What Vitamins Do Turtles Need? [Best Supplements]

What vitamins do turtles need is a question asked by a lot of people. It would not be a wonder to find a long-time turtle owner struggling with his/her turtle’s diet. I would not blame him/her because, generally speaking, diet is more complicated than it seems. Following the right diet is even more challenging. For this reason, you will find that your turtle lacks some nutrients. Lack of some of these nutrients may cause some very unhealthy changes in your turtle’s behavior. From what I know, eating a variety of foods helps with gaining all the nutrients required. You should, therefore, not rely on only one type of meal routine. In this article, I will help you understand some of the essential nutrients in a turtle’s system.

What Vitamins Do Turtles Need?

Getting all the nutrients would be extremely helpful for a turtle, but the important ones are vitamin A, and vitamin D. Lack of these vitamins cause noticeable changes in a turtles body such as loss of vision, hypovitaminosis among others. It is therefore recommended that your turtle does not lack these vitamins.

Between these two vitamins, you can use vitamin A with other vitamins. Vitamin D can go without supplementing, and this will not be an issue. These vitamins play a huge role in a turtles body. They ensure that your turtle is always healthy. Stay tuned to know the reason behind vitamin A supplementation.

Vitamin A For Turtles How Do Turtles Get Vitamin A?

Like I said before, vitamin A is the most crucial vitamin in a turtles diet. The easiest way for a turtle to get vitamin A into the body is by the diet. You should feed your turtles foods that provide vitamin A. Most of these foods grow naturally, and you can easily acquire them. Vitamin A helps the turtle improve their eyesight and prevent their sight from getting worse. A turtle that lacks vitamin will experience puffy and swollen eyes. If you do not address the issue sooner, the disease can advance to blindness. I would recommend using supplements at times to ensure that your turtle does not suffer from excess vitamin A. Beto-carotene is an excellent supplement to vitamin A. It will ensure that your turtle does not suffer from hypervitaminosis.

How Do You Treat Vitamin A Deficiency In Turtles?

This condition is known as hypovitaminosis. This is where a turtle lacks vitamin A in their immune system. If you notice that your turtles are suffering from this deficiency, you should take your turtle to a vet. They will be able to advise you accordingly. Vitamin You will get rid of the deficiency by oral or injectable vitamin A. Injections are hard to do on your own as you may overdose, which will cause hypervitaminosis. This is the reason I recommend a vet. You can also get foods rich in vitamin A.

Vitamin A Rich Food For Turtles

If you notice that your turtle is suffering from a lack of vitamin A, you will need to change your turtle’s diet. How will you know that your turtle is vitamin A deficient? The first thing you will notice is red puffy swollen eyes. You may also notice a loss in appetite, raw skin, and a runny nose. If you notice such symptoms, you will need foods rich in vitamin A. The foods include: carrots, yellow squash, codfish liver oil, leafy green vegetables, winter squash, sweet potatoes, among others. You will find some of these foods in shops and vegetable stores. Fishes, on the other hand, tend to be a bit pricy. You can get fish for your turtles once in a while.

The Best Vitamin A Supplement For Turtles

I have mentioned that you can use vitamin A with other vitamins. The reason for this is that although vitamin A is essential and should not miss in a turtles diet, excessive intake of vitamin A is also harmful. It causes hypervitaminosis. This is dangerous as it is challenging to know hypovitaminosis from hypervitaminosis. The symptoms are almost similar. You get swollen eyes, skin peeling, ulcers, runny nose for both. To be on the safe side, vitamin A supplements come in very handy. Below, I will show some of the best vitamin A supplements. You can get Rep-Cal Herptivite Multivitamin, Mineral powder Reptile or Amphibian Supplement and beta-carotene. These supplements are very pocket-friendly with lots of different vitamins and minerals. Beto-carotene is best since it contains some vitamin A. I would recommend using beta-carotene supplements to reduce the risks of hypervitaminosis.

Do Turtles Need Vitamin D?

At the beginning of this post, I said that vitamins A and D are the essential vitamins in a turtles body. This makes vitamin D a basic need for turtles. This vitamin D comes from the turtles basking in the sun. You will find turtles spending most of their time sunbathing. They are taking in the vitamin D-to be precise vitamin D3- from UV radiation. This vitamin is essential as it acts as a reactor. They work hand in hand with calcium to ensure that a turtle has healthy bones. Without vitamin D3, the calcium will not be able to act and work on the bones and shell. Turtles should get at least 8-12 hours of natural basking in the sun. This will ensure that the turtles are healthier.

Do Turtles Need Calcium?

Apart from vitamins, minerals are also vital in a turtles diet. Some of these minerals include calcium and phosphorus. They play a critical role in keeping the turtles healthy. For instance, Calcium takes part in maintaining a turtles shell healthy. With enough calcium, the shell will become strong and have a good shape. Apart from the shell, calcium makes the bones stronger and helps in muscular functioning. To the younger turtles, calcium plays a role in the growth of their bones. This prevents abnormal growth and other complications.

Related Questions:

How Do I Make Sure My Turtle Is Healthy?

Keeping a turtle healthy revolves around the essential things. You should ensure that your turtle has a tank with enough space and a filtrations system, a balanced diet, clean water and environment with the right temperature, A basking area for UV radiation, and always checking on your turtle for sicknesses.

How Can I Get My Turtle To Eat?

Turtles are mostly attracted to bright colored fruits. Apart from this, turtles love pellets in general. You could try mixing pellets with some live foods. A mixture of the two will excite your turtle, and he will end up eating.

How Many Hours Of Sunlight Do Turtles Need?

Apart from food, sunlight is the most critical need for a turtle. To the turtles, the sunlight is for survival. The minimum hours of sunlight that a turtle should get is 12 hours a day. This is enough for them to absorb enough UVB rays.

In this post, we have learned what vitamin turtles do need, and their importance, the foods rich in those vitamins, what to do if your turtle lacks the nutrients, or overdosed with the nutrients. Turtles need all the nutrients they can get to live healthily. I believe in this article. You have learned the ways to improve your turtle’s health. Make use of some of these tips, and you will see improvement in your turtle’s health.