The Best Toy Recommendations for Pet Turtles

The Best Toys for Pet Turtles

Turtles can make great pets for children and adults alike. They are relatively low maintenance, don't require walks like a dog, and have cute faces that are fun to interact with. Like any pet though, keeping a turtle entertained and engaged is important for their health and happiness.

Why Toys Matter for Pet Turtles

In the wild, turtles spend much of their day foraging for food. They don't have food handed to them in a bowl like our captive pets. This means pet turtles can often end up bored, inactive, and overweight if appropriate care isn't taken to stimulate them mentally and physically.

Toys for turtles can help prevent these problems by:

• Keeping their minds active and inquisitive
• Encouraging natural behaviors like swimming and climbing
• Providing enrichment and simulated foraging opportunities
• Giving them exercise to maintain a healthy weight

Important Toy Safety Tips

It's not enough to just throw any random household item into your turtle's habitat and assume they will enjoy it. Turtles explore objects with their mouths, so loose pieces can become major choking hazards if ingested.

To make sure toys are safe, follow these guidelines:

• Inspect for damage before placing in habitat
• Do not use anything small enough to fit entirely in the turtle's mouth
• Monitor the turtle interacting with new toys first
• Remove immediately if you notice chewing or biting pieces off

Best Turtle Toys by Category

From floating logs to ball pits, pet stores carry lots turtle toys that look cool but aren't actually useful or safe. To help you avoid wasting money on these misleading products, well overview the most beneficial turtle toy types and our specific recommendations in each category.

Aquatic Turtle Floating & Sinking Toys

For aquatic turtles, its important their habitat provides both a water area for swimming and an above-water basking area. Adding floating and sinking toys in the water creates a more enriching environment for them to explore between basking sessions.

Our top picks for aquatic turtle water toys:

• Zoo Med Turtle Bank: Plastic toy shaped like aquatic plants, logs, and rocks that easily suctions to habitat walls and floor. Comes with fish-shaped feeder holes to place food inside.
• Penn Plax Rainforest Frog Lily Pad: Realistic durable lily pad with two floating frogs that turtles can climb and swim through.
• Tetra Fauna Aquatic Habitats Reptile Aquatic Turtle Kit: Set of sinking plastic vines, logs, plants, and rocks decorations to create a fun underwater maze of tunnels.

Land Turtle Ramps, Tunnels, & Track Toys

Creating an engaging land area with toys is important for semi-aquatic turtles like painted turtles and box turtles. We recommend choosing from ramps, tunnels, and track toys tailored for reptiles when possible.

Land turtle toy recommendations:

• Penn Plax Reptology Turtle Hideaway: Realistic hideaway log cabin for small turtles with lookout holes. Easy to clean and assemble.
• Zoo Med Turtle Habitat Set: Connectable plastic ramps and tunnels that can be positioned over land and water areas.
• Zoo Med Forest Floor Track Habitat: Looping rigid track system for turtles to traverse around the habitat perimeter.

Puzzle Feeders

Using puzzle feeders with your pet turtle is excellent for encouraging natural foraging behaviors. They must manipulate or move the toy in a certain way to access the food reward inside.

Our favorite puzzle feeder picks include:

• Zoo Med Sunken Submarine: Yellow plastic submarine that opens when pushed along the tank floor to release food.
• Tetra Hideaway Turtle Feeder: Log feeder with rotating disks that must be spun to make the food fall out.
• Penn Plax Rainforest Turtles Feeding Dish: Dish insert that has them chase and capture their food as it floats around, similar to real tadpoles and insects.

Exercise Balls

Giving your aquatic turtle an exercise ball is a fun way to enhance physical activity while also enticing interaction. As they push the ball around with their nose and flippers, food or treats can fall out through holes or openings triggering chasing and healthy exercise.

We recommend these engaging exercise ball turtle toys:

• Penn Plax Rainforest Reptology Play Ball: Clear plastic ball with smaller colored balls inside that move around erratically to entice chasing. Easy to fill with preferred food or treats.
• Tetra Decorative ReptoFilter Bubble Wand: Attachable bubble wand to filters that creates a constant flow of bubbles for turtles to chase and catch.

Enrich Your Turtle's Life with Toys

Like most house pets, turtles benefit greatly from toy stimulation tailored to their specific needs and natural behaviors. Rotating different toys on occasion can keep their environment exciting, cognitively engaging, and physically active.

Pay attention to how your turtle reacts to each toy, and dont be afraid to try new DIY options too using appropriate non-toxic items from craft and hardware stores. With a little creativity, you can maintain an enjoyable toy box rotation that they always look forward to playing with.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.