Turtles are one of the ancientest categories of reptiles on the planet. Their hard shell and slow-moving characteristics make them unique pets. They are hardy animals and can be fun to care for. They may seem like low-maintenance pets, but most turtle species can live for decades, which makes them a lifelong commitment.
Turtles need a lot of special care and a quantity of room to grow. Turtles can live for many years, and they continue to grow during their lifetime. They need specific living standards to give them a happy and healthy life.
Undersized turtles are mistreated and mismanaged, leading to sudden death. Turtles shipped by mail usually don't survive the trip, and those kept in small tanks in pet stores live unhappy lives.
WHAT DO TURTLES EAT?
In the wild, turtles eat a mixture of things including worms, small insects, crawlers, and fish. Wild turtles are specifically carnivorous when they are immature because their bodies demand protein to grow. Plus, maturing turtles need the vitamins and nutrients that can be found in feeder mealworms. As turtles years their diets change and they start to eat plants and other leafage. Most pet turtles are omnivorous, implying they enjoy both plants and meat, so dining your pet turtle to a mealworm snack now and then is a good idea. Pet turtles, counting on their size and age, enjoy small mealworms. Knowing the age of your pet turtle will help you decide whether or not to feed it mealworms, as well as how often.
MEALWORMS
Mealworm is the larval form of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio Molitor, a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolous insects, they go through four life phases: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Larvae generally count about 2.5 cm or more, and adults are between 1.25 and 1.8 cm in length.
Mealworms use as pet food for detained reptiles, fish, and birds. They are also used to feed wild birds in bird feeders, especially during the nesting season. Mealworms are valuable for their high protein content.
Mealworms are generally available in bulk and are commonly available in containers with bran or oatmeal for food. Saleable growers include a youngster hormone into the feeding process to keep the mealworm in the larval phase and achieve an abnormal length of 2 cm or greater.
These mealworms are available in two forms for consumption of pets-
1) Live Mealworms:
Live mealworms are the ideal worms as a part diet of your pets as they have moisture, are appealing, easy to feed, among other benefits.
Feeding live mealworms to your pet furnishes excitement and interest at mealtime, creating every bite a fun treat.
Live mealworms should be kept in a tub with good ventilation and a comparative surface area. If you see condensation below the top of the container, ventilation must be grown.
Before feeding the live mealworms to your pets, gut-load them a few days before and when offering them to your pet, dust mealworms with calcium, vitamin D3, and other multivitamins.
Live Mealworm Nutritional Values*
Protein: 20%
Fat: 13%
Fiber: 2%
Moisture: 62%
*Approximate values.
2) Dried Mealworms:
Dried mealworms are nourishing bombs for your pet birds, reptiles, hedgehogs, turtles, fishes, and many more. They are protein-rich as well as rich in amino acids with more benefits. Thinking of counting them towards your pet diet by combining them with their everyday food will eventually pay off in the long run.
Dried Mealworm Nutritional Values*
Protein: 53%
Fat: 28%
Fiber: 6%
Moisture: 5%
*Approximate values.
ARE MEALWORMS A GOOD TREAT FOR TURTLES?
Mealworms are a nutritious pack of beetles for turtles. They contain protein, fiber, and fat. That is why they are majorly fed to reptiles and fishes. Turtles need mealworms on an inconsistent basis in their daily diet.
Mealworms are great for turtles on a short-term basis. But in the long run, it is not good to feed your turtles mealworms regularly.
Mealworms contain amino acids like cysteine and methionine. Methionine is essential for the wound healing of turtles and it also keeps their liver healthy. Turtles require cysteine for their natural growth.
Mealworms are also high in protein-containing sixty-three percent protein in their body.
But all besides this, mealworms can not be a regular part of the turtle diet. But it can be a great temporary addition.
Watch the video to see the Turtle enjoying his food.
WHAT TURTLES CAN EAT MEALWORMS?
Let's talk about some species of turtles and see if they can eat mealworms or not. They are:
Red-eared slider turtles:
Red-eared slider turtles are carnivorous at a young age but become herbivorous as they mature. So the young red-eared slider turtles dream mealworms more than the older ones. So red-eared sliders of all ages can eat mealworms.
Box/Eastern box turtles:
Box or eastern box turtles are the favorite species of turtles. Eastern box turtles are omnivorous means they can eat anything including vegetables and meat. So Eastern box turtles can surely eat mealworms as part of their carnivorous diet.
Mealworms are healthy for the strong shell of box turtles.
Musk turtles:
Musk turtles are another species of omnivorous turtles. So musk turtles can eat all forms of mealworms. Mealworms can be an essential part of their diet for a short time when their growth is at its extreme.
Baby turtles:
You can feed baby turtles mealworms in small quantities. Too many mealworms on the diet of the baby turtles are not recommended. Baby turtles can eat mealworms periodically as an occasional food.
Always Cut the mealworms into pieces so that baby turtles can finish them effortlessly.
Painted turtles:
Painted turtles are most famous for their aesthetic looks. Their food habit makes them an omnivorous species. It means they can eat both vegetables and meat. Painted turtles can eat mealworms to satisfy their carnivorous needs.
Aquatic turtles:
Aquatic turtles need meat to cover the need for protein. Mealworms can certainly fulfill that need as they contain a large quantity of protein. Protein can secure the growth of aquatic turtles and make them more effective than before.
Snapping turtles:
Snapping turtles are mainly known for their large size and irregular behavior. They are assumed to be the largest known water turtle living in the USA. Mealworms are one of the favorite foods of cracking turtles. It provides the much-needed protein for Snapping Turtles.
To learn more about mealworms, how to feed them to your pets, or where to purchase mealworms, get in touch with Pro-meal. We are the supplier of mealworms, both live and dried, available for purchase. Also, we can answer all your questions about storage, feeding, and nutrition.
Why Purchase From Pro-meal?
Fresh and Healthy Worms- Our mealworms both live and dried are packaged fresh and at the peak of their nutrition cycle. 100% grown and processed in India.
Organically Grown- We feed our worms strictly Organic Feeds including fruits and vegetables. This ensures that you will get all-natural chemical-free worms for your pets.
Reliable Supply- Imagine you feed your pets mealworms for a week and next week there's no supply! URGH! Our production ensures regular reliable supply.
Pathogen Free- We regularly test all our batches of worms for pathogens like salmonella, Ecolli, and bacteria. This Live Delivery ensures 100% safe feeding for your pets!
Note- If you order live, you should get the worms live. We guarantee Live delivery of worms. If you receive otherwise, you are entitled to a replacement/ refund.
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