High desert native plants for Russian

[Jilliancornejo]

Hi, I live in the high desert of Central Oregon, and the tortoise table doesn’t really list any native plants that we have around here. Does anyone know what native plants might be safe to feed? We have a lot of rabbit brush sage and variety of succulents growing near us. I do harvest the knapweed, calendula and I know that the Mullen is poisonous.

 

[Jilliancornejo]

We have half acre of this in our backyard, the enclosure has safe plants but our tortoise loves to walk with us and graze

 

[TisMary]

Hi, I live in the high desert of Central Oregon, and the tortoise table doesn’t really list any native plants that we have around here. Does anyone know what native plants might be safe to feed? We have a lot of rabbit brush sage and variety of succulents growing near us. I do harvest the knapweed, calendula and I know that the Mullen is poisonous.

Hi @Jilliancornejo and welcome! Stating the obvious, you're looking to find a match between something that grows wild in your area and something that's safe to feed your tort(s). Check out this Reference List for Oregon Wildflower Identification. You might start by browsing the pictures for say, one plant you recognize.

Don't give up on the TTT Plant Database. Look your plant up there to see what they say. For example, I recognized Campanula rotundifolia from the OR list and from the TTT plant database. It grows in UK, here in NY, and in OR (seed dispersion is amazing!?) "Common names" are where we can sometimes get tripped up - Bluebell Bellflower, Bluebell, Harebell, Bluebell-of-Scotland, Blue Rain Flower are all common names for C. rotundifolia. So, I recommend using the botanical name (Genus species) (aka binomial name, or Latin name) which are pretty much recognized and accepted around the world. On TTT, if you don't get any hits when specifying both genus and species names, try them each separately.

If you still don't get a hit on TTT, try a google search on the botanical name with the word "toxic" or "poison" after the name. If it's on somebody's list, it'll show up pretty high up in the results. You can do the same with the common name, but make sure you're really talking about the same genus and species.

As always, check your sources for reputable sites. Good luck! I hope you have fun doing this.

 

[Jilliancornejo]

Thanks! I want to be able to take her out on walks and have her enjoy grazing in different things, I’ll keep researching outside of tortoise table. She loves to explore!