Plants Toxic To Turtles – Learn About Plants Turtles Should Not Eat (2024)

FAQs

Plants Toxic To Turtles – Learn About Plants Turtles Should Not Eat? ›

Potentially harmful plants

Some of these vegetables, such as chives, parsley, and spinach, contain high levels of chemicals called oxalates, which you should avoid. Fruits can include apples, cantaloupe, bananas, berries, and mangoes. You can also feed them non-toxic aquatic plants like water hyacinth, water lettuce, and duckweed.

Regardless of the protein source, the carnivorous portion of a turtle's diet should compose no more than two thirds of the diet of juveniles and about half of the diet of adults. Processed foods (such as hotdogs, lunch meat, and bread) should never be fed to any turtle species.

The little glassy-eyed creatures may look cute and harmless, but turtles can make people sick. The most common germ spread from turtles is called Salmonella. People can get Salmonella by coming in contact with turtles or their habitats.

For vegetables and fruits, pet turtles can have dandelions, mustard greens, cantaloupe and bananas, among other options.

Natural Predators

Adult sea turtles have a few predators, mostly large sharks. Tiger sharks, in particular, are known for eating sea turtles. Killer whales have been known to prey on leatherback turtles. Fishes, dogs, seabirds, raccoons, ghost crabs, and other predators prey on eggs and hatchlings.

The meat is considered a delicacy. “Chelonitoxism (sea turtle meat poisoning) is a rare and sometimes fatal type of food poisoning caused by eating marine turtles,” according to the National Library of Medicine. “Studies show that all parts of the sea turtle are potentially toxic.

While it can be fed to some tropical species like Redfoot and Yellowfoot tortoises, who do consume fruit in their diet, it should not be fed to the majority of tortoises (the Mediterranean species, Horsfields, and the African species) as their digestive systems do not cope well with the natural sugar present in fruit.

If you offer fruit, the amount should be less than 10% of the daily food intake. Box turtles often prefer fruit to vegetables, but fruit is high in sugar and is overall less nutritious. Fruits to offer include apples, pears, bananas (with skin), mango, grapes, star fruit, raisins, peaches, tomato, guava, kiwis, and ...

Can turtles feel pain? ›

A: Yes a turtle's shell does have feeling! If you scratch a turtle, he will feel it just as if you were scratching his skin. He can also feel pain through his shell.

Sometimes, turtles will have fractures only on their plastron, so it is important to check if you don't see other signs of injury. Another common sign of injury is seeing blood around the head, mouth, or arms. When a turtle has an injury to the head, they may pull their head deep into their shell due to fear and pain.

My husband and I planned and built the turtle garden in May 2017 when we decided to become a foster home through the Turtle Rescue League in Massachusetts. We chose turtle- and tortoise-friendly plants such as strawberry, campanula, hosta, oregano, lavender, geranium, and sweet woodruff.

You absolutely can add live plants to your turtle's tank. The issue is that turtles are not going to be delicate with those plants, so you need to pick species that are hardy. Read this guide to learn how to provide live plants for your turtles.

Severely toxic plants include string of pearls, spider mum, pyracantha, periwinkle, parlor ivy, oleander, nightshade, needlepoint, morning glory, mistletoe, majesty, lantana, juniper, Jerusalem cherry, hyacinth, holly, heavenly bamboo, heart ivy, euphorbia and dianthus.

Tortoises often don't appear to know which foods are good to eat and which are not, and there is some evidence of tortoises dying after eating plants such as Buttercups, Daffodils and Foxgloves, which are considered poisonous.