What Vitamins Do Turtles Need? (And How to Get Them)

We all know that vitamins are good for us, they are responsible for things like growth, bone development, and the immunity system. And overall the more vitamins the better. But what about turtles? Do they also need vitamins, and if they do which are the most important?

All vitamins are beneficial for a turtle, but the 2 most important are Vitamin A and Vitamin D3. Vitamin A is responsible for the good health of the skin and many internal organs, and Vitamin D3 in combination with Calcium is responsible for the health of the shell and the skeleton.

And despite the fact that vitamins A and D3 are two of the most important ones, they are often the ones that turtles don’t get enough of. And this is especially bad considering how easy it is to make sure that your turtle has enough of all the vitamins that it needs. So, let’s see what are the best ways to give your turtle all the vitamins that it needs.

Vitamin A for Turtles

The best sources of vitamin A are vegetables and fish. While there are supplements that contain more vitamin A than any vegetable out there, it’s way healthier for turtles to get their vitamins from their food. But after we cover vegetables we will also have a look at supplements, since they are needed if a turtle has a serious deficiency.

Vegetables With Lots of Vitamin A

Some of the most vitamin A-rich vegetables are

• Sweet potato
• Squash
• Kale
• Collards
• Turnips
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Romaine lettuce

While all vegetables have some vitamin A in them, those are the ones that have the most. But you can’t just give your turtle a lot of those vegetables. While vegetables have a lot of vitamins they also have phosphorus.

Watch Out for Phosphorus

Phosphorus is a mineral that inhibits the absorption of calcium, which we will talk more about in this article in just a few moments. The general idea is that phosphorus is not so great for turtles and it should be avoided. But since all vegetables have some phosphorus in them, you can’t do so completely. So instead you should be looking at the calcium to phosphorus ratio.

Most vegetables have a calcium to phosphorus ratio, this ratio can be 1:1, 2:1, 5:1, 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 tortoises, 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 tortoise.

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.

Here is a list of some of the most common vegetables and their Calcium to Phosphorus ratios:

With the help of this table you should be able to get a general idea of what vegetables you should feed your tortoise. I personally like to feed my tortoise Greenleaf and Redleaf salad, they are not too expensive and he seems to like it. And when I’m cooking something with vegetables I usually cut a couple of smaller pieces and feed them to my tortoise, just to mix things up a little.

Fruits are somewhat similar to vegetables, so they also contain phosphorus and should be eaten by tortoises in moderation. If you want to know which fruits are good for tortoises and which are bad you can check out this article where I discuss this subject in depth: Can Tortoises Eat Fruits? (How Much, How Often + List)

Fish With Lots of Vitamin A

Another great source of vitamin A are live fish.

But again, you have to be very careful with how much fish you give your turtle, and what fish, as some fish can do more harm than good.

I have an entire article dedicated to this subject, in which you can find a well-structured list of which fish you should avoid and which are good for your turtle, and you can find that article right here: Feeder Fish For Turtles (Beginners Guide + List).

Here is a very short list of some of the most common fish that you can find and which ones are good and which should be avoided:

Vitamin A Supplements

In general you don’t want to give your turtle vitamin A supplements unless your vet told you to. 

While having a vitamin deficiency is a bad thing, having too much of it can also be bad. And the only way for a turtle to get too much of a vitamin is through supplements. This is why I don’t recommend giving your turtle vitamin A supplements unless they are prescribed by a veterinary.

And when you get prescribed supplements, the vet will usually tell you which one to get, so I won’t be giving any recommendations for supplements. What I would recommend instead is to make sure that your turtle has a healthy diet that contains all the vitamin A that it needs.

Now let’s move on to the next essential vitamins for a turtle.

Vitamin D3 for Turtles

Vitamin D3 is responsible for the good health of the shell, bones, and skin of the turtle my making it possible for the turtle to metabolize the calcium in its body.

Unlike other vitamins, the main source of D3 is not food, but the sun, or in the case of a turtle the UV bulb in the basking area.

There are D3 supplements, but I recommend you avoid them. If the basking area is in order your turtle shouldn’t have a D3 deficiency, so there is no need for them. And this way you also avoid the risk of giving your turtle too much vitamin D3, which can be a bad thing.

So let’s see how you should set up the UVB bulb so that your turtle gets enough UVB rays and vitamin D3.

One small problem with UVB bulbs is that are not as standardized as heat bulbs, for example, so each one of them has slightly different placement requirements.

So, I am going to give you the exact distance for a few bulbs that I’ve used before that come from a reputable manufacturer, and I will provide links to Amazon, where you can get them

And in case you have something between the UVB bulb, like a net, or a grill, you want to move the bulb closer by one inch, as anything in between the turtle and the bulb will reduce the amount of UVB rays.

One more thing to keep in mind is that UVB bulbs will stop producing UVB rays, way before they will stop producing light. On average I would say that a UVB bulb only produces UVB rays for only half of its lifespan. I measured the amount of UVB light produced by the bulbs and noticed that after about 6 months, the amount drops considerably, so I change my light bulbs at around 6 months, and I would advise you to do the same.

If you want to measure how much UVB light your bulb produces you can use this device. While it’s a little bit expensive, overall it will save you money since you will know exactly when the bulbs run out of UVB light, and it will help your turtle remain healthy. But it’s not a requirement.

But vitamin D3 on its own won’t do that much for your turtle, its main role is to help the turtle use the calcium in its body, so if your turtle doesn’t get enough calcium, all this D3 will be for nothing. So, let’s talk a little about calcium as well.

Calcium for Turtles

Calcium is actually a mineral, not a vitamin, but it’s still extremely important for turtles since most of their body is covered by the shell which is made out of bone.

Turtles can get calcium from a lot of sources, fruits, vegetables, meat, and even pellets. But despite this, most turtles do need some extra calcium, and this is where supplements come in.

The most common types of supplements are cuttlebone and calcium powder.

For cuttlebone, I have a dedicated article which you can find right here: Cuttlebone for Turtles (Beginners Guide + Buyers Guide). Some of the key points are:

• Remove the back part of the cuttlebone
• Break the cuttlebone into pieces that are the same size as the head of your turtle
• You should give your turtle cuttlebone once every two weeks
• Cuttlebone comes from fish, so all cuttlebone is the same

Overall cuttlebone is a good choice, the only problem that can arise from it is that your turtle won’t eat it and over time the cuttlebone can dissolve in the water and make the water hard.

If your turtle doesn’t show any interest in the cuttlebone, then you still have one more option, calcium powder. Calcium powder, just like cuttlebone, is a supplement. But the way you use it is a little bit different.

The best way that I’ve found to use calcium powder is to take a plastic bag, put some calcium powder in it, add some pellets, and then add some water, so the calcium sticks to the pellets, and then feed the pellets to the turtle one by one. The reason why you don’t want to give your turtle all the pellets at once is that the calcium will quickly get off the pellets, and most of it will end up in the tank.

If you look for calcium powder for reptiles you will notice that there are two types, one with vitamin D3 and one without D3.

I would recommend you to get the one without D3, since your turtle should be getting all of its D3 from the basking area, anyways.

Final Thoughts

And that’s about it when it comes to turtles and vitamins. While are more than 2 vitamins that turtles need. Vitamins A and D3 are some of the most important, and usually, the ones that can be lacking from the diet.

Besides vitamin A and D3, another very important thing that is usually lacking from the diet of a turtle is calcium, which is closely related to D3, as one can’t do its job without the other.

I hope this article answered all your questions regarding turtles and vitamins. But if there is anything else that you would like to know, feel free to use the comment section below, and leave your questions there, I will answer them as soon as I see them.

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