Turtle Tastes Can Turtles Eat Bread Is It A Treat For Your Turtle

Having pets is wonderful, but understanding their ideal diet can be quite stressful.Understandably, animals such as turtles cannot survive on the same set of foods that we love. Hence, a proper diet must be planned for their healthy growth.Whether it be red-eared slider turtles, pond turtles, wild turtles, or any other small species that you have as pets, understanding the correct diet is essential to make the animal survive in your household. While some pet animals can sustain themselves on a diet that resembles that of a human being, turtles are built differently. Due to their natural habitat, which is quite different than ours, turtles need a very specific diet.While it is important to understand the foods that are good for your pet turtle, it is also important to know about those that should be avoided altogether. Bread is one such food which you shouldn’t be feeding your shelled friend. This is because bread and other dairy products are devoid of the set of essential nutrients that turtles need in order to be healthy. Keep reading to know why turtles shouldn’t be fed any bread!Is it dangerous for turtles to eat bread?Pet turtles are usually small and have different digestive systems compared to ours. Hence, they cannot digest the same nutrients as humans or other domesticated animals. At the same time, it is important to understand that the environment that turtles have naturally evolved to live in does not contain any form of bread or dairy products. Hence, their digestive systems do not secrete the enzymes that would be required in order to break down bread.If you’re wondering if you should feed your turtle bread as a treat, the simple answer is no. Turtles can eat pretty much anything that their pet parents give them. However, this does not mean that all the foods are good for your little buddy. When turtles eat bread, they are essentially just loading up on empty calories. A balanced diet for turtles should be enriched with a variety of vitamins, minerals, and calcium, none of which can be extracted from bread by these tiny individuals.Bread is not to be treated as turtle food since these animals do not get nourished from feeding on such products. If you somehow make a habit of feeding your turtle bread, there are chances that your little buddy will refuse to eat any fruits or vegetables in the long run. This essentially means that the turtle’s body will be deprived of all the healthy nutrients which it requires for survival. In the long run, feeding bread to your pet turtles can be harmful. Due to deficiencies, your turtle’s health could deteriorate. There can be a weakening of bones and their shell could also become rubbery. These are serious health complications for turtles and can be fatal.Some people wonder if bread can be used as an occasional treat for turtles. Vets and specialists advise against it since feeding such things could turn out to have long term complications. If you want to keep your turtles happy and healthy, it would be best to only feed them what their bodily enzymes can break down and digest.Is it good to feed bread to wild turtles at lakes and parks?Wild turtles eat anything that is given to them. However, this does not mean that such foods are good for them. Turtles typically have a very slow metabolic rate. For this reason, they eat significantly less and not very frequently either. Any food that you feed your turtle takes a long time to break down in its digestive tract. Hence, in a balanced diet, turtles typically look for lots of nutrients and less volume of food. This cannot be achieved with bread since it is such a food item which simply cannot be digested by turtles. These animals do not have the correct enzymes to be able to break down bread.Furthermore, feeding wild turtles bread in their natural habitat can be harmful in more ways than one. The most potent problem is that turtles do not chew their food before eating. Hence, the bread particles can quickly get stuck in the turtles throat and possibly kill it. If the wild turtle refuses to eat bread, the lake or pond where you are feeding it may become contaminated. This is also harmful for the small fish and other marine animals that may be living in the vicinity.Can turtles eat bread in small amounts as a treat?If your question is whether turtles can eat bread, the answer is yes. However, this does not mean that they should do so. When turtles eat bread, they do not get any of the vital nutrients such as calcium, protein or vitamins. For this reason, a purely bread-based diet can be detrimental for your turtle - irrespective of the species that you have at home.If you have a couple of omnivores at home, those turtles can be given small fish, worms or insects as treats. Such foods would easily get digested and will also give your pet the right amount of calcium, protein and other nutrients. Bread and other dairy products contain a set of nutrients which do not come within the suggested turtle food range.What happens if a turtle eats bread?Eating bread is not the greatest thing for your pet turtle. The simple reason behind this is that bread is not healthy for your pet turtle. Bread, for such animals, is simply empty calories without any of the nutritional benefits.If your turtle has been eating lots of bread instead of vegetables, fruits, insects, worms, small fish, and meat, there are chances that the animal will quickly start suffering from severe malnourishment. This essentially means that your pet’s shell will become soft or rubbery. Shell pyramiding is a severe problem which may arise in your pet turtle if it is not fed the right amounts of calcium.Baby turtles are especially sensitive about the foods that they are given. This is because they run a more significant choking hazard and also need much more nutrition in order to be able to grow, as opposed to grown-up pet turtles.Depending on your turtle’s species as well as the frequency at which it has been feeding on non-nutritious foods, the health issues may be severe or slightly manageable.Why didn’t turtles evolve the ability to digest bread?Animals have evolved in a way that would allow them to survive in their natural habitat. For example, humans have a set of organs that will enable them to eat a range of foods and digest them. Dogs can often eat almost the same food as humans and sustain themselves because that is what was required of them in the course of evolution.However, in the case of turtles, the natural habitat does not include human civilization or company. It is only recently that some people have started having turtles as pets. Hence, it is but natural that turtle species have not evolved to be able to eat anything but the fish, insects, worms, meat and plants that are readily available in their natural habitat. These foods are healthy for turtles to eat and also assist in their growth and sustenance.On the other hand, bread is not readily available in a turtle’s natural habitat. This makes it easy for us to understand why these small animals do not have the set of enzymes required to break down and digest bread and extract nutrients from it.The key towards having a healthy pet is to first understand the species that you have. Most pet stores give proper information regarding the species but if you have gotten your pet from elsewhere, do adequate research on it and the food that would suit its sustenance. With other domesticated animals such as dogs and cats, pet parents often have the satisfaction of knowing that their pet will communicate their hunger or any other problem.In the case of pet turtles, on the other hand, communication becomes a problem. Since turtles will hardly be able to tell you if they need more food or do not like what you gave them for lunch, it becomes important to both read about the animal and to look out for signs of discomfort.The question, thus, is not about what turtles eat, but what they should eat. If you have been wanting to give your small friend a treat, make an assortment of vegetables and fruits, chop the leaves off some plants, or maybe slice up a fish - instead of going for processes foods!

Having pets is wonderful, but understanding their ideal diet can be quite stressful.