Vegetable food is absolutely vital for aquatic turtles. In most cases, the animals will happily eat the aquatic plants that are offered, as long as they are tasty and non-toxic. In this guide you will find out which aquatic plants are particularly suitable for the requirements of aquatic turtles.
Water lilies are said to be poisonous to turtles
These aquatic plants love aquatic turtles
In principle, numerous aquatic plants are suitable for turtles. Here is an overview of a selection of the most suitable plants:
- Duckweed
- chickweed
- waterweed
- frog bite
- water lettuce (mussel flower)
- water hyacinth
Duckweed
Duckweed is the perfect food for aquatic turtles. It is best if you regularly put so many of these lenses on the water surface that the latter is completely covered with the plants.
This method also proves to be advantageous if you are not there for several days. The turtles gradually eat the duckweed until there are none left.
Important: Fish the duckweed out of your garden pond in the summer months (they would only retreat in winter). In the winter months, the plants can be wonderfully cultivated in a well-lit aquarium.
chickweed
Hornwort is an aquatic plant that you can feed your turtles all year round because it is hardy.
waterweed
The waterweed multiplies very quickly both in the aquarium and in the pond - and turtles eat it with pleasure. It makes sense not to give the turtles plants you bought from the pet store immediately, but instead to multiply them first and use the offspring as feed. After all, you don't know what fertilizers and so on were used in the pet trade.
frog bite
Both the North American Frogbite and the Common Frogbite are commonly popular among aquatic turtles.
water lettuce (mussel flower)
This tropical floating plant is available in many garden and hardware stores. Water lettuce multiplies well in summer, but does not survive the winter.
Note: The same applies to the water hyacinth as to the mussel flower.
Turtles should not eat these aquatic plants
There are also some aquatic plants that you should not feed your turtles as they are potentially poisonous to the animals. This includes:
- water lilies*
- marsh iris
- swamp calla
*Water lilies contain an alkaloid that is said to be toxic to aquatic turtles. Even if there are no reliable facts to date, it is advisable to avoid these popular aquatic plants in the pond or aquarium if you keep aquatic turtles.