When Minecraft Bedrock was released almost a decade ago, it added up 3,000 fish species, including Bubble Columns, Drowned Zombies, and, of course, Sea Turtles. So, what makes Sea Turtles so special? Well, unlike most of the added species, the player can actually breed Sea Turtles.
Although the release has been available for many years now, some players still need assistance learning how to breed Sea Turtles. In this article, we’re going to teach you how you can breed Sea Turtles and teach you more about this interesting virtual species.
How to Breed Turtles in Minecraft
Before we move onto more details regarding Sea Turtles in Minecraft, let’s see how exactly one approaches breeding them. There are two things that you’re going to need to breed Sea Turtles: two members of the species and at least two Seagrass items.
1. Find at Least Two Turtles
Of course, to breed turtles, you’ll need two parent turtles. Fully grown Sea Turtles frequent the Beach biome location in Minecraft. You can find them either by walking along the beach or swimming in the water. Of course, you can spawn a turtle or a Spawn Egg by using a cheat, but this isn’t exactly in the right spirit of Minecraft.
Seeing as how you can’t pick a turtle up and take it to a particular location, dig a hole in the sand around (at least) two turtles. Just leaving them in the hole, however, won’t make the Sea Turtles mate. You’ll have to “incentivize” them.
2. Craft Shears
To get your hands on Seagrass (and a variety of other things), you’re going to need the Shears item. This item requires two Iron Ingots, which are made using Iron Ore. You can mine Iron Ore in the proximity of most mountains in the game. One Iron Ore will yield one Iron Ingot, so you’re going to need at least two Iron Ores. Then, go to the furnace, add some coal and add Iron Ore to create an Iron Ingot. Repeat this one more time.
Now, go to the crafting menu and place one Iron Ore in the second box in the top row of the 3×3 crafting grid. Then, place the other Iron Ore in the first box of the second middle row. Now, craft Shears.
3. Obtain Seagrass
With Shears at your disposal, it’s time to dive into the water in the Ocean biome location. The Seagrass should be located underwater near the shoreline. Place the shears into your hand like you would any weapon or action item in Minecraft. Point toward a bed of Seagrass and use the Shears to obtain Seagrass. You’re going to need two of these, at least.
4. Feed the Sea Turtles
Go back to the turtles and select Seagrass in the hot bar. Now, feed each turtle with Seagrass. Once you’ve fed both turtles, red hearts should display above them. This means that both turtles have entered the “love mode.” After a while, the hearts will disappear. Then, one of the two Sea Turtles should start digging and lay up to four eggs on the ground.
5. Wait
Now, all that remains is waiting for the baby Sea Turtles to hatch. They will only hatch at nighttime, so don’t stand around in anticipation in daylight. To grow a baby Sea Turtle into an adult, feed it ten Seagrass items.
Sea Turtle and Egg Behavior
Sea Turtles are passive Minecraft creatures. That means that they won’t fight back when attacked. This is important to keep in mind because the turtles are occasionally attacked by various Minecraft creatures, from Zombies to Ravagers. If you’re planning on creating a Sea Turtle farm, prepare to put some defensive measures in place.
Once laid, Sea Turtle eggs are extremely brittle. If you or another Minecraft entity stands on an egg, the chances are that it will break. Additionally, dropping an egg will likely result in it breaking. So, be careful with them. Bear in mind that adult turtles can also break eggs. Keep the eggs safely tucked away.
A fun fact about baby turtles: at 0.12 blocks, they are the smallest mob in Minecraft. This is just another cute reason to have the Sea Turtle mobs mate.
Additionally, keep in mind that, although Sea Turtles are pretty slow on dry land, they are fast in the water. Knowing this should help you round them up easier.
Additional FAQs
1. Do Minecraft turtles breed naturally?
No, Sea Turtles in Minecraft only breed if fed Seagrass. They won’t look for and eat Seagrass on their own, neither. For breeding, turtles need to be fed Seagrass and be in proximity to one another.
2. What are the steps to get turtles to breed themselves?
There is no way to make turtles breed themselves. You have to feed them Seagrass.
3. How do turtles lay eggs in Minecraft?
A pregnant turtle will dig up a hole in the sand and lay between one and four eggs. However, you should note that each Sea Turtle has a “home.” This is the place where it hatched. Therefore, a turtle will lay eggs only at the beach where it hatched itself. Don’t be surprised when you see a turtle struggling to get to her home beach after exiting the love mode.
4. What can you do with turtles in Minecraft?
Breeding turtles is a cute and fun experience, but the cuteness and the breeding itself aren’t the only reasons why one might want to make Sea Turtles breed. Baby turtles grow up into adults over time (you can feed them 10 Seagrass items to speed things up). As they turn into an adult, they will drop a scute. Gather up five scutes, and you can craft a turtle shell, which you can put on and wear underwater to trigger the water breathing perk.
Turtle shells can also be used to craft a potion called “turtle master.” This potion will grant the player Slowness IV and Resistance IV.
Sea Turtle babies do spawn in Minecraft, but waiting to run into five baby turtles can take a while. Taking the matter into your own hands is the best way to get here.
5. Where do turtles spawn in Minecraft?
Turtles can be found in the Overworld, particularly at the beach/ocean biome location. Keep in mind that they won’t appear in the snowy variant of the area or on stone shores. They move in groups of around five, 10% of which tend to be babies. In Minecraft Bedrock, roughly two to six level seven (or higher) turtles are spawned.
6. How long does it take for a turtle to lay eggs in Minecraft?
Once one of the turtles has returned to its home beach, it will dig up a hole in the sand in a few seconds and lay eggs a few seconds after that. The whole laying process lasts roughly 10-30 seconds. The hatching, however, can take a while and occurs during the night.
7. Why can’t I breed turtles in Minecraft?
So, you’ve rounded up two or more turtles and successfully had them mate, but one of the turtles keeps trying to run away, and neither of the mated ones actually lay the eggs. As explained earlier, a turtle won’t lay eggs unless it’s on her own home beach. Time won’t help here, either. So, if you want to create a turtle farm, you need to make sure that it’s on a beach. Also, you shouldn’t go around trying to find turtles on different beaches – look to the local ones.
The good thing about this is that you’ll end up with a turtle farm with everything you need in its proximity – Sea Turtles and Seagrass.
Minecraft and Sea Turtles
As you can see, mating Sea Turtles is far from complex. You don’t need too many items, and the whole experience can be fun. In addition to being a cool activity, baby turtles drop scutes that you can use to create a turtle shell for underwater breathing. Plus, you can create a potion that gives you resilience. The best part – you don’t get the scutes by killing baby turtles; they are dropped as the little ones grow up.
If you like the idea of having a farm of cute turtles that can actually be very useful, go ahead and follow the instructions outlined above.
Have you managed to mate two Sea Turtles? Have you run into any problems? Feel free to hit the comments section below and reach out for help.
