Plant food is absolutely vital for turtles. In most cases, the animals happily feast on the aquatic plants offered, as long as they are tasty and non-toxic. In this guide you will find out which aquatic plants particularly meet the needs of turtles.
Which aquatic plants are suitable for turtles?
Water turtles prefer aquatic plants such as duckweed, hornwort, waterweed, frogbit, water lettuce and water hyacinth. Water lilies, swamp irises and swamp callas should be avoided as they are potentially toxic to animals.
These aquatic plants love turtles
In principle, numerous aquatic plants are suitable for turtles. Here is a selection of the most suitable plants at a glance:
- Duckweed
- hornwort
- Waterplague
- Frogbite
- Water lettuce (shell flower)
- Water Hyacinth
Duckweed
Duckweed is the perfect food for turtles. It is best to regularly add enough of these lentils to the water surface so that the water surface 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 up the duckweed until there is none left.
Important: Fish the duckweed from your garden pond in the summer (they would only retreat in winter). In the winter months you can easily grow the plants yourself in a well-lit aquarium.
hornwort
Hollwort is an aquatic plant that you can feed your turtles all year round because it is hardy.
Waterplague
The waterweed multiplies very quickly in both the aquarium and the pond - and turtles enjoy eating it. It makes sense not to immediately serve plants purchased from the pet store (€18.00 on Amazon) to the turtles, but instead to propagate 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.
Frogbite
Both the North American frogbite and the common frogbite are commonly popular among turtles.
Water lettuce (shell flower)
This tropical floating plant is available in many garden and hardware stores. Water lettuce reproduces well in summer, but it does not survive the winter.
Note: The same applies to the water hyacinth as to the shell flower.
These aquatic plants should not be eaten by turtles
There are also some aquatic plants that you should not feed to your turtles as they are potentially toxic to the animals. These include:
- Water lilies
- Swamp iris
- Swamp calla
Water lilies contain an alkaloid that is said to be toxic to turtles. Even if there are no confirmed facts yet, it is advisable to avoid these popular aquatic plants in the pond or aquarium if you keep water turtles.
