Edible/Toxic Plants?

Princess Nova

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Mar 20, 2018
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Hello everyone.

I’ve been really wanting to add more variety to my Russians diets.. some of you have added great lists for me to try!

I’ve checked out the Plant ID section of this site and the posts simply say either edible or toxic, but my question is, edible or toxic to what type of tortoise?

This might be a stupid question, but I’m a paranoid owner, and I’m just wondering if the safety or toxicity of plants is universal with all tortoises? Uhgg, I feel like I sound stupid lol..

Anyways, I’ll keep checking out the Plant ID section for ideas on what I can switch up their diet with! In the meantime, I have an identification question. Does anyone know what these plants are? I live in the PNW and they’re growing right along side the road.

Thank you all!

IMG_0273.jpg
 

Lyn W

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To be on the safe side I would say that if something is toxic, its toxic to all torts.
Maybe it depends on how much is fed and the size and age of tort etc but I certainly wouldn't risk feeding it to my tort if it was known to be toxic.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide. Some people think they are over cautious but for people like me who aren't very knowledgeable about plants I would always err on the side of caution.

Have you found the Russian caresheet yet? That will help you with diet, temps humidity, substrate etc.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

I think the plant is a purple dead nettle -
see https://www.wildfooduk.com/edible-wild-plants/dead-nettles/ to compare and check on the tortoise table if its safe or not.
 
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Lyn W

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PS plants growing along roads are probably contaminated with fumes from car exhausts etc.
 

queen koopa

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Theres a photo of purple dead nettle in the Plant Id forum. Check out the common plants thread, Ive identified like 5 different weeds in my yard from that one thread!
 

Princess Nova

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Thank you all so much! I’m just worried that if a plant is “edible” what if it’s not be edible to specifically Russians if that makes any sense.. I would never feed a plant deemed toxic, so no worries! Lol thanks again all :)
 

RosemaryDW

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Russians are pretty hardy and can eat seemingly anything; mine can, anyway.

The foods listed here as edible are considered edible for all tortoises.

It's always best to be cautious, especially when you're new but please bear in mind that some sites are extremely conservative and rule out foods on which little research on actual tortoises has been done, or foods which successful owners have fed for many years. Russians in the wild, for example, eat many foods that are considered "bad." And the longer I'm on here, the more I see redfoots eating things that carry warnings. We just don't know very much about what they regularly eat in the wild, foods that might not be good for cows (for example) but which are totally normal for Russians.

I always take a look at the Tortoise Table when looking at new plants; I also search through this site for mention of it, to see how others use it. I make my decision on feeding after that.

I am personally if the mindset that lack of a varied diet is absolutely harmful, whereas access to a single, less well researched plant is not necessarily so.

Again, smart to be cautious for now, just bear in mind you might branch out in a couple of years.

At any rate, that's a dead nettle and it's safe to feed. Just find one that's set back from any heavily traveled roads. :)
 

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