Can turtles eat bananas? Yes, they can. When turtles live in the wild, they eat whatever they can find. Quite often they eat various things like fish, insects, strawberries or bananas. You must keep in mind that turtles need a variety of foods and too much of any one kind is harmful for them.
How Much Can Turtles Eat Bananas?
Fruits in particular should not be offered too frequently to turtles due to their high sugar content. The acid and sugar found in bananas and other fruits can cause harm to pet turtles if they eat them too often. Their stomach gets bloated and causes stomach ache and even diarrhea, in addition to other health issues.
However, bananas do contain high nutritional value and can be given to pet turtles occasionally. The best strategy would be to give your turtle a varied diet, which may include bananas once in a while.
Some Basic Rules for Feeding your Turtle
There are several ways of feeding turtles based on their species and age. Whatever the species and age your turtle is, there are a few elementary rules which you must follow for your pet’s health. Having a pet turtle or tortoise requires a great deal of effort and is a huge responsibility, which should be taken very seriously. It surely requires more than dropping a lettuce leaf occasionally for the pet and expecting it to live a hundred years.
Research the natural habitat of your specific species and feed it whatever he eats in its natural environment. One of the basic differences between turtles and tortoises is that turtles require live food, while tortoises are herbivores. That automatically takes most human foods, especially processed ones off the turtle’s menu!
Do you Have a Pet Turtle?
If your pet is a turtle, then you should know that it is carnivorous. In its natural habitat it would probably hunt and eat live creatures, such as snails, worms, and all other crawling creatures. They are a good source of protein and turtles find them to be delicious!
Once your turtle lives with you as a pet, you need to offer it similar live foods. In case you are queasy while handling insects or worms, or if you are a vegetarian, you have a responsibility towards your pet to overcome your limitations and provide it suitable foods.
You may be pleased to know that you do not have to do the hunting for your pet; instead you can simply visit the nearby pet store and get some of the live creatures available there. Fishing stores keep many such creatures for use as live bait. You can even keep the additional supply in a jar or bucket for use later. I’ve used super worms and mealworms for my turtle. It eats approximately ten to fifteen at one time.
It is very important to add variety to your turtle’s diet so don’t feed it only worms, even if you have ample stock. Supplement this high protein diet with dandelion leaves, romaine lettuce or other leafy greens. You can also give him fruits such as strawberries or bananas on alternate days, but the fruit should not form more than one fourth of your pet’s meal.
Cat or dog food is very bad for a pet turtle and you should avoid it completely. You can however use turtle pellets, which are now available at many pet food stores.
Turtles also go into hibernation during the cold winter months. During hibernation, your turtle will simply sleep and not eat at all.
Is your Pet a Tortoise?
If your pet is a tortoise, you should know that tortoises are completely herbivorous. Based on your tortoise’s natural habitat will be its preference for foods. Tortoises that live in deserts mostly eat greens, while red foot tortoises enjoy fruit. If your pet store did not tell you where your pet has come from, visit a veterinarian for identification of your pet’s species and natural habitat.
Tortoises that live in the wild often eat sparingly. And they surely don’t get any elaborate meals that we tend to give them. If you feed your tortoise too frequently, it may get a pyramid shell that looks like a big bump and that is rather unpleasant to the eye. It is advisable to feed your pet tortoise on alternate days. Even if your tortoise appears to be demanding food, resist the urge to feed it daily.
The best time to feed your tortoise is early in the morning. Never give it spoiled foods because this can cause internal worms or maggots. The food can be placed on a newspaper which can then be thrown away. If you put the food on the ground, the tortoise may also eat sand or dirt, both of which can result in the development of stones.
Tortoises should be fed only very simple foods, such as dandelion greens, romaine lettuce or turnip leaves. You can also give your tortoise watermelon, banana or apple once in a while. The only fruits to be avoided completely are any fruits with seeds. If your tortoise is a desert tortoise, fruits should be used very sparingly because their digestive system is not designed to process the sugar or acid content found in fruits.
References:
http://animalquestions.org/reptiles/turtles/can-turtles-eat-bananas/
http://www.tortoise.com/id44.html
http://www.what-do-turtles-eat.info/what-do-pet-turtles-eat/
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/turtles/turfeed.htm
http://www.boxturtles.com/what-do-box-turtles-eat/
http://allturtles.com/turtle-care-sheets/water-turtle-care/water-turtle-feeding/
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