Pet Turtle : Vitamin

Vitamins are essential for turtles as humans. While the detailed vitamin requirements/day of turtles have not been documented, a diverse diet with a good mix of vegetables, fruits and flesh should meet most needs.

Since turtles in captivity are provided diets that WE think are most appropriate and not what THEY choose; it is recommended that you supplement their diets with vitamins. Two vitamins have been catalogued as being essential by researchers & enthusiasts alike the world over - these are Vitamin A & Vitamin D3. Other Vitamins and trace elements are also required.

Vitamin A
The absence of Vitamin A can lead to swollen eyes and in extreme cases blindness. Good sources of Vitamin A are green leafy vegetables, cabbage, carrot, and other red and yellow fruits and vegetables. Large amounts of Vitamin A are also found in fresh liver and fish liver oils. (e.g. cod liver oil).

Feeding your turtle a salad of spinach, carrot and liver/chicken tossed with cod-liver oil once every 7-10 days is suggested. As Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin (and not water soluble one), you could also add a Vitamin A supplement into the calcium block or to the food twice/thrice every month.

Some suggested Human Vitamin A Supplements:
Aquasol Capsules (25,000iu)
Approx. Retail Price: INR 25 for 30 capsules.
Dosage: Routine - 33% of the capsule per supplementation. Increase frequency of supplementation for a deficient turtle, and not the quantity per supplementation.

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Vitamin D3
The soulmate for calcium, it is vitamin D3 that aids in the absorption of calcium from food and its subsequent metabolization for bones and shell. In their natural habitats turtles generate Vitamin D3 through adequate exposure to the UVB rays in unfiltered sunlight. As their captive habitats merely attempt to supplement this with UVB lamps, it is essential that Vitamin D3 supplements be provided.

We recommend that you let your turtles sunbathe for a 30-40 minutes atleast twice/thrice a week in the DSE. The approximate equivalent of this in indoor lighting would be 8-10hr exposure daily.

For More information on DSE click here.

While those sunbathes should be sufficient, if you notice any shell-softness, immediately start providing Vitamin D3 supplements. The best substitute source for reptile supplements are the ones for birds. In case even these are unavailable you can try and supplement with a human Vitamin D3 supplement. But be careful and provide very limited dosages, once every 7-10 days, because excess Vitamin D can be poisonous.

Some suggested Human Vitamin D3 Supplements:
Shelcal 500 (Calcium + Vitamin D3)
Approx. Retail Price: INR 25 for 10 tablets.
{Reccomended: contains calcium from an organic source - oyster shells}
Dosage: Routine - 50% of the tablet (powdered) per supplementation. Increase frequency of supplementation for a deficient turtle, and not the quantity per supplementation. As this supplement contains both Calcium & Vitamin D3, don't provide additional Calcium supplementation along with this.

Ossivite 500 (Calcium + Vitamin D3)
Approx. Retail Price: INR 20 for 10 tablets.
Dosage: Routine - 50% of the tablet (powdered) per supplementation. Increase frequency of supplementation for a deficient turtle, and not the quantity per supplementation. As this supplement contains both Calcium & Vitamin D3, don't provide additional Calcium supplementation along with this.

Arachitol 300 Ampule (Vitamin D3, 300,000 iu)
Approx. Retail Price: INR 67 for 1 ampule (7.5mg)
(This is a very high concentration vitamin D3 supplement, and should not be used for regular supplementation. Use only with turtles exhibiting distinct & significant Vitamin D3 deficiency.)
Dosage: Routine - 20% of the capsule per supplementation. Increase frequency of supplementation for a deficient turtle, and not the quantity per supplementation.

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Other Vitamins, Nutrients & Trace Elements
While specific requirements of these are not available, it is best to give your turtles' multi-vitamin supplements twice a week. You can give bird supplements, or cat supplements (just make sure they don't have very high fat contents!). Else, you can also a human multivitamin that contains all vitamins, nutrients and trace elements.

Multi-vitamins can be added to the regular food by dusting or in paste form.

Some suggested Human Multi-Vitamin Supplements:
Supradyn (Vitamin A, various B group, C, D3 and minerals)
Approx. Retail Price: INR 14 for 10 tablets.
Dosage: Routine - 50% of the tablet (powdered) per supplementation. Increase frequency of supplementation for a deficient turtle, and not the quantity per supplementation.

Nutrisan (Vitamin A, various B group, D3, E and minerals)
Approx. Retail Price: INR 15 for 10 tablets.
Dosage: Routine - 50% of the tablet (powdered) per supplementation. Increase frequency of supplementation for a deficient turtle, and not the quantity per supplementation.

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