Some turtles are carnivores, while others follow a strictly vegetarian diet. Most turtles, however, are omnivores, eating both animals and plants. Terrestrial turtles also eat a variety of foods, from earthworms, grubs, snails, beetles and caterpillars to grasses, fruit, berries, mushrooms and flowers.

Sea turtles clearly play important roles in marine ecosystems. Whether by grazing on seagrass, controlling sponge distribution, feasting on jellyfish, transporting nutrients or supporting other marine life, sea turtles play vital roles in maintaining the health of the oceans.

Crabs, raccoons, boars, birds, coyotes and sharks all play their role in the natural food chain as sea turtle predators.

Their diet consists primarily of crabs, mollusks, shrimps, jellyfish, and vegetation. Leatherbacks have delicate scissor-like jaws that would be damaged by anything other than their normal diet of jellyfish, tunicates, and other soft-bodied animals.

They also eat carrion and corpses of human beings, which they have been known to excavate and devour.

Pasta. Just like with the bakery products, they can eat them but no kind of pasta is good for the health of the turtle. So don’t feed your turtle pastas.

Avoid offering turtles any dairy products such as milk, yogurt, or cheese. They cannot digest dairy, and it will cause illness. Offer protein sources only every two to three days to avoid too much protein in the turtle’s diet. Offer foods in small pieces that are easier for the turtle to eat, especially baby turtles.

You must only feed hard-boiled eggs to turtles. Never soft-boiled, fried, or scrambled, and certainly not raw. You can chop the hard-boiled egg into smaller pieced or offer it whole and let your turtle eat it up as it is.

Never feed your turtle cat food or dog food. It has too much protein and can cause long term damage. Water turtles are a different story. They can only eat under water.

Yes, they technically can, but they shouldn’t. By the way, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, broccoli, collards, brussel sprouts, and more are all cultivars of the same plant species, brassica oleracea (wild cabbage).

Leftover food should be scooped out of the tank daily to promote proper hygiene. Desirable vegetables to offer include dark leafy greens such as romaine lettuce, collard greens, mustard greens, carrot tops, endive, Swiss chard, kale, parsley, green beans, dandelion greens, turnip greens, and clover.

But just because they can eat them, it doesn’t mean that every vegetable is good for them. To find out which vegetables can painted turtles eat, I decided to do some research….Vegetables That Can Harm Your Painted Turtle.