Leaves and flowers.

solidsounds17

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Anyone care to give a rookie some advice on where I can find mulberry leaves, and other leaves of that sort? I know the best way to go at it is to grow your own but due to space restrictions, I am unable to do that. Does anyone know if supermarkets carry them?

Also, I’ve been meaning to grow my own flowers to feed my little guy but my local Home Depot and Lowe’s don’t really carry the seeds that I need. Any idea where else I can go?
Species is leopard.
 

Maro2Bear

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Anyone care to give a rookie some advice on where I can find mulberry leaves, and other leaves of that sort? I know the best way to go at it is to grow your own but due to space restrictions, I am unable to do that. Does anyone know if supermarkets carry them?

Also, I’ve been meaning to grow my own flowers to feed my little guy but my local Home Depot and Lowe’s don’t really carry the seeds that I need. Any idea where else I can go?
Species is leopard.

Here’s a very good source for all types of seeds


I don’t think you will find fresh mulberry leaves in a super market, but check out Kapidolo Farms for dehydrate tort foods. @Kapidolo Farms has new specials going on..

 

iAmCentrochelys sulcata

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Yeah like maro said it’s not likely to find those leaves in a market.
Why don’t you try other options?
 

method89

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Malverne, NY
Anyone care to give a rookie some advice on where I can find mulberry leaves, and other leaves of that sort? I know the best way to go at it is to grow your own but due to space restrictions, I am unable to do that. Does anyone know if supermarkets carry them?

Also, I’ve been meaning to grow my own flowers to feed my little guy but my local Home Depot and Lowe’s don’t really carry the seeds that I need. Any idea where else I can go?
Species is leopard.
@turtlebean got cactus and mulberry leaves online. I'm not sure where though
 

Maro2Bear

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My next door neighbor has a large mulberry tree adjacent to our back garden fence. From time to time, i find young mulberry trees popping up. I should replant A few of these seedlings.

Stark Brothers have a few - but mind you the fruit can be messy ! You might search for fruitless too


Fruitless Mulberry -https://www.starnursery.com/product/fruitless-mulberry
 

turtlebean

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@turtlebean got cactus and mulberry leaves online. I'm not sure where though
Hi all! :)

I went on ebay and searched mulberry leaves and there were tons of listings on there by some excellently reviewed sellers. I think I paid like $6 for 30 of them, including shipping. I’m not sure what a good price for leaves is, but I know I don’t have a mulberry tree and figured they should be apart of Tortillini’s diet, so it was worth it to me!


As for the cactus pads, I really had no experience with them, even ever recognizing pads in person. I think my slew of internet searches led me to a reddit thread and someone suggested I go on a site called Etsy to find some. It seemed like the seller I ordered from already took all the spines and glochids off of the pad which I really appreciated. Until I either grow my own or find a more sustainable source for them, I’ll probably continue buying from that seller, once he’s back in stock. I think I paid $13 for 5 pads. Again, not sure what a good price is but my little homie needs what he needs.

Here are the listings, I hope it’s okay to post these on here! Hope this helps some people and tortoises out:)

D205A378-2C61-4857-AAF2-C29034EAE884.pngC63711B4-7BB3-4126-ABEB-45337E73F127.pngDC40C30D-869D-4D0D-8910-51D4E15406D6.jpeg
 

Tom

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thank you all for the replies. definitely have my hands full on shopping I need to do!
I grew up on the border of Hawthorne and Gardena. Rosecrans and Western. The tropical fish where house where I worked was in Inglewood. There are mulberry trees all over the place down there. You just have to learn to ID them. Most people will be thrilled to have you come lop of a few branches now and then. Pruning them is a huge chore for most non-tortoise people, so the more you take the better.

Tyler and Sarah at Tortoisesupply.com sell all kinds of great seed mixes deigned specifically for tortoises by a nutritionist. I grow lots and lots of their stuff every year.

I've also done business with these guys and like their irrigated horse pasture mix:

I'll be happy to give you a bunch of free cactus pads if you want to come up and get them. Or I can ship them to you. Postage is about $25 for a big flat rate box. Ever come up towards Magic Mountain? I can meet you at a park near here and show you what mature mulberry trees look like.
 

RosemaryDW

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Welcome!

Mulberry leaves are great but new members sometimes mistake them as the only “good” food out there. We’ve got access to good fresh food year round in our Southern California climate, you just need to know how to look. International groceries can be a good bet; there are cultures that eat things you and I might consider weeds.

You shouldn’t have to go far out of your way to find a Mexican market where they sell cactus (nopales). Superior Grocers or drive to Northgate; the Northgate near me had some good things, here is a review I did: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/trip-to-a-mexican-market.180123/. I’ve been back since and they did have dandelions at that time. You can also find dried hibiscus blossoms (jamaica) really cheap, if you’d like to try feeding them.

