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Vitamin A deficiency is a common issue for captive box turtles. After all, variety is the spice of life! Vitamin A To give your box turtle the healthiest diet possible, you should not only try to mimic its natural diet as much as you can, but also offer a wide variety of plant matter and protein sources. Components of a Healthy Box Turtle DietĪs you probably are aware, different types of foods provide different nutrients.īright red vegetables are typically high in vitamin A, vitamin C, and manganese, while dark leafy greens supply ample potassium, folate, and vitamin E.

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Box turtles will appreciate a small snack on the days when they go without a full meal.Īdjust your feeding based on the health and activity level of your particular box turtle, and don’t forget to take seasonal variations into account.īox turtles should always have access to water.

Healthy adults only need to be fed full meals every 2-3 days. Young turtles need to be fed a full meal every or every other day.

Watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon with rind.

Examples of suitable box turtle food from this group are: Tough or hard fruits should be shredded or chopped into small pieces. Keep in mind that, while dark, leafy green vegetables are excellent sources of fiber and calcium, they are high in oxalates, which can bind calcium, making over-feeding counterintuitive.įruits and berries should constitute roughly 10% of the box turtles food. Tough or hard vegetables should be shredded or chopped into small pieces. Remember to dust low-calcium protein sources with reptile calcium powder, crushed cuttlefish bone, or crushed eggshell.Įxamples of suitable box turtle food from this group are: Many of the insects below are available live (best), canned or bagged moist (better), or freeze-dried (OK).Īvoid purchasing insects from a bait shop. Protein – 50%Īll raw meat should be cooked. In most cases, the options listed are from best to worst in terms of calcium content, fiber content, and overall nutritional value for boxies. Regarding diet composition, current recommendations are listed below, along with numerous healthy examples in each food group. On non-feeding days, you may still opt to offer some of your turtle’s favorite treats as a small snack.Īs with most reptiles, it is probably not harmful – and perhaps even beneficial – to let your box turtle fast entirely once every week or so. Use your boxie’s appetite, activity level, and body condition as your guidance. To accommodate their changing bodies, cut back “big” feeding days to as often as once every other day, or as little as once every three days. Adult Box Turtle DietĪs a box turtle reaches adulthood and finishes growing, their caloric needs decrease. Let Mother Nature take the lead and allow your baby turtle to pick what it wants to eat, with an emphasis on protein, but with vegetables always included in the offering. Most animals will eventually crave or be attracted to foods packed with vitamins that they may be deficient in.

Even exposure to the sight and texture of these healthful foods is beneficial. Your baby box turtle may ignore the plant material (more on this later), especially in the first few months of life, but don’t panic. This is necessary for healthy bone and shell growth. At this age, it is imperative to dust foods with phosphorus-free calcium powder to achieve the appropriate ratios. While it is true that they have higher protein needs than their fully-grown counterparts, it’s beneficial to offer baby box turtles vegetables and fruits with every meal.Įxpert Tip: Since your baby box turtle’s diet will be high in protein, it will probably be low in calcium. Some sources report that they are entirely carnivorous.

Like adult box turtle diets, the nutritional needs of young boxies are not fully understood. They should be fed every day, although it is fine and probably healthy to limit their intake to a small snack on some days. Hatchling box turtles require a different diet for the first twelve months of their life. Flowers such as hibiscus, rose petals, geraniums, nasturtiums.Greens such as mustard, dandelion, swiss chard, and collard.Still, the foods on this list are quite suitable and enjoyable for most box turtles.īox turtles in captivity as pets eat the following: Naturally, many of these food sources aren’t readily available to box turtle owners, so a captive box turtle’s typical diet varies significantly from a wild box turtle’s.

Fallen fruit (often over-ripe or rotten).A wild box turtle’s diet typically consists of: With six species and even more subspecies spanning across North America, diet can vary somewhat, depending on which locality you’re caring for.Īs we previously mentioned, the healthiest diet for a box turtle closely replicates its diet in the wild.

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