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- May 16, 2013
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When I buy plants for my tort's enclosure, how careful do I have to be about fertilizer? I read somewhere that I should rinse off the roots and replant for like 2 weeks before feeding him. Is this true?
fertilizer
- Thread starter shock rock
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Yes and they also say to only feed new growth.
It depends (get use to this very vague answer on all things tortoise related) 
Some folks will only ever use organic plants to start with. Some folks will take the plant straight from the store and put it in with the tortoises. While some folks give the plant's roots a cleaning and re-pot or plant. Other's just make the plant sit out a certain amount of time or have it grow a certain amount. Some do both re-potting and keeping the plant for a length of time (up to a year). I have done some of all of these methods at one point or another.
What I like to do is look at the animal I am putting this plant in with. For instance, I know my Russians will immediately chomp down any plant in their enclosure, so for them it would be a matter of waiting the time out before planting it with them. The hingebacks on the other hand will not touch much if any of any plant, so I feel safer giving them the plant immediately. Tortoise size is another factor I look at. A little hatchling has a very small amount of body mass, so a little of anything makes a big impact on their health. This would be a case of going the extra yard of cleaning up the plant roots also or going organic. While with one of the larger sulcata's they can handle the possible adverse effects from eating a plant with fertilizer in it.
Ideally I like to buy plants at spring clearance for placing into the enclosures late summer. Fall clearance sale plants go in after the tortoises are inside for the winter and they won't be seeing the plants until the next spring. (I am cheap, so I try to get only plants once they are atleast 50% off) This talks long term planning that most new to tortoise keeping don't have the luxury of.
I guess in a way, in the end it comes down to how much of a risk taker you are. It's a judgement call only you the keeper can make, knowing your animals and what you can even find in your area.
Some folks will only ever use organic plants to start with. Some folks will take the plant straight from the store and put it in with the tortoises. While some folks give the plant's roots a cleaning and re-pot or plant. Other's just make the plant sit out a certain amount of time or have it grow a certain amount. Some do both re-potting and keeping the plant for a length of time (up to a year). I have done some of all of these methods at one point or another.
What I like to do is look at the animal I am putting this plant in with. For instance, I know my Russians will immediately chomp down any plant in their enclosure, so for them it would be a matter of waiting the time out before planting it with them. The hingebacks on the other hand will not touch much if any of any plant, so I feel safer giving them the plant immediately. Tortoise size is another factor I look at. A little hatchling has a very small amount of body mass, so a little of anything makes a big impact on their health. This would be a case of going the extra yard of cleaning up the plant roots also or going organic. While with one of the larger sulcata's they can handle the possible adverse effects from eating a plant with fertilizer in it.
Ideally I like to buy plants at spring clearance for placing into the enclosures late summer. Fall clearance sale plants go in after the tortoises are inside for the winter and they won't be seeing the plants until the next spring. (I am cheap, so I try to get only plants once they are atleast 50% off)
This talks long term planning that most new to tortoise keeping don't have the luxury of.I guess in a way, in the end it comes down to how much of a risk taker you are. It's a judgement call only you the keeper can make, knowing your animals and what you can even find in your area.
We have a member here who has been keeping tortoises since the 60's. He also happens to work at a large commercial nursery. He has informed us that the industry standard for decorative plants is to use granules in the soil that are slow release pesticide and fertilizer and that these chemicals work by getting into the tissues of the plants as they grow (systemic). He says it can take up to a year for these chemicals to subside. Based on what he said, I only feed new grow that occurs after I've had a plant for one year or more. This is why its my preference to just grow things myself from seed, or find other existing food sources like weed patches that have no chemicals applied or mulberry trees.
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