can hermans eat these plants

[scottforensic]

Hi there
im new to the forum (and keeping tortoises)
I have a young Herman tortoise and im constantly searching for the best food for him to eat.

at the minute i give him a mixture of:
dandelions
kale
round lettuce
chicory
parsley

ive bought some T Lady seeds as well but im still growing these.

ive just started to give him a few pellets of the zoo med grassland feed which i soak and crumble into his food every other day.

i also have several kinds of cactus which i give him a small amount of every 3 or 4 days.

ive read on this forum that Geraniums and Pansies are ok to feed tortoises
can any one tell me if this is just the regular plants you can buy from any garden shop?

ive been searching for mustard / turnip / collard greens but i cant find them any where

can any one suggest any thing else i can give him to eat which is easy to source in the uk?

ive just read about butternut squash so i will try that as well

thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

ive been searching for mustard / turnip / collard greens but i cant find them any where
can any one suggest any thing else i can give him to eat which is easy to source in the uk?
thanks

I'm not 100% sure about the UK, however here in the states almost every grocery store's produce department stocks packaged lettuces. Look through them until you find one that contains a good mixture and variety. You would be looking for such things as escarole, endive, etc. Sometimes here you also find the greens that you have trouble finding in a package, rather than loose in bulk. So look at all the packaged mixtures and I'm sure you will find something.

Yvonne

 

[tortoisenerd]

Hi Scott; welcome to the forum!

I would not feed the parsley due to the low nutrition, personally. I have heard the UK sells a version of spring mix like the US does. It looks like this, and has a large variety for your money. See here: http://www.ebfarm.com/Products/Ingredients/MixedBabyGreens.aspx

The plants need to be organic, or sit to de-pesticide for 3-6 months out of reach of the tort.

Hopefully someone from the UK will show up to give you some additional advice.

---

You can also grow all of those things. You can buy seeds online from UK sites if you cannot find them near you. They grow fine indoors in winter too, just slowly (I live in a climate similar to the UK). Use organic soil, and even a cat litter box works well since you'll mostly be feeding the small sprouts and plants, not growing the entire heard of lettuce, etc.

 

[Crazy1]

Is the round lettuce what we in the states call Iceburg? If so it is not nutitious at all. You should be able to find ridichio also I would limit the kale. you can also get some plug plants on http://www.shelledwarriorsshop.co.uk/plug-plants-40-c.asp

 

[scottforensic]

Is the round lettuce what we in the states call Iceburg? If so it is not nutitious at all. You should be able to find ridichio also I would limit the kale. you can also get some plug plants on http://www.shelledwarriorsshop.co.uk/plug-plants-40-c.asp

thanks for taking the time to reply.
i will cut out the parsley (i actually only started adding parsley after seeing a video on you tube of a guy giving advice on what to feed tortoises)

round lettuce isnt the same as iceberg (i knew not to give him iceberg)
round lettuce is a really green leafy lettuce. i had read some where that this kind of lettuce is ok.

i will look into the spring mix im sure ive seen something like that before.

i will get some plants from shelled warriors asap and plant the the ones i bought from homebase out of reach until after the summer. Im glad i checked with you guys first.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Green leafy lettuce is probably ok; the spring mix is a little better. Variety is the big key, so that's great you are working on that. I personally don't feed much radicchio due to the low calcium to phosphorus ratio (just what I get in spring mix, no more; I wouldn't buy a head of it for example). Lots of tortoise advice is bad; I haven't seen any bad advice on this forum though.

 

[scottforensic]

Green leafy lettuce is probably ok; the spring mix is a little better. Variety is the big key, so that's great you are working on that. I personally don't feed much radicchio due to the low calcium to phosphorus ratio (just what I get in spring mix, no more; I wouldn't buy a head of it for example). Lots of tortoise advice is bad; I haven't seen any bad advice on this forum though.

i found the spring mix easily once i knew what i was looking for.

does any one know if radish tops / greens and carrot greens are ok to feed him?

 

[Crazy1]

I have fed both but only in small amounts. I would use endive or Escarole instead.
Here is a list gathered from several places on the net. http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5823.html