What Do Ornamental Turtles Eat? Food Choices and Feeding Frequency Matter

Most ornamental turtles are omnivorous. Common species such as the red-eared slider, the Chinese pond turtle (Mauremys reevesii) and the Chinese striped-neck turtle (Mauremys sinensis) eat both animal-based food and plant-based food. Overall, when young they favor meaty foods such as fish and shrimp and insects, and as adults their acceptance of vegetarian foods such as vegetables and aquatic plants gradually increases. What you feed and how you feed it directly affects the turtle's growth condition and the stability of the water quality.

For daily feeding, specialized turtle food can serve as the staple, since its nutrition is relatively balanced and the amount fed is easy to control. On this basis, you can add animal-based foods such as small shrimp, small fish and mealworms, as well as vegetables and fruits such as leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce and pumpkin. Before feeding live bait, pay attention to the hygiene of its source; it is best to wash it or keep it in temporary holding to reduce the risk posed by parasites and pathogens.

Feeding frequency needs to be adjusted flexibly according to the turtle's body size and the water temperature. Young turtles can be fed once a day or every other day, while adult turtles generally need feeding only once every two or three days, and each time the amount should be enough to be eaten within a short period. A turtle's appetite is closely related to the ambient temperature. When the weather turns cool and the water temperature is on the low side, the amount eaten will drop noticeably; this is a normal phenomenon, and there is no need to force-feed.

It should be noted that processed foods such as fatty meat and ham sausages, as well as human foods containing salt or seasonings, are not suitable for feeding turtles, as they easily cause a digestive burden. Overfeeding will also pollute the water quality and trigger problems with the skin and shell, so it is advisable to remove leftover bait promptly and change the water regularly. In addition, tortoise-type ornamental turtles have a more herbivorous diet and should be fed mainly on high-fiber pasture grass and leafy greens, which is clearly different from how aquatic turtles are fed.