Feeding and Nutrition :: What plants in the RES tank? :\

[caykuu]

Ive always questioned whether or not to put aquatic plants in the tank with my RES... she does LOVE to eat veggies, so I'm assuming that she'll eat all the plants within a few minutes. Wondering, is this true? (I don't think I'm ready to spend money and time on picking plants, then having them eaten in the next hour...)

So I just read online that water turtles are generally not interested in eating cabomba? Is this a safe plant to have with the turts? What are your experiences with cabomba? (I also read that someone's cabomba completely clogged their filter and 5 of their fish died... so Im trying to get more input.)

[caykuu]

(Bumping my post to the top-- it's a little forgotten 0.0 )

[marisa]

Chances are good that even if they're not eaten, your turtle will rip them up just for something to do.

I've tried cabomba, and my RES wasn't impressed with its edibility (not sure if this is a word, but you know what I mean ), but it did eventually fall/get ripped apart.

For me, the best thing to do has been to decorate with fake/plastic plants (a turtle may take initial nips at them, but will quickly realize they're not for eating) and add aquatic plants that I know will be eaten, like anacharis, duckweed, water hyacinth, etc.

[caykuu]

Marisa: Thanks for replying.
I thought about using plastic plants, but my turtle has a tendency to rip apart the plastic too. There were small plastic flowers on her rock, and she's recently taken them down to pieces! Strange girl.

Still not sure about whether or not I should add real or fake plants~ she's likely to swallow the plastic, the way I see her bite them like it's food when she's bored. Silly!

Hm... Not sure, not sure.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I have some fake plastic leafs floating around in his tank, at first he bit at them but he was never able to tear them apart.
At my pet store the cheapest plant is ancharis I think 2-3 dollars. My RES eats them in seconds so I only buy them once in a while. onion plants are pretty expensive around 7 dollars for one.

[marisa]

Try to get plastic plants that have bigger leaves---small pieces have a much greater chance of being accidently ingested if they're broken off.

My RES used to try to bit plastic leaves, but after not being able to get a good grip on them (they tend to get slippery) he gave up trying to eat them.

[caykuu]

I'll try plastic plants that have bigger leaves, and thicker stems. The plastic flower on her rock was pretty small, so that might be a reason why she ripped it so easily. xD And probably ingested some of it, too.

Thanks guys!

[dullEyeLama]

You can keep Java fern. They won't eat it. (of course they might destroy it though >> not eating, but still biting and spitting it out, lol)