Commercial Foods
There are several different types of commercial turtle foods available in Australia. The most common types are the frozen turtle dinners and pellets. Neither of these foods are suitable for Australian turtles.
Frozen Turtle Dinners
Australian Freshwater turtles are incapable of processing red meat or the fat from red meat. The frozen turtle dinners that are widely available are made up mainly of red meat scraps. Red meat will damage a turtle's liver and kidney. Feeding salt or red meat to turtles can cause renal failure.
Just because the label says 'Turtle Dinner' does not make it good for turtles. Just because a turtle eats the red meat offered to it does not make it healthy. If you offer a child chocolate for breakfast, chances are that they will eat it. But this does not mean it is good for them.
It is important to remember that freshwater turtles feed underwater, therefore anything that lives in freshwater is potentially part of their food supply. Cows, horses, goats, sheep and whatever else is in the turtle dinners have only been in Australia for about 200 years. In terms of evolution, it has not been long enough for turtles to develop the ability process red meat. That, and no Australian turtle has ever been seen to launch out of a river, grab a cow from a paddock and drag her back into the river!
Pellets
Pellets tend to be high in protein and fats. Feeding them to turtles can cause to kidney damage or excessive and rapid growth. In addition, the pellets can clog up a turtle's digestive system. They are not recommended.
