What Do Painted Turtles Eat ?

I recently just got my first painted turtle, and in order to take proper care of him, I decided to do as much research as possible. One of the first things that I had to know is what painted turtles eat. So I started my research with this, here is what I found out.

What do painted turtles eat? Painted turtles are omnivorous, which means that they will eat fruits, vegetables as well as meat. Here is a list of what painted turtles will normally eat:

Fish
Meat
Worms
Bugs
Vegetation
Fruits
Vegetables
Snails
Newts
Insects
Water plants
Pellets

Painted turtles will eat a lot of things. But they will prefer some things over others, and of course, terms like meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables are a little vague. So let’s take a closer look at what exactly painted turtles should eat, and what they should avoid.

What Kind of Meat Painted Turtles Should Eat

Painted turtles can eat every kind of meat there is. As long as the meat is not spoiled they can eat it without any problem. So if you can eat a certain type of meat without any problem, so can your turtle.

Turtles can also eat cooked as well as uncooked meat without any problem. In the wild, they don’t get the chance to eat cooked meat so they mainly rely on raw meat. But cooked meat presents no problem to them.

I personally try to avoid giving my turtle too much raw meat because it can contain bacterias that can be harmful. But besides that turtles should have no problem with it.

What Kind of Fishes Should Painted Turtles Eat

Painted turtles will usually eat any fish that they can catch, so they don’t usually care what kind of fish it is. But in general, they will eat smaller fishes that are easier to catch, and won’t put up too much of a fight.

One thing that you have to keep in mind when feeding your painted turtle fish is that they should always come from a pet store, and not from a lake, or a pond. Wild fishes can contain bacterias to which par turtles are not used, and as a result, they will have health problems.

Here is a list of feeder fishes that you should avoid:

Goldfish
Rosy Red minnows
Carp
Gizzard Shad
Feathered minnows

Here is a list of fishes that are safe for your turtle to eat:

Bluegills
Bass
Crappies
Guppies
Killifish
Platies

What Kind of Fruits Should Painted Turtles Eat

Most fruits are beneficial for painted turtles, but there are a few exceptions. Those exceptions are citruses, and fruits with a lot of potassium. Citruses contain citric acid which can irritate the stomach of the turtle, and fruits with high potassium are not healthy for the shell.

If you want a list of fruits that you should avoid, you should read this article: Can Turtles Eat Fruits? ( with Pictures and Videos ), after you are done with this one.

What Kind of Vegetables Should Turtles Eat

Most vegetables are also beneficial for painted turtles. But just like with the fruits, there are a few that you should avoid. Mainly vegetables with little to no nutritional value, like iceberg salad. And vegetables that contain oxalates. Oxalates will interfere with calcium absorption which can result in a lot of health problems.

Here is a list of a few common vegetables that contain high doses of oxalates:

Spinach
Chard
Beetroot
Rhubarb
Potatoes
Endive

What Kind of Insects Should Painted Turtles Eat

The best way to feed your painted turtle insects is to give it dried insects. The most popular dried insects that you will find are usually dried crickets. Dried crickets are great for painted turtles because they contain a lot of protein and very little fat.

I haven’t tried any other types of insects besides crickets for my turtle, but from what I’ve seen he seems to enjoy them. Here is a link to the dried crickets that I use to feed my turtle, in case you want to try it.

What Kind of Water Plants Should Turtles Eat

Painted turtles will basically eat any kind of water plant. Until now I bought one water lettuce and some anacharis. Initially, I bought them as decorations, but in two weeks my turtle ate them. All aquatic plants that you can find at the pet shop are good for your turtle. Just don’t expect them to look nice for more than a couple of days.

What Kind of Pellets Should Painted Turtles Eat

Most pellets that are labeled for turtles are good, but so are a lot of fish pellets. They contain more or less the same things. A good pellet should contain a good amount of proteins, usually between 25% and 30%.

With my turtle, I tried to keep things a little diversified so I choose to occasionally switch different types of pellets. So I usually give him Zoo Med Natural Aquatic Turtle Food and Mazuri Aquatic Turtle Diet. Both of them have really good nutrition values for turtles and my turtles like them both. And the fact that both of them come from trusted brands is a plus.

What Kind of Food Painted Turtles Prefer

With so many choices available it’s hard to know what turtles actually prefer. So I decided to set up a little experiment to see which food my painted turtle prefers.

I created 7 small piles, each one containing a different type of food. One had one type of pellets, another had another type of pellets, one had Insects, one had cooked chicken, the other raw chicken, one had vegetables, and another had fruits.

After placing my turtle at an equal distance from each pile, I watched to see in which order he will go after each. After running this experiment for 10 consecutive days I had the results.

My painted turtle always went after the different types of meat, and the insects first. Those three were very closely tied so I placed all of them in the first place. The most popular second choice was the pellets. And finally the fruits and the vegetables in no particular order.

I also did this experiment with other turtle species and the results were mostly the same.

What Painted Turtles Eat in the Wild

In the wild painted turtles will eat the same things as a pet turtle. The only difference is that they won’t get to encounter food pellets and cooked meat in the wild.

The major difference is that they are limited to what they can find to eat, not to what somebody gives them. When it comes to the meat they will mostly rely on small insects, occasionally fishes, if they can catch them, and any kind of meat that they manage to scavenge.

The same goes for fruits and vegetables, if they are able to find some, they will eat them.

The most abundant food sources are probably insects and water plants. Most lakes, ponds, and rivers are full of water plants. And insects are basically everywhere, so there is no shortage, especially in areas with dense vegetation, like the ones where painted turtles live.

What Baby Painted Turtle Eat

Baby-painted turtles eat the same things as adult painted turtles. The only difference is that baby and juvenile turtles prefer to eat more meat than adult turtles. Even if they are omnivorous as a species, babies and juveniles are basically carnivorous.

Baby painted turtles will eat more meat not because they like it more than they like fruits or vegetables, but because they need it to grow faster. So more or less they have to eat meat since plants won’t help them too much.

If you want your painted turtle to have a good and balanced diet, I would recommend you to check out this article where I, and the rest of the members of Turtleowner.com, choose the best turtle food on the market: Buyer’s Guide: Best Turtle Food

2 thoughts on “What Do Painted Turtles Eat ?”

Joanne Smitb says:
April 14, 2020 at 10:30 pm
My 8 year old grand daughter would like a painted turtle do you just get one or do they live in pairs
1. Turtle Owner Team says:
  May 12, 2020 at 10:36 am
  Hello Joanne, turtles are not very social and they like to live alone. My suggestion would be to get just one turtle.