Question: What do I feed them ?

Answer: Food in captivity should contain as much as passible of the diet found in the wild. Turtles, just like any other pet animals as dogs or cats, need all kinds of Vitamins and Minerals. The most important are Vitamin D3, Vitamin B1 and Calcium - all needed for the healthy growth of shell and overall strenght. The best option is to offer your snapper a variety of foods. The ost commonly used items are: lean raw beef, beef liver, heart, fish fillet (any kind of deboned fish), selt, minnows. Also live food once in a while (mostly fish). Snappers will also eat frogs (not toads - they contain toxins), an occasional mouse, crayfish, snails. Hatchlings will also love earthworms and crickets. Many snappers will also take all kinds of vegetation, like lettuce (this one actually does not contain much nutrition), cabbage, bananas and I've even heard of a snapper which really like strawberries. It is not surprising that snappers will eat all types of veggies and fruits - they eat a lot and almost anything when hungry, and in the wild will go for anything that falls in the water. In captivity I would advice to stick to diet of fish and meat, and an occational veggie snack after experimenting in what they like. There are also many commercially available turtle foods on the market, and they all are good. They should be used as supplement to all those natural foods I just have mentioned. Thanks for asking! Stan

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