What to Feed Painted Turtle Picky

Turtles are great pets, and painted turtles are one of the most popular varieties among hobbyists.

If you know what they prefer, they're easy to feed and take care of.

Baby turtles require slightly different food than mature ones, and they should eat more often.

You should schedule various foods and nutrients for them, or else they won't grow healthy and may get sick.

In this article, you'll read all about a balanced diet for both baby and mature painted turtles.

You'll also learn how often you should feed them and what to do if they lose their appetites.

What Do Baby Painted Turtles Eat?

Painted turtles are omnivores, so they aren't picky eaters and enjoy eating meat and vegetables.

Baby painted turtles eat almost the same food as adult painted turtles, but they tend to be more carnivorous in their early stages.

This is mainly because hatchlings and juveniles need to grow faster, and meat helps them more than plants.

You should feed your baby painted turtle meat, small fish, insects, and commercially produced food like pellets and food mix made for youngsters until they grow to two inches.

Then you should slowly add vegetables, water plants, and fruits to their diets.

Because they can't get all the nutrients they need in captivity, it's best if you supplement their food with vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin D, calcium, and phosphor.

Insufficient diet can result in shell defects and nutritional issues for turtles.

You can add calcium blocks to their tanks as a supplement and put your turtle in sunlight every once in a while, so it can absorb vitamin D.

As the baby matures, you should adjust its diet to consist of only 30–40 percent protein.

Commercial food should make up 25 percent of their diets.

They also shouldn't eat fatty food.

Despite what it may seem, painted turtles like to move and hunt.

That's why they usually don't eat dead or freeze-dried food.

They also need water to swallow and digest their food, so floating food works the best for them.

Now, let's take a closer look at what you should be feeding your painted turtle:

1. Meat

You can feed your painted turtle various kinds of meat, including cooked, raw, and even live bait.

Although eating raw meat causes no problem for turtles, cooked meat is safer since it's less likely to contain bacteria or parasites.

You can feed them beef or chicken pieces easily.

They can eat various types of worms, like mealworms, earthworms, blackworms, brown worms, blood worms, and waxworms.

They also enjoy snails, krill, crayfish, or low-fat dog food.

They appreciate live shrimp varieties like brine shrimp or ghost shrimp as occasional treats, which you can easily breed from eggs, as well as freeze-dried shrimp, which is available in many stores.

2. Fish

Painted turtles will happily eat any kind of fish that's small enough for them.

Docile, easy-to-catch fish are better options.

You should avoid feeding fatty fish to your painted turtle.

Goldfish, Carp, Minnows, and Gizzard Shad shouldn't be in your turtle's diet. Good options include Platies, Guppies, Crappies, Blue Gills, Killifish, and Bass.

You should keep live fish with baby painted turtles because hunting them will give your turtles sufficient exercise and keep them mentally occupied.

Plus, fish is rich in protein, which will make them grow healthy.

Never get your fish, live or dead, from a lake or pond because they can contain bacteria and infect your painted turtle.

Always get fish or any other live food from a reliable pet store.

3. Vegetables

Your baby painted turtle probably won't eat vegetables at all.

That's totally normal, but it's best to try giving it fresh vegetables and plants every now and then.

When your painted turtle is between six months and a year old, you should slowly substitute the pellets with vegetables and plants.

Romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, collard greens, zucchini, squash, kale, escarole, and mustard greens are great vegetables for painted turtles.

Parsley and dandelion should be part of their diets, as well.

You can put the vegetables and plants in the water or clip them to the side of the tank.

There are some exceptions, though.

These include veggies that contain high doses of oxalates, as it can reduce calcium absorption.

Some of these vegetables are spinach, potatoes, beetroot, chard, and endive.

4. Aquatic Plants

Painted turtles will eat almost all kinds of water plants.

One of the most popular water plants is duckweed because it provides different vitamins and minerals that painted turtles need, and they enjoy eating it.

Water lettuce, Waterlilies, Water Hyacinth, Anacharis, Water Fern, Hornwort, Water Starwort, Pond Weed, Water Milfoil, and Frogbit are other aquatic plants you can feed your painted turtles.

5. Insects

You can feed your painted turtle with both live and dried insects.

They especially love crickets, as they make low-fat meals with lots of protein.

6. Fruits

Painted turtles will eat fruits with joy, and most fruits are good for them, but they shouldn't make up a big part of their diets, and you should use fruit snacks as occasional treats.

