While turtles were added way back in version 1.13, a lot of people still seem to be asking the question, “How do I breed turtles in Minecraft?” The answer is easier than you think! It is a very simple process with only a few caveats tossed in the mix. By the end of this, you’ll be a turtle herder in no time!

Where to Find Turtles

Turtles aren’t too hard to find in Minecraft. Just like in real life, you can find turtles on the beach – as long as it’s a beach with daylight and it isn’t snowy. It also cannot be a stony shore, it has to be a shore with sand. They spawn in groups of 1-5. You can find them either on the shore or swimming in the water. They are passive so they will run away from you if you hit them.

Upon death, turtles will drop anywhere from 0-2 seagrass. Seagrass is important for breeding turtles, but you should know that seagrass can be found in the water. So don’t kill every turtle you see for seagrass or else you won’t have any turtles left to breed!

How To Breed Turtles in Minecraft

Turtles are unique breeders in Minecraft. Turtles need to be fed seagrass in order to enter “love mode”. If you feed turtles seagrass you should see hearts appear over them just like if you were breeding cows. The turtles will start to move closer to each other and do their thing. It is at this point that you will see one turtle become slightly more plump than the other turtles. This means it worked!

Now, depending on where you found this turtle can make the next part a bit of a pain and this is the caveat mentioned in the beginning. The pregnant turtle will begin to march “home”. This is where the turtle was born. All turtles have a “home”, the place they hatched. You cannot make a turtle lay their eggs anywhere other than at the beach they hatched.

Once the turtle arrives home, she will lay 1-4 eggs in a single sand block. You’ll know they’re doing this because they will look like they’re digging in the ground and because eggs will appear!

Hatching

Turtles go through three stages before hatching. Each stage takes a random amount of time and it may seem like an eternity but be patient! Turtle eggs can only hatch on sand either during the day or night – however, it should be noted that the turtle eggs grow faster during the night.

You must guard the eggs well! Zombies will try and jump on the eggs causing them to break! It would be wise to construct a small wall or structure around your eggs. If you have a pickaxe with Silk Touch, you can use it to pick up the eggs and move them somewhere else without breaking the egg itself. This is a really great way to change the turtles home to a beach you made yourself or one closer to home!

Baby Turtles

Baby turtles are by far the smallest mobs in the game. They aren’t even 1/4 of a block tall! At 0.12 blocks in height, baby turtles will suffocate in soul sand just like endermites and silverfish! You have to be careful with your baby turtles as hostile mobs may try and attack them, guard them well.

If you are playing Bedrock Edition, you can use seagrass to reduce the time it takes for your baby turtle to reach adulthood. Each seagrass reduces this time by 10%.

Upon reaching adulthood, the now fully grown turtle will drop a scute. This is the only way to get scutes which can be used to make Turtle Shells. Turtle Shell is basically a helmet that gives the same defense as an iron helmet but with better durability. It also gives the player 10 more seconds of breath underwater making it extremely useful for deep-sea diving. Turtle Shells can also be used to brew a Potion of the Turtle Master.

Hopefully, with the help of this guide, you now know everything there is about how to breed turtles in Minecraft.