new "terrarium" plant.. Help?

chelslpn

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my Russian tortoise refuses to eat anything but butter lettuce and radaccio from Trader Joes.. yep I'm serious.. I've tried weeds, dandelion greens, Mazuri LS, Bok Choy, zoo med tortoise food, you name it.. He hates it. So I was at Petco the other day picking up a water dish and saw a little section of live terrarium plants and decided to get him one. Today I come home and there's bites taken out of it... Guess I found something he likes ;) problem is... It had no label on it when I bought it (none of them did) so I have no idea what it is or if it's edible. I'm assuming it was because why else would you put it in there but with Petco, who knows. If anyone could help ID this thing, that would be great :)


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lismar79

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Looks like a jade maybe.....
http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp?catID=199
you still need to get him to eat more. Have you tried chopping up a few new foods real fine and mix it with what he likes. Variety is needed for him to be healty so this could be a real health issue if it goes on. Tough love is hard with stubborn torts and it takes a while for changes....good luck!
 

gingerbee

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Yup a jade. I grow several varieties. I never thought to feed it to my torts though ...
 

ZEROPILOT

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You'll find stuff he'll eat through trial and error and even THOSE foods will be eaten on and off. It gets worse when feeding several tortoises and dealing with their picky behavior. In the end, you'll be happy that at least you did find something that he will eat that's not bad for him.
 

Amanda81

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It's name is golden sedum. Type of succulent. I have a small one I plan on putting in my enclosure as well. If your tort is munching on it, make sure it's in organic soil. Most places put plants in soil that has chemicals. You might want to replant it in organic soil and keep it up from him for 3 months,et the chemicals leech out of it if you can't confirm its in organic soil now.
 

Yvonne G

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No, I don't think it's sedum. It might be a type of echiveria. At any rate, it's edible, whatever it is.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Try the tough love policy. Cut out lettuce and radicchio COMPLETELY! and have fresh weeds and greens in his bowl 24/7. Tortoises will not starve themselves. When he gets hungry, he'll eat them. It's worked for mine in the beginning, and I know other torts have had sucuess with this too. The key is too ignoring him when he begs for food. I know. It's TERRIBLE, and he'll be hungry. but in reality, he's not starving and he'll eat the weeds when he actually is! :)
 

Yvonne G

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Hm-m...looks like you were almost right, Amanda and I was way off base.
 

Amanda81

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Hm-m...looks like you were almost right, Amanda and I was way off base.
Well I seriously just bought some little ones to add to my enclosure and the label on the container says golden sedum. I guess they put it in the wrong pot. Thanks Yvonne for letting me know. I would have seriously been upset if it hurt one my baby's.
 

crimson_lotus

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don't try the new foods with the food he loves - i can put mango and a whole bunch of other fruits on my tortoises plate and she will ONLY go for the mango (she's a redfoot, fruit eating species). If i take out the mango she will try everything else.
 

chelslpn

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Thanks for all the help guys - so we determined its a sedum and it's safe? :)

I have cut out the butter lettuce and raddaccio completely. He has a plate full of dandelion greens and bok choy that he will not touch and some Mazuri that he won't look at either. I have a vet appointment for this Friday just to make sure there's no other problem going on.. I think he's just picky. He never really begs for food but he is wild caught and is still not completely comfortable eating around us yet anyway as far as that goes. I've tried mixing foods, chipping them up and blending, leaving whole, separating everything.. I've tried it all lol he's just taking bites of his new plant so maybe he wants something fresh ;) ha
 

chelslpn

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If that is what he likes, are most succulents okay for tortoises? Are there any in particular that yours like? I bought it as a decoration never thinking he'd eat it considering he won't eat anything but it's better than nothing if it isn't hurting him.
 