I’d check Asian markets as well, although I’m not sure how close you are to any. Korean grocers are the best for tortoise food, imo, but you might have to go all the way to Korea Town. If you’ve got a general “Asian” grocery store, look there as well. Here is a review I did of a Korean market: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/a-trip-to-a-korean-market-picture-heavy.159825/ and and one of a 99 Ranch Market, which is a California chain: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-tortoise-chef.153728/page-3#post-1482434.

As you beef up your grocery store list you can get better at identifying the things that grow around you, including Mulberry trees!
 

solidsounds17

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Inglewood, Ca
I grew up on the border of Hawthorne and Gardena. Rosecrans and Western. The tropical fish where house where I worked was in Inglewood. There are mulberry trees all over the place down there. You just have to learn to ID them. Most people will be thrilled to have you come lop of a few branches now and then. Pruning them is a huge chore for most non-tortoise people, so the more you take the better.

Tyler and Sarah at Tortoisesupply.com sell all kinds of great seed mixes deigned specifically for tortoises by a nutritionist. I grow lots and lots of their stuff every year.

I've also done business with these guys and like their irrigated horse pasture mix:

I'll be happy to give you a bunch of free cactus pads if you want to come up and get them. Or I can ship them to you. Postage is about $25 for a big flat rate box. Ever come up towards Magic Mountain? I can meet you at a park near here and show you what mature mulberry trees look like.
That's awfully close to where I live. Roughly 5 mins.

Thank you for that, just purchased three different seed mixes as well as some of their herbal hay!

I will definitely take you up on that. I have a season pass to 6 flags so driving up there would be no problem! What day works best for you?
 

solidsounds17

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Messages
153
Location (City and/or State)
Inglewood, Ca
Welcome!

Mulberry leaves are great but new members sometimes mistake them as the only “good” food out there. We’ve got access to good fresh food year round in our Southern California climate, you just need to know how to look. International groceries can be a good bet; there are cultures that eat things you and I might consider weeds.

You shouldn’t have to go far out of your way to find a Mexican market where they sell cactus (nopales). Superior Grocers or drive to Northgate; the Northgate near me had some good things, here is a review I did: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/trip-to-a-mexican-market.180123/. I’ve been back since and they did have dandelions at that time. You can also find dried hibiscus blossoms (jamaica) really cheap, if you’d like to try feeding them.

I’d check Asian markets as well, although I’m not sure how close you are to any. Korean grocers are the best for tortoise food, imo, but you might have to go all the way to Korea Town. If you’ve got a general “Asian” grocery store, look there as well. Here is a review I did of a Korean market: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/a-trip-to-a-korean-market-picture-heavy.159825/ and and one of a 99 Ranch Market, which is a California chain: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-tortoise-chef.153728/page-3#post-1482434.

As you beef up your grocery store list you can get better at identifying the things that grow around you, including Mulberry trees!

The supermarkets you mentioned tend to be my go to, that’s where I normally get my cactus from. Didn’t know hibiscus blossoms were jamaica?

I definitely have some around so thank you for the links to those. I’ll definitely give it a good read and compile a list of items for my next haul.
 

COmtnLady

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Was the Mulberry Tree the one that crushed your enclosures?

Are there any leaves left or did the storm take all of them? Can you still send some?
 

Quadro

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Jan 8, 2020
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SC
Anyone care to give a rookie some advice on where I can find mulberry leaves, and other leaves of that sort? I know the best way to go at it is to grow your own but due to space restrictions, I am unable to do that. Does anyone know if supermarkets carry them?

Also, I’ve been meaning to grow my own flowers to feed my little guy but my local Home Depot and Lowe’s don’t really carry the seeds that I need. Any idea where else I can go?
Species is leopard.
I bought my ever bearing mulberry tree on fastgrowingtrees.com max height 10-15 ft I won’t feed anything off of it until next year though only feed the new growth .
 

Kapidolo Farms

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@solidsounds17

1 pound dry is about ten pounds wet, average wet weight dries down to about 10% moisture or less.

1 pound of backyard harvest Mulberry leaves shipped (that means including shipping) is $20.99, so ten pounds for $21.
1 Pound of cactus at $28.99 so like ten pounds of fresh for less than $30
see it all at https://kapidolofarms.com/product-category/foods-diet-items/
 

Crush da Baum

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Brooksville
Was the Mulberry Tree the one that crushed your enclosures?

Are there any leaves left or did the storm take all of them? Can you still send some?
No the mulberry tree is far away from my enclosures in one of the pastures. The tree is fine and I can send you some if you pay for shipping.
 

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