While the cutest reptile in this cubic adventure doesn't have a huge amount of uses like other animals, Turtles can be farmed in a similar manner as other livestock to harvest a unique resource. Scutes, the little disks of keratin that make up a Turtle's shell, can only be dropped by baby Turtles that have grown up into adults. Trying to collect these shell pieces from wild Turtles will never yield a Scute, so the only method of acquiring them is breeding captive Turtles. Accelerating the growth of these tiny Turtles by feeding them makes the process much quicker.
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Breeding isn't very tricky, especially for new players to Minecraft, as corralling them in a secure area is a simple yet slow task. The reason for obtaining Scutes comes down to 2 things: crafting a Turtle Shell to use as a helmet or using one to brew up a powerful potion.
Turtles spawn in the Warm Beach biomes, which are fairly common as well as scattered about along coasts between land and sea biomes. The breeding of Turtles requires Sand, so if one does not plan on setting up some sort of enclosure on the Warm Beach where they find some Turtles, it is recommended to dig up some Sand and bring it back while also luring the soon-to-be livestock.
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An important resource for luring, breeding, and raising Turtles is Seagrass, as it is the only kind of vegetation that these small reptiles eat in the game. Simply have some Seagrass in one's hand and Turtles nearby will follow the player in much the same way that Chickens follow players holding Seeds.
These aquatic blades of grass are relatively common, so collecting enough to set up one's Turtle farm should not take very long. Seagrass spawns in Ocean Biomes near Kelp, at the bottom of rivers, and in the murky depths of Swamp biomes.
Turtle Eggs can only be laid on Sand or Red Sand, therefore a generous amount of it is needed for a sufficiently sized farm. However, players may be interested to learn that Turtles will always try to return to the block of Sand where their eggs hatched, so setting up a farm on a beach that naturally has Turtles may be a time-efficient solution when location scouting.
To make Turtles mate so that they can lay eggs, players will need to have 2 Turtles in close proximity and feed them both some Seagrass. After the feeding, and then the mating, the pregnant Turtle will try to return to the block of Sand where they hatched to lay their own eggs. It is worth noting that the cooldown for Turtle mating is very short, as is the cooldown for egg-laying, so this process can be repeated very frequently to spawn a large number of baby Turtles.
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These eggs are quite fragile and can be destroyed by mobs walking over them, so make sure to fence them off from threats and be sure not to tread on them either. About 1 to 4 tiny Turtle Eggs can spawn with each clutch laid by a pregnant Turtle, so, with some planning, players can have quite a lot of eggs spawned into a small area for maximum farming efficiency.
In a similar manner to how one can accelerate the growth of baby Cows by feeding them Wheat, players can make baby Turtles grow by 10% each time the player feeds them some Seagrass.
Every time that baby Turtles reach adulthood, they will drop 1 Scute, meaning that players do not have to kill the Turtles in order to get them. In fact, killing a Turtle never causes them to drop any Scutes, even if they were hatched and raised by the player.
In the same configuration that one would use to make a helmet from Iron Ingots, Gold Ingots, or Diamonds, players can use Scutes to make a Turtle Shell. This can be equipped in the player's helmet slot and provides as much protection as an Iron Helmet. Additionally, it also grants the player wearing it 10 seconds of the Water Breathing effect so that one can explore underwater for longer periods.
This humorously named potion can be made at a Brewing Stand by placing Awkward Potions in the 3 bottom slots and a Turtle Shell in the top slot. When used, a Potion of the Turtle Master will decrease the movement speed of both the player and nearby mobs by 60% as well as reduces damage done to the player by the same amount for 20 seconds.