Turtles eat a variety of food, but many factors play a role in determining their nutritional needs. Since turtles are not common pets, it may be difficult to find reliable information or species-appropriate food for your pet at times. Fish food is relatively inexpensive and available in nearly every pet store, leading to some owners using it as food for their turtles.
Fish food is safe for most aquatic turtles to eat, but it should not be part of their main diet. To be clear, fish food is not toxic to turtles, and you do not have to fear if your pet does end up eating a few bites.
Is Fish Food Safe for Turtles?
In this article, we focus on the nutritional compatibility of a popular freshwater turtle, the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans). This information might not be applicable to other species of turtle, so it is best to consult your exotic or reptile veterinarian for more information about your pet’s specific nutritional needs.
Fish food in general is safe for red-eared sliders. However, even if it is not harmful to them to eat, it is not considered “good” for them, as turtles have different dietary requirements than fish. Still, most brands of fish food are considered safe for turtles, and there are few ingredients that could cause harm. The ingredients used in many fish foods are also used in commercial turtle food, though the formulations tend to vary.
Fish food does not fulfill a turtle’s nutritional requirements, so it is not sustainable as a sole diet because it does not provide your turtle with the right amount of nutrients that they need for proper growth, development, and maintenance.
How Often Can You Feed Fish Food to Turtles?
If you do plan to feed your turtle fish food as a treat or if you are worried that your turtle is eating too much of the food that you have fed to your fish, it is best to keep it at a minimum. You do not want to feed your turtle too much fish food, as it can mess with their natural diet.
It is okay if your turtle eats a few morsels of fish food every week. However, nutritional analysis of the diet of healthy pet turtles reveals a very low portion of fish pellets in their diet (around 5%).1
If you want to offer certain fish foods as a treat to your turtle, they should get a few pellets or flakes once a week. If you want to keep it safe, you can feed them fish food every other week. Make sure that it does not mess with their diet, as feeding them too much fish food can cause them to not want to eat much of their regular food.
Types of Fish Foods Safe for Turtles
Ensuring that the fish food you want to feed your turtle is safe for them is important. There are very few fish foods recommended for turtles, but here is a list of foods that won’t be harmful to them:
- Frozen fish foods like Mysis, krill, and bloodworms
- Freeze-dried tubifex cubes and shrimp
- Saki-Hikari Goldfish Pellets
- Tetra Goldfish Flakes or Sticks
- API Tropical Food Flakes
Turtle Nutrition Info
Red-eared sliders are omnivores and thrive on a diet of meat-based and plant matter. Animal-based foods can include commercial turtle pellets, sardines, shrimp, and worms. They also enjoy eating live prey like krill, crickets, moths, and feeder fish (these are best offered frozen and thawed). A typical pet turtle’s animal-based diet should be a mixture of turtle pellets, live foods, and freeze-dried foods.
Altough these turtles are mostly carnivorous when young, they tend to slowly incorporate more greens into their diet once they are adults, and the portion of animal-based foods decreases accordingly.
Good commercial turtle foods as a starting point include:
However, please keep in mind that your pet’s nutritional needs are influenced by a number of factors beyond their age. It is strongly recommended to consult a veterinarian for more information about their dietary needs.
Making Food for Your Turtle
There may be a situation in which you cannot find a satisfactory pellet for your pet and are frustrated with the choices available to you. An acceptable gel food for omnivorous (and carnivorous) pet turtles can be formulated with the following recipe.
| Ingredient | Amount Needed |
| Water | 270 g (approximately 30 fl. oz.) |
| Gelatin | 34 g (1.2 oz.) |
| Corn oil | 11 g (0.4 oz.) |
| Spinach | 23 g (0.8 oz.) |
| Cooked sweet potato | 23 g (0.8 oz.) |
| Trout pellets | 50 g (1.76 oz.) |
| Turtle vitamin and mineral supplement | 6 g (0.2 oz.) |
Source: MSD Veterinary Manual
The recipe is fairly straightforward and involves mixing all these ingredients until you get a fine, gel-like consistency. The nutritional yield of this recipe is as follows:
- Protein: 47%
- Fat: 14%
- Calcium: 1.5%
- Phosphorus: 0.55%
- Vitamin A: 10,000 IU/kg
- Vitamin D3: 1,000 IU/kg
- Vitamin E: 279 IU/kg
- Vitamin C: 280 mg/kg
Conclusion
Now you know that fish food can be safe for turtles! However, it should not be their only diet. Your turtle can remain healthy by eating small portions of fish food infrequently, along with a healthy diet formulated specially for them.
Ultimately, though not toxic, fish food isn’t considered mandatory for your pet turtle’s health. They won’t be missing out if you opt out of purchasing fish food for them.
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