Can Turtles Eat Bread?

breadThe short answer is yes, turtles can eat small pieces of bread. However there are potential problems that can arise from turtles ingesting bread.

Bread can contain ingredients that can be detrimental to turtle health. In particular, baker’s yeast and garlic can result in serious infection or illness if ingested by a turtle.

There are other specific ingredients that can be bad for a turtle, the chemicals used in some commercial bakers can leach into the bread and cause possible harm to an animal if ingested long term. To avoid this, when choosing your brand of bread to feed your turtle it is best not to get white/wheat factory-made loaves but rather shop whole meal loaves which commonly have fewer additives.

Other problems can occur if the turtle ingests large pieces of bread as these can get stuck in its digestive tract and can cause blockages. The size of the piece of bread is also important in terms of how long a healthy turtle can hold it inside its body before it becomes toxic or even deadly. For example, a poorly ingested sized crumb (less than 1mm) can be moved naturally by way of muscular contractions (peristalsis) for elimination within 24 hours and therefore cause no harm; however a larger chunk may not pass on through quickly enough and become impacted in the intestines causing illness.

Bacteria can build up around an impacted item which can then cause infection and can be serious enough to kill a turtle. Also, the longer an item is in the intestines, particularly if it is larger than 1mm in diameter can mean that some of the solid matter can break down into less pure food which can contain phosphorus and excess sugars. This can result in intestinal blockage causing digestion problems.

With all this said, in certain situations bread can be considered to be safe for turtles to eat on a limited basis. If your pet turtle has not been exposed to any harmful items or chemicals and seems healthy then allowing a few pieces of bread should not cause ill health when done occasionally as long as you remain observant about what effect the bread ingestion has on your pet’s behavior and appearance (if you can tell).

It can often be hard to see the negative effects of bread. Some tortoises and turtles do not seem to show any signs that can alert us to the possibility that the bread is causing harm so it can take some time before you can determine if your turtle is safe from bread ingestion. Do not panic if you don’t notice any ill effects immediately in most cases a few pieces of occasional whole meal bread should cause no problems; however there are circumstances when this is not true namely:

  • If you suspect your pet is having digestive difficulties such as smelly droppings or being constipated then taking things slowly can help to determine if bread can be the cause. If you can avoid bread for a couple of days and can see any positive signs that can alert you to it being viable food source then this is the way forward but if there are no changes then there is a more serious problem at hand.

If your turtle has eaten non-food items like cotton wool, insulation from underneath your house or gravel from outside, do not panic, these types of materials can pass through unproblematic in most cases. However if the ingestion of non-food material causes visible discomfort or problems such as vomiting or diarrhea (you can check your turtle’s droppings to confirm) then seek veterinary care immediately.

Another important thing here is that if you can’t see any physical signs, do not assume your turtle is ok or unaware of the ingestion. In fact turtles can be surprisingly good at hiding pain so can often present as normal when they are ill.

There can be some instances where a very small amount of white/wheat factory-made bread can be tolerated by a healthy turtle for long periods of time. For example in one specific case study, there was a Green Russian tortoise kept in captivity that had been fed on an unlimited amount of similar bread and water diet for 2 years with no obvious negative effects. However this is certainly unusual and is not necessarily recommended nor does it guarantee that your pet will have the same tolerance to this food.

In conclusion, turtles can eat bread, however you should exercise caution when feeding it to them. For the most part this is not an ideal food source for any pet whether or not they are fed on a consistent basis. Many of the problems caused by feeding commercially made white/wheat factory-made bread can be avoided if other foods are offered to your pet such as vegetables, fruit, etc with occasional whole meal bread being used as one of the milder treats available.

Rather than worrying about whether tortoises and turtles can eat bread it would be more beneficial to consider feeding them things that will provide them with better nutrition and their digestive systems will cope with easier; if you can find these things you can be sure to have a happy and healthy pet.