Turtles are passive mobs, which where added during Minecraft 1.13, also known as the Aquatic Update. They can most commonly be found spawning on warm beaches, not their Stone or Snowy variants.
When they do spawn, they’ll be in small groups with an average size of 5 Turtles, and around 10% of them will spawn as babies.
What do Turtles Drop
Turtles have multiple drops, which are more unique than other mobs. Firstly, you’ll find that they drop Seagrass. The amount dropped is determined by your looting level, and can drop a maximum of 5 Seagrass.
Like other mobs, they’ll also drop small amounts of experience. If killed by a lightning strike, they can instead drop a Bowl. When a Baby Turtle turns into an adult, it will drop Scute, which is a key ingredient for the Turtle Shell.
How to Breed Turtles
Breeding Turtles is a simple task. You’ll want to start by feeding two adult Turtles Seagrass, which generates in Oceans. Although unlike other creatures, they won’t have a baby immediately.
Instead, one of the Turtles will become pregnant, and will attempt to return to its home beach. The home beach is the location as to which a Turtle was hatched on. Once the pregnant Turtle arrives, it will lay between 1 and 4 Eggs on the home beach. Immediately after laying the Eggs, a Turtle can mate again, or there’s a 90 second cooldown on Bedrock Edition.
On average, Turtle Eggs will take around 4 or 5 days to hatch into Baby Turtles. You’ll need to be careful, as Eggs can easily be broken by tools, or even trampled on by the player or other living entities like Zombies. Turtles are able to walk on Eggs without breaking them.
When a baby Turtle is hatched, it will be the smallest mob in the game. Although you can speed up growth by feeding them Seagrass.
How to Get Scute
Scute can only be obtained from baby Turtles in Minecraft. You shouldn’t kill them, as the Scute is only dropped when a baby Turtle grows into an adult.
Turtle Helmets require 5 Scute to be crafted. When equipped, you’ll be given 10 seconds of the Water Breathing status effect, allowing you to stay underwater for longer durations.
How to Tame Turtles
Turtles can’t be tamed like other mobs. Although they can be brought back to your base to live there permanently. Some things to consider are that Turtles can’t be attached to leads.
Though if you hold Seagrass in your hand, you can make Turtles follow you. On Minecraft Java Edition, Turtles can also be placed in both Boats and Minecarts which can be used to transport them.
