is difficult to answer both of these questions unequivocally: it all depends on the size of the pet, age, and also the food that the reptile eats.
First, let's consider young turtles , that is, up to a year old. Feed them every day with purchased food. However, it is also necessary to give plant foods: vegetables, herbs, fruits, even if the pet refuses at first.

It is worth trying to feed the turtle with a bloodworm, you can start introducing aquatic crustaceans into the diet. The amount of food for young turtles is also different from its amount for older representatives of this species. They should be getting about fifty percent (50%) of the protein in their food daily. Therefore, feeding artificial food alone will not be enough.

The owner of a reptile to cover such a lack of nutrition should add to the menu turtles - fish such as guppies, if possible, earthworms and insects. Some experts claim that already at such a young age, your pet can eat boiled meat or minced meat with pleasure. However, this food should be introduced into the diet gradually.

Since foods can vary, you need to carefully choose the brand specifically designed for your pet. Namely: according to its age and size. It is important to know that young representatives of this species of reptiles need additional feeding with vitamins, it is worth consulting with a breeder or veterinarian about this.

Red-eared turtles can grow and develop normally only with proper feeding.

For adult red-eared turtles (more than a year old), the percentage of artificial food in the diet should be not less than ten (10%) and not more than twenty-five (25%).

It is worth gradually adding vegetable foods (for turtles older than a year, these are lettuce, dandelion leaves, cabbage and pieces of fresh cucumber). All this must be given, even if the pet initially refuses. It is possible and even necessary to give the turtle boiled or raw meat of chicken or beef.

Some experts suggest giving the red-eared turtle raw lean fish meat, but pre-boiled (about a minute) in boiling water. Small aquarium fish can be given both in crushed form and live, but it is worth commensurate the size of the live bait with the size of the turtle.

Reptiles between one and two years of age should be fed every other day. And an older pet, starting from the age of two, needs to be fed every two or even three days. But this, again, also depends on the individual characteristics of the reptile.

The turtle, which has reached the age of three, begins to eat more and more algae. To make the aquarium look aesthetically pleasing, aquatic plants should be grown in a separate place from the reptile.

It is important not to overfeed your pet, but at the same time not to leave him without the vitamins he needs. Any food for reptiles must be of high quality and fresh. Frozen food should be thawed and warmed to room temperature beforehand.

Food for turtles of all ages should be thrown directly into the water, but it is important to correctly calculate the amount of food, otherwise uneaten food will rot in the water, after which it will need to be changed.

Reptiles should be fed during daylight hours, as they are active during the day. With the correct calculation of the age, size, characteristics of the red-eared turtle and the selection of food, the owner will have a healthy and happy pet.

How often should I feed turtles? | Tail News

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one What time to feed the turtle? 2 How much food to feed a turtle?

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Feeding frequency is one of the foundations of a proper diet. But if you search the Internet for how often you should feed your turtle, the information will vary from source to source. What is it connected with? And how many times a day should you feed a turtle?

Controversy over the frequency of feeding reptiles is not uncommon. And all because there is no single answer to this question.

The frequency of feeding is individual for each pet.

However, there are approximate rules that should be followed. They are valid for both land and aquatic turtles.

What time to feed the turtle?

It is best to feed turtles in the morning, but after the animal has warmed up. The choice of time is due to the fact that turtles lead a predominantly diurnal lifestyle and food is better absorbed before evening. In the evening and at night, when the lamps are turned off in the aquaterrarium, the temperature drops and the reptile's metabolic rate decreases.

If you feed your pet at night, there is a high risk that digestion will fail. This is especially true of land and some aquatic species of turtles, such as marsh and red-eared.

Other reptiles can take food with the same benefit around the clock.

It is advisable to give your pet food at the same time. Compliance with the regimen promotes proper digestion and makes it easier to maintain cleanliness in the aquarium.

Turtles get used to the feeding schedule. This is one of the few available ways to communicate with them.

How much food to feed a turtle?

The ideal portion size is the one that a turtle can handle in half an hour. If food remains after this time, it must be removed. This will help prevent contamination of the terrarium.

If the turtle eats all the food within a few minutes and then continues to search for food, the number of feedings or servings should be increased. If the turtle, on the contrary, can not cope with the food, you need to either reduce the portion, or feed the pet less often.

Observe the behavior of your pets and study their needs. Very soon you will understand how often and in what quantities you need to feed your turtle.