What do Baby Painted Turtles Eat? #Plants #Insects #Wild

If you have thought of keeping the turtles at home as pets, painted turtles are what make the best choice. They do look very nice and are not much fussy when it comes taking care of them. You would just need a simple arrangement to take care of your painted turtles.

What do Baby Painted Turtles Eat?

The baby painted turtles eat the aquatic vegetation and algae. They also eat small water creatures such as insects, fish and crustaceans. Painted turtles are basically omnivorous and in the wild, they feed on fish, crayfish, tadpoles, a variety of aquatic invertebrates and a wide range of aquatic plants. The best food for painted turtle would be fresh leafy vegetables. Dark, leafy greens like romaine, dandelion greens and fresh parsley.

What do Painted Turtles Eat in The Wild?

In the wild, the painted turtles ideally prefer eating a combination of plants and insects. They will either foray into the deeper sea or river or choose to skim at the top of the watery surface. Painted turtles were found to consume larvae, dragonflies and beetles in most of the cases. Some of the food eaten by painted turtles in the wild can include aquatic plants, aquatic insects, crayfish, snails, small fish, tadpoles, mussels, and carrion.

A recent study found that insects were found to be one of the common forms of food found in the stomachs of the painted turtles. The study also found that they do feed on a complete combination of animal and plant matter. You will also find it eating crayfish and dead fish.

What Does Baby Painted Turtles Eat When Captivated?

There is a huge difference between the food that a painted turtle consumes in the wild and the one that it consumes when kept as a pet. The food preferences of a turtle in captivity drastically change. Painted Turtles prefer eating omnivorous food when kept as a pet. The painted turtle prefers eating meat in captivity.

You can feed red leaf lettuce, Kale, duckweed, water lilies and anacharis as the plant source of food to your painted turtles. You can offer the occasional treat in the form of crickets, mealworms and feeder fish.

Under ideal conditions, the painted turtles are omnivorous. They will eat both plant and animal matter with the same degree of enthusiasm. As for the animal food, you can feed them eat worms, insects, small fish, and other animal matter. In terms of the plant food, it eats water plants such as water lettuce, duckweed, and water hyacinth. You can even feed them parboiled vegetables as well.

How Often do Painted Turtles Eat?

Painted turtles are found to be much slower when in the wild. That is why they eat whatever and whenever they can get an opportunity to. In fact, painted turtles have similar eating habits as with land turtles and thus prefer eating whenever they feel like.

While they can be comfortable eating whenever or whatever they want to, you need to be careful when feeding your painted turtles in captivity. Make sure that you do not feed it more than once every two days. Eating more than what they need can make them become obese and thereby can further cause other health issues.

What Does Baby Painted Turtles Eat?

You can feed the same food to the baby turtles as you would feed an adult turtle, but the proportions and ration should be slightly different. Make sure the ratio of plant and vegetable protein is maintained properly.

Since the baby turtles are still growing and need more food and energy, it would be practical to give them more food. It can be worthwhile to give them food at least once every day, at least 5 to 6 days a week. The size of the pellets or food should be as good as the size of its head.

Baby turtles eat aquatic life when in the wild. The prime food can include small fish, worms, tadpoles and carrion. If you find it a little difficult to find what baby painted turtles eat, you can feed it the purchased foods and mix it well in water to feed your baby painted turtle.

What Kind of Plants do Painted Turtles Eat?

Painted turtles prefer eating animal matter when they are younger. As they grow, they prefer eating plant material. They can be found eating a huge amount of aquatic plants. Some of the plants that painted turtles prefer to eat include:

What Insects do Painted Turtles Eat?

Painted turtles eat almost all types of insects, but they would be more comfortable with the water insects. One of the best insect food that painted turtles would prefer can be cricket, grasshoppers and similar other similar options.

It would be advisable to opt for the insects purchased from the pet stores. The ones caught from outside may be risky as they may have been exposed to pesticides.

Some of the insects that painted turtles can eat can include:

How to Take Care of Baby Painted Turtles?

The baby painted turtles would need water heater in many cases as the water temperature may not be comfortable for them. Make sure the temperature is kept between 75 to 80-degree centigrade. Your aquarium should ideally be between 15 to 30 gallons in size.

The painted turtles need a basking space away from water. It can work as a resting place and needs to have a temperature of around 90 to 100 degree F. Make sure you feed it small amounts of food several times a day. The most common food served to baby painted turtles would include brine shrimp, guppies, worms and similar food rich in protein. Baby turtles need food rich in protein during their growing years.

Can Painted Turtles Eat Strawberries?

Painted Turtles love strawberries as they are sweet and tasty. Not only painted turtles, but almost every genre of turtle loves eating strawberries. However, they require proteins, and feeding too much of strawberries can prove to be an issue.

It can be advisable to feed them strawberries every now and then and ensure that it is given as a treat. You can serve other fruits such as cantaloupes and apples.

Which Kind of Fish do Painted Turtles Eat?

Painted turtles can eat almost any kind of fish. Since the turtles are slow animals, they will eat only those fish that they can catch and the ones that their mouth can consume.

Some of the fish that a painted turtle can eat can include Guppies, minnows, goldfish, tetra fish, and other such small fish. You can even feed the feeder fish to the painted turtle. When it comes to the baby painted turtles, they eat almost every type of food that an adult painted turtles eat, but the quantity would be lesser.

Can Painted Turtles Eat Fruits?

Painted turtles can eat fruits and they are not harmful in any manner. But, we would not recommend feeding fruits to your painted turtles quite frequently. You can feed fruits to your turtle, but ensure that you feed it in a very limited quantity.

Ideally speaking, painted turtles do not consume fruits if they find one in the wild. While the fruits can be a good option, there are a few better options than fruits. Most of the fruits contain sugar and may not be the right option for the turtles in captivity.

Some good fruit options that you can feed your painted turtles include:

Do Painted Turtles Eat Worms?

Painted turtles do eat worms as they do eat any other food. In fact, painted turtles are omnivores and they are not picky about the food and food choices as such.

The painted turtles eat fish, frogs and worms.

The Painted Turtle Food Guide

The following image should give you a fair idea into what do Painted Turtles eat:

Image Credits – Pinterest

The Concluding Thoughts

Painted Turtles are one of the unique turtle species and have been one of the prominent turtle breeds that make a great pet. They love staying in the water and have been known to be resistive to ailments and diseases.

While they are one of the widely popular breeds of pet turtles, finding what to feed them can indeed be one of the challenging tasks ever. The discussion above should ideally help you arrive at the best experience in understanding what you can feed your painted turtles and what not to feed the turtles.