Can turtles eat corn? Here is everything you need to know
A high take of beta-carotene, vitamin E, lutein, and some other minerals as well as vitamins make corn a very interesting option for human beings. However, things that are beneficial to us aren’t necessarily beneficial to turtles. However, is it safe for turtles to eat corn? Can we use it as a supplement for their diet? The answer is yes, turtles can eat corn. However, the truth is that we have to refrain from frequent deliveries of this type of food.
So, what to do in order to keep our turtle healthy? How to make sure that we do not overfeed it with corn? There are quite a lot of questions regarding this plant and to make sure you are well aware of its advantages and disadvantages, you better familiarize yourself with the list of all characteristics of corn.
I am a turtle pet owner myself and to make sure that you all know and understand how crucial an appropriate dietary plan is for your reptile, I want to share with my own thoughts and personal experience I gathered in the past 20 years. I tried to feed more than just one turtle with a wide range of food and I understand how important it is to keep a balanced, low-fat diet. So how does corn fit into the pet’s diet? Here is everything you need to know.
Let’s start from basics, meaning nutritional values of corn
To better understand the nutrition characteristics of the corn, I decided to present the data per 100-gram serving. So, the corn that weighs approximately 100 grams provides us with 1.35 gram of fat, 18.7 gram of carbs, and 3.3 gram of protein. Interestingly, the product does not include cholesterol and the total fat percentage is not as high as in the case of many other plants.
Overall, there are 86 calories per 100 grams, which is quite a lot for a plant. Still, it is a great addition to turtles’ diets, especially if we know how often (or to be more precise how seldom) we ought to feed them with it. But what about the vitamins and minerals? Well, there are some interesting values as far as these ones are concerned. You see, there is a huge amount of Vitamin C and some of the Vitamin A in there. Furthermore, corn is one of the best sources of iron. Let’s not forget about the fact that corn provides our turtles with calcium, which is of utmost importance for the proper development of these reptiles.
To make it simple, here is a list of good things as far as corn as a turtle food is concerned:
- A lot of Vitamin C and A;
- Plenty of protein;
- Great source of iron.
However, here are some reasons why you should avoid feeding your turtles with too much corn
The first thing to remember is that this plant is not the type of food these reptiles would find in their natural habitat. As a result, evolution has not prepared the turtles for eating larger amounts of it. Therefore, we have to remember that feeding corn to your pet on a daily basis may cause a lot of troubles to, among other things, its digestive system.
Corn does not belong to a low-fat diet
Since corn can have up to 88 calories per 100 grams, it is definitely not a low-fat diet ingredient. Besides that, sugar and sodium make it even less healthy. That is why feeding this plant to a turtle is not advisable – unless in smaller quantities and very rarely. This is the only way to avoid a situation where we lead our turtle to obesity.
Corn increases the metabolism rate of a turtle
In order to digest corn efficiently, the turtle’s internal system will increase its metabolism. As you can guess from its way of life, turtles have a very slow metabolism. Thanks to that they are believed to be one of the slowest animals on the planet. Giving your reptile a lot of corn will make its metabolism work faster and, as a result, its aging process will speed up.
Difficulties in digesting
Another reason why we should avoid larger amounts of corn is because it is very difficult to digest. Some of you may know that corn is high in cellulose. Because of that, the plant is harder to digest for turtles, mainly because they do not have the same enzymes and acids that we have. Because of that, digesting corn is much harder than it should be. Furthermore, consumption of corn on a daily basis may lead to serious problems with acidosis. This is the main reason why we should avoid feeding corn to our turtles too often.
The lack of other vitamins and minerals
Since corn is high in calories, you might think that feeding it will be enough to keep the turtle happy. Nonetheless, that is not the case. Because of its calorific value and not enough other vitamins and minerals, your turtle will sooner or later end up with deficiencies that can later on lead to serious health problems. As a result, you either have to provide your turtle with more than you should (risking obesity and problems related to that) or risk illnesses and other health conditions caused by deficiency of vitamins and minerals.
So, how often should you feed corn to your turtle?
In spite of these downsides, corn isn’t something extraordinarily bad for your pet. Obviously, you should refrain from changing the diet to fit corn permanently. However, giving corn to your turtle once a month will not cause an upset stomach or any other issues.
Now you know if your turtle can eat corn!
Corn is surely an interesting addition to the turtle’s diet. Nonetheless, you have to bear in mind that the only right way for it to become a great addition to your turtle’s dietary plan is to treat it as a supplement. You can’t replace food you traditionally give to the reptile, because there won’t be enough nutritional value to keep it healthy and safe. Therefore, you should always think about corn as an addition and nothing more. Once you implement corn in smaller quantities and in much less frequent intervals, your turtle will definitely enjoy these meals.
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