Amanda81

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The problem with buying plants for him to eat is that most are going to be in soil that's packed full of chemicals to encourage it to grow. The chemicals of course transfer to the plant, your guy eats the plant and the chemicals. If you buy plants for him to eat you will need to either find a source that uses organic soil or bring them home, plant in organic soil yourself and wait about 3 months for all the chemicals to leech out of them. You can also start things from seeds in organic soil, of course you will have to wait to use as a food source.
As for what's safe, most jade type succulents are safe. Heck I think most succulent type plants are safe. A really good food for them are the thornless prickly pear cactus. You can buy organic grown pads, ready for your guy to eat online. I personally got mine from eBay, that's the cheapest place I found them. Just type in "thornless prickly pear". There's a correct name but I don't remember it, someone will remind us very shortly what that name is. Just be careful with how much and often you feed these cause they can kinda work as a stool softener. I usually feed a small portion 3x week and none of mine have had loose stool.
Another weed mine really seem to like is plantain, broadleaf and narrow, I won't attempt to describe it cause I will only confuse you. Just type the name in Google and it will pull up some photo. You can feed chickweed too. Look in the diet section here on the forum, people have posted numberous list of eatable items.
How wild caught is your guy? How long has he been out of the wild? I am not expert on this topic but I know most recommend not keeping a wild tortoise. Someone will explain you why and if you should return him.
 

Amanda81

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ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1418312248.920794.jpg
This is the prickly pear I spoke of above.
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1418312476.168291.jpg
This is a type of jade, it's commonly called "hobbit toes".
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1418312543.968790.jpg
This is a jade plant. They sold smaller then this normally in the store but same look.
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1418312598.150357.jpg
This is spider plant, not succulent but a safe plant to eat and you can get them about anywhere.
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1418312660.435370.jpg
This is wandering Jew (what I was told). It's safe to eat and if you take a 2" clipping and put in damp soil it will spread like crazy.
These are some I'm growing in organic soil inside over winter so I will have to feed come spring. I also have some mulberry tree clippings I am growing and some grape vines.
If I am buying plants to put in my enclosure for them to eat/destroy, I always check to see if I can grow more, usually by taking some the original plant, then I take a clipping or whatever it is I need from the mother plant, start that in a separate pot before I put original in the enclosure, that way I only have to buy that specific plant once and spend all that time waiting for chemicals to leech out. I have switched to organic soil so everything I have is grown organically now. These are just some examples I had photos of, thought it might help ya. There is hundreds more things to choose from. I personally try to feed more weeds then flowers. Say I give them a coffee cup full of stuff, the whole coffee cup would be full of grass and weeds from my yard (chemical free) and then I will throw a couple leafs of "a house plant" on the top. This is just how I do it, not saying it's the best way or the right way, just my method. Hope this helped.
 

Iochroma

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@Amanda81
re: succulent safety - most African succulents are not safe, in fact, several of the most deadly plants known are African.
Jade plants aren't too dangerous, but they do cause nausea in humans. Many succulents that are not acutely poisonous have compounds know to be powerful mutagens and carcinogens. I am not an advocate of feeding ornamental succulents to animals willy-nilly.
I do agree commercially grown plants are full of the sprays the growers use - especially fungicides - that are not safe in food. Some of these will be in the plant in dangerous quantities (to humans) eight months after application. I have yet to find a nearby grower of houseplants that is certified organic, but they probably can be found.
 
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Amanda81

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I'm not sure which are African and which aren't. I check each item individually before I feed to my torts. The ones I mentions are ok to feed, again, a bit here and there. I would never give them large amounts. Their diets are mostly grasses and weeds and sometimes I ad a little of this of that to expose them to new things.
It is rare you find a certified organic grower. You might find some that state they are but I wouldn't trust my torts well being to that. This is why I always replant in organic matter myself and just wait about 3 months.
 

Iochroma

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@Amanda81
I was responding to your statement: "Heck I think most succulent type plants are safe".
In fact, many are deadly. Most African succulents have toxic properties, if not immediately lethal. Neophytes should not be offering random succulents to animals.
 

Amanda81

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Thank you for the info, I will defiantly do some research on this. I am always trying to educate myself on all these plants and weeds. I have to admit that I am completely in the dark when it comes to the different species and scientific names.
 

chelslpn

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Thank you all very much for the info! I actually took him to the vet today for a check up ...and because he hasn't eaten very much since I got him or gone to the bathroom very much. But I wasn't sure if he wasn't going to the bathroom because he wasn't eating.. or wasn't eating because he couldn't go to the bathroom... they did an X-ray and it turns out he has gastritis. I know this should probably go on a different board but.... anyone experience this?! This is crazy
 

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