Growing food for your tortoise

Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
9
I got my baby leopard about 2 weeks ago and was a little underwhelmed with what I was able to find in stores and outside (of course, Spring is coming, so that will change). So inorder to get variety, I'm trying to grow some plants and wanted input on what you all do and how my current list is.

Here's the list of plants I bought that are already started (some order online, some bought at a garden shop).
-prickly pear cactus
-hibiscus
-aloe vera
-kale
-mustard greens
-red leaf lettuce
-turnip greens
-collard greens
-argula

Then I bought some seeds to start growing:
-rye grass
-barley
-wheatgrass
-stereotypical lawn grass
-oat grass
-forget me not flowers

Everything is in pots at this point, but does anyone else do this? I found danelion greens in the store to hold over until I can pick some. I'm trying to learn the different safe plants I can pick out, but I'm finding I know a WHOLE LOT more about animals than I do plants so that's still in the works.
 

wellington

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Many members grow their own specially through winter months. Many grow in different low sided trays and then switches out the trays as they are eaten down. Your leopard probably won't touch the grasses you have planted for quite a few years. As for the plants you bought, if they weren't started organically then they should be rinsed free of the dirt they came in, repotted in organic dirt and then only the new growth fed. Good luck with your gardening skills:D
Also, if you haven't, please read the threads below in my post for proper temps and humidity
 

Alexio

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Mar 2, 2016
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Syracuse, New York
I had the same problems when I got my lil leopard about a month ago. The guy at the pet store said he feeds his Leo's collard greens mustard greens and turnup greens . I could only find the collard greens in the store and he seemed to like them so-so . butt I felt like I could do better.

Most of the reading I have done said their diet should be 75-85% grass. So I just grow my own grass indoors, in pots . it's really cheap and really easy . I just start with pure untreated grass seed and throw in pure unfertilized soil . the grass seed was really cheap and lasts a long time. I water it and leave it by the window. It's the majority of his diet. If your interested I can give you more info on the actual growing portion.

 
Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
9
Many members grow their own specially through winter months. Many grow in different low sided trays and then switches out the trays as they are eaten down. Your leopard probably won't touch the grasses you have planted for quite a few years. As for the plants you bought, if they weren't started organically then they should be rinsed free of the dirt they came in, repotted in organic dirt and then only the new growth fed. Good luck with your gardening skills:D
Also, if you haven't, please read the threads below in my post for proper temps and humidity

I didn't plant anything actually inside the enclousure at this point and I was hoping I would be able to clip the grass and mix it with the other food when I crop everything up.

As far as temps. During the day, the hot spot stays pretty steady at 105F and at night, I have a black light that keeps it about 80. I don't know the cool side off hand, but she does seem to travel between both sides throughout the day. I do not have a humidity gage YET, but in the morning, I use a cup to saturate the ecoearth on one side and then use a misting bottle and spray everything pretty well about 3x a day. The exact percentage finding in next on the list.
 
Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
9
I had the same problems when I got my lil leopard about a month ago. The guy at the pet store said he feeds his Leo's collard greens mustard greens and turnup greens . I could only find the collard greens in the store and he seemed to like them so-so . butt I felt like I could do better.

Most of the reading I have done said their diet should be 75-85% grass. So I just grow my own grass indoors, in pots . it's really cheap and really easy . I just start with pure untreated grass seed and throw in pure unfertilized soil . the grass seed was really cheap and lasts a long time. I water it and leave it by the window. It's the majority of his diet. If your interested I can give you more info on the actual growing portion.

That would be great if you could do that. I was only able to find the widest variety of greens at a farmers market that a 40 min round trip and then I would have to get a big bundle of each and she only has gone through a fraction of each, so I was thinking it would just be easier to grow the variety, so I could have an even larger variety and don't have to make the drive every week.
 

squirt15

New Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2015
Messages
7
My sully will only eat certain kales i think it's the curly one and spring mix and once a month a little fruit last summer i didn't take him out much because it was a cold summer here in mi and he'll be a year old this summer so id pick some grass for him to eat in the summer but he wouldn't eat it but the vet said spring mix and kale is perfect
 

Careym13

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Jan 28, 2015
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Northern Virginia
When weeds are scarce over the winter, I use endive and escarole...they are readily available at all of the grocery stores in my area. I also grow different tortoise seed mixes, use a lot of wheat grass, tons of herbal tortoise hay, and occasionally mix in radicchio, spring mix (minus the spinach), mustard, kale, arugula, dandelion greens when the store has them, watercress, frisee lettuce, aloe, dried cactus chips from Will, and hibiscus leaves from the plant I overwintered in my house. Purple Deadnettle is popping up all over the place now and my torts really like it. My torts used to be picky eaters, so I chopped everything up really small to make sure they couldn't pick out what they didn't like. Now they eat pretty much everything. Oh, I mix in Mazuri and Grassland tortoise food a couple of times a week also.
 
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