How Many Pellets to Feed a Baby Turtle

Though turtles are not cuddly as dogs and cats, they are wonderful pets. You will enjoy a good moment with the turtles because taking care of the turtle is fascinating to observe, and the best thing is that they require less maintenance. All you have to do is keep the turtle habitat clean and treat them with proper food. As turtle comes in different species, so they have different tastes in food, so you have to know the adequate nutrition of the turtle you have. In this article, we will talk about baby turtle feeding and how many pellets to feed a baby turtle

How Many Pellets to Feed a Baby Turtle

How to feed a baby turtle

A baby turtle is cute, and they need different care from adult turtles to grow healthy. The baby turtle is prone to diseases as they are fragile. In this stage, it needs vitamins for development. A wild turtle gets a different food source while roaming in the wild, from swimming to land. Turtles are omnivorous, and they love to eat fruits, green grass, and lean raw meat.

Food Portion size

  • Feed pellets as much as the head size
  • Offer shrimp, mealworms and feeder fish
  • Enough Vegetables
  • Kale, water lettuce, water hyacinth, cabbage, dandelion greens. 

What do baby turtles eat

You will find different types of gel capsules or pellets as a turtle diet. In the pellet, you will find these ingredients-

  • Zinc sulfate
  • Salt
  • Zinc oxide
  • Vitamin E
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin C
  • Porcine meat meal
  • Brewer’s yeast
  • Fish oil
  • Meat meal
  • Corn
  • Fish meal
  • Poultry

The nutrient balance table of baby turtles

Crude protein Less than 40%
Vitamin E Less than 160 IU/Ib
Crude fat Less than 10%
Ash 9%
Crude fiber 5%

The feeding process of baby turtles

As I said before, baby turtles need special feeding care to grow healthy. Here I will talk about the preparation and process of feeding the baby turtles. I hope these topics will clear the confusion about the feeding topic of the turtle.

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Gather the supplies

Turtles are omnivorous and different species have different eating habits. For example, the green sea, snapping turtles and red-eared sliders turtles are carnivorous, loggerhead turtles like plants and meat both. Now you have to find out which species are your turtle. Then you can understand the feeding habit of the turtle

Manage the food

Now you have to get proper food that promises a healthy diet. It is better to introduce a diverse diet that will meet different nutritional needs.

You can use Purina, which produces one type of turtle pellet from the mazuri branch for different types of turtle species. Rep-cal provides pellet for omnivorous, herbivorous and carnivorous turtles. There are also some pellet brands like Wadley’s reptile pellet, pretty pets, zoomed, reptomin that provides proper nutrients for turtles.

For omnivore and herbivore turtle, you have to give different vegetables and fruits. Strawberries, lettuce, carrot are good for turtles.

When turtle urges for meat diet, try wax worms, snails, earthworms, and crayfish as diet. You can give water hyacinth, water lettuce, and duckweed.

Make the environment food-friendly for the turtle

Like humans, a turtle also wants a comfortable and food-friendly environment. So you have to create a food-friendly environment in the turtle tank so that your turtle will have the urge to eat.

Feeding amount

At first, you have to know the amount of food your baby turtle needs. Usually, the baby turtle needs food every day in the morning and afternoon. Observe the feeding amount of your baby turtle and provide the amount.

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How many pellets to feed a baby turtle

To feed the baby turtle, you have to keep knowledge about the feeding amount of food items. There are two different theories about feeding the baby turtle.

The first theory is to feed the turtle as its need in 15 to 20 minutes, and the second theory is giving food until it fits in the empty head.

How will you measure the amount?

  • Take a plastic bag and put some pellets inside. Then squeeze and twist the bag, make the shape like turtle’s head.
  • Measure the head size with the big plastic bag.
  • When you get the proper size, measure it with tablespoon or teaspoon.
  • This will help to understand the proper amount.

It is because the turtle owner doesn’t know that they are overfeeding or less feeding the turtle as they don’t know the proper amount. How will you understand that you are overfeeding the turtle? When you will see-

  • The leg of the turtle develops fat even the legs are not retracted.
  • When the legs retracted, you will see fat fold is developed
  • The scutes stays widely separated
  • The shell edges will turn upward.

Conclusion

Now I think you have understood how many pellets to feed a baby turtle. You have to feed a good amount of pellets as much as it fits the empty head. Give vegetables, shrimp, feeder fish, and mealworms as much as you can and fits the size of the head. You can also offer leafy greens as a regular diet.  As a turtle owner, you will feel the turtle is begging for food. Follow this article to understand the amount of food your turtle will need and feed him adequately.

Resources:

http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upload/index.php?/forums/topic/152976-how-many-pellets-should-i-feed-a-4-inch-red-eared-slider/

https://www.wikihow.com/Feed-a-Baby-Turtle

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