Piper Sarmentosum

[mnhash]

Hi, does anyone know if Piper Sarmentosum is safe for torts? It’s usually eaten raw as part of a salad delicacy in Asia and I have an abundant amount of this where I live.

here’s more info on the plant:
https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/dna/organisms/details/347

a study conducted on it:
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/705950/

 

[Maro2Bear]

Interesting plant part of the pepper family & seems to have a few negative properties that in general seem to be the kinds of things we don’t feed to torts.

• The plant has a typical pungent smell.
• “Waxy” surface
• In humans - Functions as an expectorant, the fruits help in bringing up mucus and other material from the respiratory tract.
• The leaves also have a pungent flavour due to a resin called chavicine.

I stopped reading, seems to be lots of negatives... Pepper type plants good for humans...maybe not so much for torts.

 

[mnhash]

Interesting plant part of the pepper family & seems to have a few negative properties that in general seem to be the kinds of things we don’t feed to torts.

• The plant has a typical pungent smell.
• “Waxy” surface
• In humans - Functions as an expectorant, the fruits help in bringing up mucus and other material from the respiratory tract.
• The leaves also have a pungent flavour due to a resin called chavicine.

I stopped reading, seems to be lots of negatives... Pepper type plants good for humans...maybe not so much for torts.

i tried giving my Cherry Heads and they gobbled them up pretty fast. almost like when i throw them hibiscus leaves.

the Indian star, Leopard and Sulcata didn’t care for it much.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome!

From what I have learned on this forum, redfoots can eat just about anything so I won’t claim any expertise for their diet. You may hear from someone far more expert than me.

That said, plants in this family aren’t generally recommended. I am very, very casual feeding my Russian but this is out of my comfort range; I wouldn’t use it unless I was feeding a native tortoise or had some other local owners to ask. I’ve done some limited research on betel, a relative, and it’s one of the few plants that has possible cons on my list and no pros. These days it’s a non issue; I am confident my tortoise wouldn’t eat it, as you’ve noticed with your other tortoises. She has never shown interest in anything in this plant family in the years I’ve had her.

You’re lucky in that you have access to all kinds of healthy things we don’t have in North America. You can find some ideas on plants you may not have thought of here: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/s...land-malay-indo-etc-diet.165957/#post-1605308.