Citrus and fruits with high potassium levels aren't good for their health because the citric acid can upset the turtle's stomach, and too much potassium can hurt their shells.

Some good options are apples, melons, berries, and carrots. Large pieces of fruit won't float on the water.

They also break up quickly and make the tank dirty, so it's best to cut them into small pieces and put them in feeding containers.

7. Pellets

There are customized pellets for both baby painted turtles and adults.

These are great supplements which can provide them with the nutrients they need.

However, you shouldn't rely on pellets as the main food source for your painted turtles.

Fish pellets can be good additions to their diets, as well.

How Often Should You Feed Your Painted Turtle?

You should feed your baby painted turtles every day with pellets.

Offer them as many pellets as they can eat in 10–15 minutes.

Also, supplement their diet with vitamins, calcium, or treats like fish, worms, shrimps, or insects every alternate day.

As they mature, you'll have to reduce feeding times to every two to three days.

It's okay to give them vegetables and plants to munch on every day, but you should give them pellets every two days or so.

Give them meaty treats and fruits once every week.

Painted turtles go through hibernation periods, and they won't eat at that time.

This mostly happens in the winter, and it can last for weeks or months, depending on their living conditions.

If you notice your turtle's preparing for hibernation, stop giving it food at the end of fall, but provide enough water.

Baby painted turtles love to play around, and the best time to feed them is when they're playing.

Painted turtles have to eat while their heads are in the water, and they'll easily mess up their tanks.

It's a good idea to have a separate tank just for feeding. Remove any excess food after your turtle is done eating.

How Long Can Painted Turtles Go Without Food or Water?

Because painted turtles can hibernate, they can go for a very long time without any food.

Adult turtles with a proper diet and good living conditions can go without food for up to six months.

Baby turtles and juveniles aren't fully developed, and they don't have hibernation abilities.

They need to eat frequently, and they can't go without food for more than a couple of weeks at maximum.

Painted turtles are aquatic animals, and they can't go without water for more than a couple of days, no matter how old they are.

If you're planning to leave your turtle alone for a while, make sure they have enough water.

You can even use an automatic turtle feeder if you're going away for a long time.

How to Feed a Painted Turtle Who Refuses to Eat

It's natural for an adult painted turtle to go without food for a couple of days in a row.

They're probably just not hungry, and there's nothing to worry about. If the period gets longer, you'll have to identify the problem.

First, make sure its living conditions are at their best. A cold environment can be the reason the turtle has lost its appetite.

Check the temperature of the tank and water with a thermometer.

The water should be around 78°F, and the tank's temperature should be somewhere between 80 and 85°F.

Make sure your painted turtle is getting at least 12 hours of light daily, whether it's sunlight or artificial light, or else it'll stop eating.

If the environment is optimal and your painted turtle still won't eat, check for signs of stress and sickness.

For example, vitamin A deficiency can cause white patches on their shells and affect their appetites.

It could have a respiratory infection, which will cause trouble in breathing and wheezing, sneezing and runny nose, and tiredness.

Having eye problems or pregnancy can also be the reason for your pet's lack of appetite.

Your painted turtle might be hibernating, and that can be bad for its health.

Hibernation puts a lot of pressure on their bodies, and only some strong turtles should be allowed to go through it.

Bring your painted turtle to a veterinarian to determine if it can hibernate.

You can entice your painted turtle by offering it live food.

Soaking pellets in juice or tuna water can also work.

Give it brightly colored vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, strawberries, and watermelons.

What Painted Turtles Eat in the Wild

Painted turtles mostly live in dense vegetation areas, so water plants are a big part of their diet in the wild.

They also eat a lot of insects like larvae, dragonflies, and beetles, as they're everywhere and easy to catch.

Painted turtles will eat fish, tadpoles, and worms if they can catch them, and they'll scavenge for carrion.

They'll also eat any vegetables and fruit they find. As you can see, their diets in the wild aren't that different from when they're kept as pets.

They just won't get any pellets or cooked meat in nature.

How Do You Tell If Your Painted Turtle Is Hungry or Not?

You have no way of understanding if your painted turtle is hungry because they usually eat everything you give them.

Starving and overfeeding can both cause health problems.

Therefore, you should schedule a suitable diet for your pet with different varieties of food.

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Source: https://www.fishtankreport.com/what-do-baby-painted-turtles-eat/