Turtle - Turtle Care - Turtle Feeding

Let us first understand the difference between a Turtle and a Tortoise:

Tortoise can live almost entirely on land and don't need constant access to water.

Turtles need constant access to water or they will die. There are different species of turtles like box turtles, basking turtles, mud turtles and sea turtles.

Turtles:

There are more than 270 kinds of turtles. Turtles have been on earth for about 230 million years. Studies show that turtles were on earth even before dinosaurs.

Turtles have adopted themselves to all kinds of habitats and today they are found almost everywhere the Arctic and Antarctic. All turtles have shells but there are differences in the kind of protection these shells provide to the turtle.

Turtles differ in sizes. For e.g. the Leatherback sea Turtle is the largest turtle measuring around 95 inches. The Bog Turtle is the smallest measuring only 4 inches. Turtles lay eggs in nests and go away into water and most of them don’t bother to take care. Turtles have a long life ranging from 40 – 200 years.

Turtles are not poisonous but you should be careful while catching them. They can carry a kind of bacteria called “salmonella” that can make you sick. Always wash your hand after you handle the turtle.

Turtles can be great. There are several species of turtles you can keep as pets. Most common and most popular species of turtles kept as pets are: 1. Box Turtles ; 2. Sliders ;3.Mud Turtles ; and 4. Painted Turtles.

Turtles should be given proper care. If turtles are properly cared for, they can live for many years. You just have to take care of their diets, accommodation and treatment. Following are some of the Tips and Advise to take care of your Turtle:

1. Provide ample space for the turtle to live in.

2. Make arrangements for enough light, shade, moisture, clean water.

3. The Turtle's aquarium or tank must be big enough to hold good amount of water, say 30-40 gallons.

4. Try to divide the accommodation into “land area” and “water area”. Your turtle should also have a place where it can bask in the heat of a sun lamp.

5. Do not take the turtle out of water just to play around with it.

6. Always keep the aquarium or the tank clean and hygienic.

7. Try to provide natural spring water for your turtle's drinking water.

8. Keep the turtle away from small children.

In order to know what you should feed your turtle, it is very important to know what species is it. Diet of turtles is determined by its natural habitat. Some species of turtles eat only plants while few others eat only meat. There are turtles that can eat almost anything. As a whole you can provide variety in diet to keep the turtle happy. Following are some of the Diets that you can feed your pet turtle:

1. All kinds of worms- silkworms, earthworms, crickets, snails, shrimp, slugs, wax worms, mealworms

2. Cooked - chicken, boiled eggs, fish.

3. Vegetables, fruits and other greens – grapes, blue berries, blackberries, banana, tomato, strawberry, apple, mango, aquatic plants, non-poisonous leaves, beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, corn.

4. Calcium Supplements – Calcium is mandatory for Turtle Shell. Try to get some good calcium supplements for your turtle.

Hope you found this helpful.

Have Nice Day !