Can you over feed a turtle?

My son brought home the turtle from his science class on Friday to care for over Christmas break. He (the turtle) had one bowl of food and no water dish. I panicked. I know nothing about turtles but I figured all animals need water, right? And how was one dish of food going to last two weeks?!

I called the school and luckily was able to reach his science teacher before she left. She told me this particular turtle was native to the desert and he gets his water from his food so there is no need for a water dish. She also told me he only eats and goes to the bathroom like twice a month. I asked her if there was anything else we needed to know in regards to his care and she assured me there wasn’t. We could let him crawl around and he wouldn’t mess on the floor, he likes dark places, he hides under his paper (in his pen) a lot, and that he loves Roman lettuce.

Well… one day later he has ate over half of his food and an entire lettuce leaf (which he scarfed right down!) and is working on another. He sure seems to be eating a lot…

Like I said, I know absolutely nothing about turtles. Can you over feed them or is this just one of his eating cycles? Do they even have eating cycles? I don’t want him to be hungry but I also don’t want to make him sick.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

(I’m not sure if the teacher told me what kind of turtle he was. If she did I don’t remember and my son doesn’t know.)