Want to give a healthy snack to your turtle? Start with a few small pieces of eggs!
Eggs are rich in protein but should only be given to your turtle as a treat.
Throughout this guide, we’ll determine how to include eggs in your turtle’s diet without irritating their digestive systems.
By the end, you’ll know how to feed your turtle eggs in a safe and nutritious manner.
Can Turtles Eat Eggs? Yes, Turtles can eat eggs, but only if they’re hard boiled and fresh. Your turtle will enjoy eggs because they’re different from their daily diet. However, you should give them eggs sparingly and only as a snack.
While eggs are considered a “superfood” due to their health properties, turtles need vitamins and calcium.
On the other hand, eggs are full of protein.
Turtles need protein in their diet, but only in a moderate amount.
An excess of protein will lead to kidney problems and indigestion, so it’s best to occasionally feed it to your turtle.
Here is video of Turtle Eating Egg.
Can Turtles Eat Eggshells?
Eggshells have calcium, which is a critical nutrient for your turtle’s development and bone growth. Make sure the eggshells are properly cleaned beforehand.
Alternatively, you can boil the eggs, chop the eggshells into a small powder, and add it to their food.
Benefits of Eggs
Like humans, eggs can aid in a turtle’s development. Eggs can be a great treat, but only if you plan on giving it to your turtle in small amounts. Here are the vitamins that are present within eggs:
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin A
- Calcium
- Vitamin D
- Potassium
- Folate
- Magnesium
These nutrients are essential to your turtle’s bone growth and development. Also, it improves the quality of their eggs and reproductive state. That’s why including nutrient-rich eggs is a great addition to your turtle’s diet.
We suggest you feed your turtle hard boiled eggs. Fried eggs/Scrambled eggs use cooking ingredients that should be fed to your turtle.
Pepper, oil, butter, and salt are all ingredients that are unnatural for your turtle. Boiled eggs are the safest option.
NEVER give your turtle raw eggs, as it will lead to severe health problems.
How Should I Feed My Turtle Eggs?
Only give hard boiled eggs to your turtles. Not scrambled, raw, or soft-boiled. For juvenile turtles, chop the egg into smaller pieces and feed it to them. For adults, you can let them eat the eggs as is.
The egg yolk has a higher saturated fat content than the white of the egg.
So you can remove the yolk and feed the turtle the white of the egg. Alternatively, you can crush eggshells and give them to your turtle.
However, calcium cannot be processed without Vitamin D3. Direct sunlight generates D3 in your turtle’s body. You can give them vitamin D3 supplements to enhance their diet.
How Many Eggs Can Turtles Eat?
There are no forms of scientific evidence documenting how many eggs a turtle can consume. Here’s a rule of thumb, don’t allow your turtle to consume too many in one meal. Eggs should never be a primary source of nutrition because turtles need a diverse range of food.
Eating more than 3 eggs a day is a bad idea for humans. Eggs have high cholesterol, which leads to heart disease. If humans have to control their egg intake, you’ll have to be careful when giving eggs to your turtle.
Other Foods
Let’s face it, turtles are omnivores, meaning that they must eat a diverse range of foods each day. Before listing other nutritional foods, it’s good to adjust the quantities based on your turtle’s age. Here is a quick reference of additional foods you can add to your turtle’s diet:
Vegetables
- Squash
- Pumpkin
- Softened Carrots
- Cooked Sweet Potato
- Green Beans
Proteins
- Mealworms
- Canned tuna
- Small crickets
- Dried shrimp
Fruit
- Bananas
- Pears
- Oranges
- Berries
- Melons
- Apples
Remember, chop your fruit into smaller pieces before feeding your turtle. Some fruits have high sugar content, so feeding them sparingly is the way to go. Don’t overfeed your turtle because it will lead to future health problems in the long term.
Adult Turtle Diet
After a turtle grows to 18 months old, they are considered an adult. At this stage, you can give them less protein. Adult turtles need 60% of vegetables as well as some fruit. While adult turtles still need protein, too much will harm their health. As long as they have approximately 50-70% vegetables, they can use the other portion of their diet for protein.
Juvenile Turtle Diet
Young turtles grow quickly and need lots of protein to keep their shells strong. In this stage, you should be giving your turtle 80% protein. Don’t expect juvenile turtles to accept vegetables at first. You must continue to offer them greens and vegetables until they get used to the taste.
Give your turtle a piece of fruit as a snack and make sure their diet is balanced, as long as protein is the primary source of nutrition.
Creating a Proper Balance
Your pet turtle’s diet should be the same as if they were in the wild. For turtles, it’s difficult to find proper vegetation and a balance of vitamins. To fix this, you can give commercial pellets to your turtle. That being said, pellets should take up ½ of your turtle’s diet.
Pellets should not be the primary source of nutrition. Instead, you should mix up pellets a few days a week. Doing so will give your turtle a balanced and varied diet.
If they like a specific snack more than usual, then it can be used as a treat. Here are some treats you can feed your turtle:
- Pear slices
- Berries
- Dried Shrimp
- Melon
When giving new food to your turtle, supervise them to prevent choking. Add supplements to the turtle’s diet to ensure they receive the vitamins and nutrients to stay healthy.
Conclusion
To conclude, turtles can have raw eggs as a treat. Its high protein content makes it a great choice for younger turtles who are growing their shells. Remember, feeding your turtle a balanced diet is the best way to ensure proper growth and longevity! By feeding your turtle properly, you’ll have a happy and healthy pet in your aquarium!
References
https://www.nutritionvalue.org/Egg%2C_fresh%2C_raw%2C_whole_nutritional_value.html
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/physzool.66.6.30163746
