How to Keep a Pet Turtle in Minecraft

Last Updated: March 9, 2023 References

Turtles are one of three aquatic mobs in Minecraft (the others being guardians & elder guardians) that can survive indefinitely outside water without suffocating. They're also the only passive mob out of the three, making them ideal to keep as pets.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Catching turtles

1
Gather some seagrass. Seagrass grows on the bottom of oceans and rivers. Like grass on land, it must either be broken with shears or a Silk Touch tool to drop itself.
- You can grow seagrass by using bonemeal on any non-transparent blocks (Java Edition only), or on any dirt/sand variant, clay, or gravel blocks that're under at least two (non-flowing) blocks of water.^{[1]
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- For a more... psychopathic, option, turtles can drop 0-2 seagrass when killed (it's not worth it, just cut some from the river/sea beds, ya maniac).
2
Find some turtles. Turtles can spawn on top of sand blocks on most (with the exception of stony and snowy) beaches, and can usually be found either on land, or swimming in the water nearby.
- In Java Edition, turtles spawn on sand blocks up to three blocks above sea-level (Y=60 to Y=63) at light levels 9 and above, while on Bedrock Edition they spawn up to 7 blocks above sea-level at light levels 7 and above.^{[2]
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3
Move them into an pen/habitat. You can lure them by holding some seagrass in front of their face, or pick them up with a boat ^{(Java Edition only)} or minecart.
- Dirt pens (like the one above) can be used to temporarily hold mobs until you're ready to move them into a proper habitat.
- Turtles can't be attached to leads.
- If you use sand for the floor, eggs can be placed/laid inside the habitat.
- Add some water to create an artificial beach if you want to breed them.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Breeding turtles

1
Find at least one pair of turtles. Two turtles are the minimum needed to breed, however more pairs will allow you get more eggs much faster.
2
Feed both of them a piece of seagrass. This'll send them both into "love-mode" (hearts will appear around them). After mating, one of the turtles will appear bloated with eggs.
- Turtles have a 90-second mating cooldown on Bedrock Edition; this cooldown doesn't exist on Java Edition though.
3
Follow the pregnant turtle back to her home beach. Unlike all other breedable mobs, breeding turtles does not immediately result in a baby turtle. Rather, much like real turtles, the mother will first travel to her home beach before laying her eggs.
4
Wait for the mother to lay her eggs. Once she gets to her home beach, she'll look for a suitable spot before digging for a few seconds (she'll start flailing her flippers and throwing sandy particles into the air). Once done, 1-4 eggs will appear on the ground underneath her.
- Note that it sometimes takes a little bit for her to start digging.
- Turtle eggs can only be laid on sand and red sand.
5
Relocate the egg with a Silk Touch tool (optional). A turtle's home beach is the block that they spawned on. Because turtles will always attempt to return there to lay their eggs, it's best to let the egg hatch on a beach closer to your base (especially if the parent's home beach is far away).
- Turtle eggs must be broken with a Silk Touch tool to be obtained, or else they'll drop nothing.
6
Guard the eggs for the next few nights. Turtle eggs hatch in stages over a few in-game nights (hatching is significantly slower during the day), during which time they're vulnerable to getting trampled and broken. It's a good idea to light up the area around the eggs.
- All zombie variants, including zombified piglins (but not zoglins; those count as a hoglin variant), along with blazes, will actively trample nearby turtle eggs.
- Eggs can't be trampled by turtles, bats or crouching players.

Image titled Drowned Attempting a Break in to Get at Baby Turtles

7

Protect the babies. Once the eggs hatch, the babies will also need to be protected from zombies and skeletons (and their variants), ocelots, foxes, stray cats, and wild wolves until they grow up.

Note that Zoglins are the only naturally spawning mob that attack both baby and adult turtles.

Turtle Predators^{[3]
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Mob	Attacks Baby Turtles	Attacks Adult Turtles
Zombies, Zombie Villagers, Husks, & Drowned	Yes	No
Zombified Piglins & Blazes	No	No
Skeletons, Strays, & Wither Skeletons	Yes	No
Ocelots, Stray Cats, Foxes, & Wolves (wild only)	Yes	No
Zoglins	Yes	Yes
"Johnny" Vindicators & Withers	Yes, but unlike the other mobs, they don't target them specifically	Yes, but unlike the other mobs, they don't target them specifically

Warnings

With the exception of blazes and zombie variants (including zombified piglins), no mobs will intentionally seek out turtle eggs, however they can still accidentally trample over them.

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Vindicators don't normally target turtles (adults nor babies), however they will if named "Johnny" with a nametag (although technically, Johnny vindicators will attack almost all mobs).^{[4]
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- Likewise, while withers don't specifically target turtles, they'll still attack them since they're not undead mobs.^{[5]
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