Turtles and their dietary preferences can be very strange, sometimes turtles will eat everything that is in front of them (even if they shouldn’t), and other times they will become some of the pickiest eaters in the world. But how do they feel about watermelon?
Turtles can eat watermelon, but not too much. Like most fruits, watermelon contains phosphorus, which can be harmful to turtles in high quantities.
Watermelon is good and bad at the same time. They are good due to the high quantities of vitamins they contain, like B6 and C, but at the same time, they are bad due to the high amount of phosphorus.
If you can manage the calcium: phosphorus ratio you can safely give your turtle watermelon. So let’s start our discussion with that, after which we will see how much and how often you should give your turtle watermelon.
The Calcium Phosphorus Ratio of a Watermelon
Almost all fruits contain calcium and phosphorus. And as a result, most of them have a calcium to phosphorus ratio. So let’s take a look at what calcium does for turtles, what phosphorus does for them, and what is good calcium to phosphorus ratio is.
Calcium is essential for every animal in this world that has bones. And since the shell of a turtle is made out of bones, calcium is even more important for turtles than for any other animal. Fruits are one of the main sources of calcium that a turtle has, so making sure that you feed them vegetables with high amounts of calcium is important.
For humans phosphorus is a very important mineral that helps filter waste, repair tissue and cells, etc. But for turtles phosphorus is not that great. Phosphorus is what gives turtle shells a little flexibility, which is great because this little extra flexibility makes them more resistant to bites and other types of impact. But too much phosphorus can also make the shell a lot softer, and as a result much weaker when it comes to defending the turtle from predators.
In short, we can say that calcium is great for turtles and phosphorus is not so great for turtles in high quantities.
Most fruits have a calcium to phosphorus ratio, this ratio can be 1:1, 2:3, 5:2, 1:2, etc.
A 1:1 ratio means that the amount of calcium is equal, or almost equal to the amount of phosphorus. So a vegetable with this ratio is not that great for turtles, but it’s not harmful either. But if possible such a vegetable should be avoided.
A 1:2 calcium to phosphorus ratio is bad, there are not many vegetables with this ratio, so don’t worry too much about them. Just remember that if a vegetable has more potassium than calcium you should keep it away from your turtle.
A 2:1 ratio is great, and this is what you should be aiming for. If the ratio goes higher it’s ok, but ideally, this is the ratio that you are looking for.
Watermelon has a 0.9:1 ratio, which is not ideal. But at the same time, it’s manageable. And of course, depending on the way the watermelon has been grown the ratio will look a little different, but overall it should still be in the same area.
Here is a short list of some fruits that have a high phosphorus content and should be avoided in large quantities:
- Raisin
- Prune
- Date
- Avocado
- Guava
- Banana
- Coconut
- Kiwi
- Persimmon
- Cantaloupe
- Apricot
- Pomegranate
- Honeydew
- Nectarine
- Mulberry
- Peach
How Much and How Often You Should Give Your Turtle Watermelon
While watermelon doesn’t have the best calcium-phosphorus ratio they still have a lot of beneficial vitamins, so it shouldn’t be excluded from the diet of your turtle entirely. They should be treated more as a snack or reward than a staple in their diet.
I feed my adult turtle about two watermelons per week. And I would recommend you to do the same.
If your turtles have a balanced diet, a couple of watermelon per week won’t do them any harm and it will allow them to benefit from all the good parts of the watermelon.
If you have a younger turtle, you should reduce the amount to one per week.
Now let’s see what are the benefits of a watermelon for a turtle.
The Benefits of Watermelon for Turtles
Watermelon is full of vitamins that make them worth feeding to your turtle, despite their not-so-great calcium-phosphorus ratio, but the most abundant and important are Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C.
Vitamin B6 plays a very major role in energy conversion. To put it simply, vitamin B6 helps turtles remain energetic throughout the day, without it they will feel tired constantly. Vitamin B6 can be mostly found in berries.
Vitamin C, as you know, plays a very important role in the maintenance and development of the bones. And since almost the entire body of the turtle is covered with a shell, which is made out of bones, vitamin C is essential for them. Lucky for turtles vitamin C can be found in most fruits, so they don’t usually have deficiencies.
What to Do If Your Turtle Doesn’t Eat Watermelon
The first thing that you have to do is to determine the cause. And there are two possibilities.
One possibility is that your turtle simply doesn’t like watermelon, one of my turtles is the same.
In this case, you could reduce the amount of food that you usually give it and replace it with watermelon. But I would advise you against this. While a few watermelons are good for them, they can still get the same benefits from other fruits.
If your turtle doesn’t like watermelon, you shouldn’t force it to eat them. As it’s just a matter of taste. Every turtle is different, some will like watermelon some won’t.
But if your turtle refuses to eat any kind of fruit, then you have a problem, as fruits can’t be completely removed from their diet. If this is your problem you should start replacing some of the food that you usually give your turtle with fruits. And it shouldn’t take more than two or three weeks until your turtle will start eating fruits.
The second possibility is that your turtle is too young. It’s not uncommon for baby and juvenile turtles to not eat certain fruits. When turtles are at those life stages they are growing a lot faster than adult turtles, and to grow this fast they need a lot of protein that they get from greens like spinach, watercress, and cabbage. Eating watermelon while it will keep them from starving, it won’t do them too much good at this point.
If your turtle is young then it’s perfectly normal that it won’t eat watermelon. Just wait until it reaches maturity, then you can try again to feed it watermelon.
If you are not sure how old your turtle is, then read this article: How Long do Turtles Live? there you will find a few methods that will help you approximate the age of your turtle.
Final Thoughts
Turtles will normally eat watermelon, as well as other fruits. Just be careful not to give your turtle too many watermelons since they can be bad if consumed in excess.
I hope this article answers all your questions, but in case you have any questions left you can always leave them in the comment section and I will answer them as soon as possible.
Hello,
If you enjoy the content that we create, please consider saying a "Thank You!" by leaving a tip.
Every little bit can help us tremendously in continuing to create quality content that helps turtle and tortoise owners around the world.
We really appreciate the kindness and support that you show us!