# Watermelon



## mlummus (Sep 9, 2015)

Are the leaves/flowers/vines from watermelon edible for Russian tortoises?


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## Prairie Mom (Sep 9, 2015)

mlummus said:


> Are the leaves/flowers/vines from watermelon edible for Russian tortoises?


Yes absolutely. My tortoise loves them. Here's some pics of her eating some that I love





awww....she was so little in these! Okay, sorry....couldn't resist.

YES-Feed to your tortoise and watch them enjoy. This is good stuff that I've even grown indoors as a winter food source


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## mlummus (Sep 9, 2015)

Do you save any of the leaves by freezing or dehydrating? I just got ALOT of leaves/vines/flowers from a lady and its more than what my tort can eat before it goes bad. I don't want any of it to go to waste


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## Meganolvt (Sep 9, 2015)

mlummus said:


> Do you save any of the leaves by freezing or dehydrating? I just got ALOT of leaves/vines/flowers from a lady and its more than what my tort can eat before it goes bad. I don't want any of it to go to waste



I used to work at a zoo and we froze grapevine and leaves for the winter. We put them in a Ziploc bag with a little bit of water and it worked great!


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## Prairie Mom (Sep 9, 2015)

mlummus said:


> Do you save any of the leaves by freezing or dehydrating? I just got ALOT of leaves/vines/flowers from a lady and its more than what my tort can eat before it goes bad. I don't want any of it to go to waste



Yes. I have been drying quite a bit of tortoise food. I mentioned it a bit today on the garden chat thread http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/garden-chat-photos-for-torts-and-people-♫-♫.104546/page-83

I think it's cool that @Meganolvt has frozen some as well. Most leaves turn to mush when they're frozen, but tortoises may still eat them if they're mixed in mazuri or some good fresh greens. Meganolvt: Did your frozen grapeleaves turn to mush when thawed? -I may have to freeze some too.


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## mlummus (Sep 10, 2015)

@prariemom could you explain your process? I can't find your post

I will probably try both methods since I have enough!


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## DawnH (Sep 10, 2015)

mlummus said:


> @prariemom could you explain your process? I can't find your post
> 
> I will probably try both methods since I have enough!



We've been talking about this quite a bit on garden chat - you can click the link below and it will take you to prariemoms suggestions!

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/garden-chat-photos-for-torts-and-people-♫-♫.104546/page-83


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## Prairie Mom (Sep 10, 2015)

mlummus said:


> @prariemom could you explain your process? I can't find your post
> 
> I will probably try both methods since I have enough!


For grass/weed clippings, I am doing the same method that Turtulas-Len taught me in this thread: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-young-sulcatas-winter-diet-worked.115259/

For leaves, I do nothing but lay them out on a table in my garage. -They curl up, but I don't mind.

I'm interested in trying out freezing as well. I'll probably do a bit of both.


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## mlummus (Sep 10, 2015)

Okay that is an interesting method! Keeping the clippings and stuff outside seems pretty simple. I thought to dehydrate you HAD to use an oven! Very nice! Thank you! 

Do you think that the vines of the watermelon plant will dehydrate well?


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## Prairie Mom (Sep 10, 2015)

mlummus said:


> Okay that is an interesting method! Keeping the clippings and stuff outside seems pretty simple. I thought to dehydrate you HAD to use an oven! Very nice! Thank you!
> 
> Do you think that the vines of the watermelon plant will dehydrate well?


I suspect that the vine itself will turn to hard to eat, but the leaves will work great. I'm going to experiment this year and dehydrate the leaves of my squash plants and freeze the vine part. I assume the vine will turn mushy when thawed, but I am going to check out whether my tortoise would still eat it if it were mixed with other good stuff. Most of my winter food will be up for experiment this year


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## Meganolvt (Sep 10, 2015)

[QUOif I remember correctlyE="Prairie Mom, post: 1193785, member: 45781"]Yes. I have been drying quite a bit of tortoise food. I mentioned it a bit today on the garden chat thread http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/garden-chat-photos-for-torts-and-people-♫-♫.104546/page-83

I think it's cool that @Meganolvt has frozen some as well. Most leaves turn to mush when they're frozen, but tortoises may still eat them if they're mixed in mazuri or some good fresh greens. Meganolvt: Did your frozen grapeleaves turn to mush when thawed? -I may have to freeze some too.[/QUOTE]

No, If I remember correctly the leaves thawed just fine. We did it for capuchin monkeys and they loved them just as much after they were thawed.


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## Prairie Mom (Sep 10, 2015)

Meganolvt said:


> [QUOif I remember correctlyE="Prairie Mom, post: 1193785, member: 45781"]Yes. I have been drying quite a bit of tortoise food. I mentioned it a bit today on the garden chat thread http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/garden-chat-photos-for-torts-and-people-♫-♫.104546/page-83
> 
> I think it's cool that @Meganolvt has frozen some as well. Most leaves turn to mush when they're frozen, but tortoises may still eat them if they're mixed in mazuri or some good fresh greens. Meganolvt: Did your frozen grapeleaves turn to mush when thawed? -I may have to freeze some too.



No, If I remember correctly the leaves thawed just fine. We did it for capuchin monkeys and they loved them just as much after they were thawed.[/QUOTE]
Awesome! I'm trying this.


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