To be sure, take a few whole plants to a local garden center, (Not a hardware store...) and try to meet the resident plant nerd. They will be able to tell you exactly what it is.is this weed, not the dandelion, safe for my sulcata and Russian tortoises. It’s literally everywhere and I just need to know if they can eat it. Thanks so much!!!!
It looks to be red dead nettle which is safe to feed. Not popular with my tortoises, but hopefully yours will enjoy it.
I will do just that!!!! Thank u!!!!To be sure, take a few whole plants to a local garden center, (Not a hardware store...) and try to meet the resident plant nerd. They will be able to tell you exactly what it is.
Thank you so much!!!!!Red Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) - some links to review and compare for identification.
Lawn and Turfgrass Weeds: Dead Nettle
Dead nettle, or purple dead nettle, is a weed commonly found in low maintenance turf areas that are mowed infrequently, including forest edges and roadside areas.extension.psu.eduDead Nettle, an Overlooked yet Valuable Wild Edible - Eat The Planet
Dead nettle is a valuable wild edible and medicinal herb. It's also an important nectar source for honeybees in early spring.eattheplanet.org
thank you so much!!!!It looks to be red dead nettle which is safe to feed. Not popular with my tortoises, but hopefully yours will enjoy it.
Yes it's safe to feed. I've been feeding it to my sulcatas for many years. When I kept Russians they ate it also. Here's Walker snacking on a mix of yard weeds this morning.is this weed, not the dandelion, safe for my sulcata and Russian tortoises. It’s literally everywhere and I just need to know if they can eat it. Thanks so much!!!!
There are a couple plants that look similar. Take a look through the pictures on this thread and find them. Look for creeping charlie, purple dead nettle, (the picture for henbit isn't showing up for me, but do a Google image search for it, as henbit is toxic), (same with carolina geranium) I don't know why some of the pictures aren't showing up.is this weed, not the dandelion, safe for my sulcata and Russian tortoises. It’s literally everywhere and I just need to know if they can eat it. Thanks so much!!!!
If the pic will not load for henbit, one of the links I provided compares to henbit with a picture.There are a couple plants that look similar. Take a look through the pictures on this thread and find them. Look for creeping charlie, purple dead nettle, (the picture for henbit isn't showing up for me, but do a Google image search for it, as henbit is toxic), (same with carolina geranium) I don't know why some of the pictures aren't showing up.
Pictures of common plants - both edible and toxic for tortoises
Here's a link to a site that has pretty good pictures of weeds: http://weeds.cropsci.illinois.edu/weedid.htm I think it would be nice to have all the pictures in the same place. So I'm starting a thread showing the pictures of plants we have already identified as being edible or not. It...tortoiseforum.org
Yes it's safe to feed. I've been feeding it to my sulcatas for many years. When I kept Russians they ate it also. Here's Walker snacking on a mix of yard weeds this morning.View attachment 355896