General Care Discussion :: water plant

[turrbee]

i bought a new water plant for them to hide in
(sorry i forgot the name =s)
i dont know what's up with them
they seem to bite off the leaves
and that was it
they dont eat it
but keep biting the leaves off
should i just take it out of the tank

[SpotsMama]

Do the turtles seem to be having fun dismembering the plant? If so, I'd leave it in until it dies from being pecked at.

[marisa]

If they're just making a mess with it (it doesn't happen to be hornwart, does it?), I'd take it out the keep the tank cleaner, especially if it's the kind that can clog up a filter. You could put it in water to try to get it growing again and put it in again sometime in the future to see if they're more interested in eating it.

[turrbee]

no~ it's not hornwort.
but yea.
i do take the ones they bit off out of tank
i guess they are just playing with it =P

[BullDog]

Yup, you've got destructo-turtles When I first got Ralph live plants, that exactly what he did. But now, he's developed a taste for them and eats it all in 15 minutes I buy the potted ones, because every so often I can get them for 3 for the price of 1. Once he's eaten it down to the nubs, I put it in a little 2 gal tank, with 2 feeders I saved, and now a rather large colony of snails (At least 4 of the snails are bigger than the fish!). I let the plant re-grow, then give it to him again. Although, he hasn't got any since the snails starting going nuts and I found 4 snails in the filter last time I gave him a plant :/