Questions about flowers, plants for my tortoise

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Terry Allan Hall

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Please pardon my lack of horticultural savvy...my source for such info (my Aunt Jan) passed away a few months ago)...she had an encyclodepia-like knowledge of such things.

(1) What are the nutritionally optimum flowers/other plants, that grow well/are native to North Texas, that I should try to grow/harvest for feeding my Hermann's tortoise(s).

(2) I've found a few on my property that she scarfs down seriously...can these be frozen for when I can't find them at a later point in the year? Will freezing negatively impact their nutritional value?

Thanks in advance for y'all's help! :)
 

chikken

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I can't offer a lot of advice because I think what grows up here in Connecticut must be quite different from what might grow down in Texas (though I'm sure some of the natural "weeds" are the same)... BUT I think I might have some ideas.

1) I used one of the stickied threads in the Food subforum (http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5823.html), it has a bigbighuge list of foods that are good for Desert dwelling tortoises (including Hermanns). I think there must be things you have on that list. What I did was I took the names of some things and googled them myself to see what I had in my yard or what I could go buy seeds for and found quite a bit.

2) I think you can freeze without too much harm done, but what i've been doing and might work for you too, is transplanting pots of the things that grow in my yard that I'll want to keep going year-round. I've got pots of grasses and clover and dandelions, everyone thinks I'm nuts, but I know I've dug up enough and have gotten so much to grow that my dear tortoise should be good all winter long.

Hopefully maybe some of that helped? I may have been completely off-base. But, like Jill above me, maybe just posting will get the attention of a pro. :D (Good luck!)
 

kimber_lee_314

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I don't freeze mine, but I do dry them. I don't know if that affects their nutritional value - but mine still love to eat them - crunchy or soft!
 

Terry Allan Hall

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chikken said:
I can't offer a lot of advice because I think what grows up here in Connecticut must be quite different from what might grow down in Texas (though I'm sure some of the natural "weeds" are the same)... BUT I think I might have some ideas.

1) I used one of the stickied threads in the Food subforum (http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5823.html), it has a bigbighuge list of foods that are good for Desert dwelling tortoises (including Hermanns). I think there must be things you have on that list. What I did was I took the names of some things and googled them myself to see what I had in my yard or what I could go buy seeds for and found quite a bit.

2) I think you can freeze without too much harm done, but what i've been doing and might work for you too, is transplanting pots of the things that grow in my yard that I'll want to keep going year-round. I've got pots of grasses and clover and dandelions, everyone thinks I'm nuts, but I know I've dug up enough and have gotten so much to grow that my dear tortoise should be good all winter long.

Hopefully maybe some of that helped? I may have been completely off-base. But, like Jill above me, maybe just posting will get the attention of a pro. :D (Good luck!)
Please forgive my delay in thanking you for some excellent suggestions. :cool:
 

Terry Allan Hall

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Ran my M-I-L over to see her "BFF/partner in crime", Jean, and Jean asked me to bring Jennifer along...Jean loves/collects turtle art (pictures, statues, bric-a-brac, etc...maybe 1000 pieces, collected over 7 decades), yet has never really been around a live tortoise.

We grabbed a brew each, sat on her back porch and let Jennifer wander around Jean's yard...and discovered that the milkweed that Jean has "kept meaning to do something about" is mighty tasty to Jennifer...we watched as she polished off quite a bit of a 4' tall example!

Tomorrow, Jean insists that I go help pick her out a pair of Russians...faux tortoises just won't satisfy this ol' gal any longer! :cool:
 

Terry Allan Hall

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#7, which I incorrectly called "milkweed" in the previous post, seems to taste good to Jennifer...she makes a bee-line for it!

Any ideas what these are, and if they're safe? Previous to this, I'd always fed my tortoises grocery-bought produce.

e3267749-b135-42c7-acb5-e0680680b075

plant - 1

3262c22d-67d6-4c2d-b283-53e32fed1b7b

plant - 2

89639d3c-54f2-475f-ba92-acbfb497ac91

plant - 3

2c6378e6-c1b5-42d8-b62c-701c91c63bd6

plant - 4

fd82afb1-51ff-46f6-9e71-f17559bb99c3

plant - 5

14d8565c-6493-4ac0-94e1-24e2d49affa5

plant - 6

fcf97061-1ad5-41a0-a3ae-e8f6453e6316

plant - 7

a78793bd-f57c-4134-b688-5b3ba78c9778

plant - 8

Again, sincere thanks for any help offered! :cool:
 
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