Sweet basil vs Redfoot

[Honeyman]

Hi everyone! I have a few questions regarding keeping live plants with one of my redfoots. All of my tortoises have live plants in there enclosure. These plants are all tortoise safe. The plant selection is usually prayer plants of several different varieties, birds nest fern, spider plants, bromeliads, and in the spring I plant dandelion and clover that they will graze on throughout the summer. Two of my redfoots will nible on these plants occasionally but they never completely destroy the plants( besides the clover and dandelion). However my other tortoise will eat everything in his path. The first part of my question is what non toxic plants will tortoises usually avoid eating and the second part of this question, and what prompted this post is will my tortoise be okay if he ate a 8 inch tall basil plant In the span of 3 hours? I know basil is safe to feed in moderation and the tortoises generally steer clear of it do to the strong aroma. That is why I planted it, in hopes he would leave it be but I planted it a few hours ago and when I came back from the store he had completely demolished it.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hi everyone! I have a few questions regarding keeping live plants with one of my redfoots. All of my tortoises have live plants in there enclosure. These plants are all tortoise safe. The plant selection is usually prayer plants of several different varieties, birds nest fern, spider plants, bromeliads, and in the spring I plant dandelion and clover that they will graze on throughout the summer. Two of my redfoots will nible on these plants occasionally but they never completely destroy the plants( besides the clover and dandelion). However my other tortoise will eat everything in his path. The first part of my question is what non toxic plants will tortoises usually avoid eating and the second part of this question, and what prompted this post is will my tortoise be okay if he ate a 8 inch tall basil plant In the span of 3 hours? I know basil is safe to feed in moderation and the tortoises generally steer clear of it do to the strong aroma. That is why I planted it, in hopes he would leave it be but I planted it a few hours ago and when I came back from the store he had completely demolished it.

Hello!

I think tortoise will be fine, just keep it hydrated (redfoots are generally good at it on their own).

You can try some other plants from mint's family like chia or coleus - my tortoise ignores them (but she is pretty picky). Maybe thyme (just a small amount for the start) or succulents - aloe, ice plant. Banana and snake plant could be an option as leaves are high in fibers. Another trick is to get plants like turtle vine, pothos, dichondra etc. and place them outside of tortoise reach (on the wall, hide etc.) so it could nibble only on free hanging vines.

Can you post some enclosure photos, please? (I saw an early one with a cool custom background - would be great to see how an established enclosure looks now).

 

[Honeyman]

Hello!

I think tortoise will be fine, just keep it hydrated (redfoots are generally good at it on their own).

You can try some other plants from mint's family like chia or coleus - my tortoise ignores them (but she is pretty picky). Maybe thyme (just a small amount for the start) or succulents - aloe, ice plant. Banana and snake plant could be an option as leaves are high in fibers. Another trick is to get plants like turtle vine, pothos, dichondra etc. and place them outside of tortoise reach (on the wall, hide etc.) so it could nibble only on free hanging vines.

Can you post some enclosure photos, please? (I saw an early one with a cool custom background - would be great to see how an established enclosure looks now).

I would love to share pictures of that custom enclosure, however I had to completely clean it out a few months ago. I'm very particular about cleaning and quarantining the the plants I get before they are placed in the enclosure, but I didn't get one of the plants good enough because I had an explosion of small centipedes. Literally hundreds of them would come out at night and eat all the isopods and presumably the springtails. Once I saw these guys I knew the only way to fix it would be to get rid of all the substrate and plants to ensure the eggs were 100% gone. All three of my redfoots are in 77 gallon storage totes at the moment. They will all be moved back in the large enclosure once it's set back up and established. I would be happy to share photos of the set up process and how I do things when that time comes.

 

[Honeyman]

This is a picture of what they are currently in. It's nothing special but it works great

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

This is a picture of what they are currently in. It's nothing special but it works great

Very nice for a small enclosure. I always have problems to arrange things in confined space!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I would love to share pictures of that custom enclosure, however I had to completely clean it out a few months ago. I'm very particular about cleaning and quarantining the the plants I get before they are placed in the enclosure, but I didn't get one of the plants good enough because I had an explosion of small centipedes. Literally hundreds of them would come out at night and eat all the isopods and presumably the springtails. Once I saw these guys I knew the only way to fix it would be to get rid of all the substrate and plants to ensure the eggs were 100% gone. All three of my redfoots are in 77 gallon storage totes at the moment. They will all be moved back in the large enclosure once it's set back up and established. I would be happy to share photos of the set up process and how I do things when that time comes.

Oh, I feel your pain... I also get hitchhikers from time to time, but not to that extent (however, a 3 inch "rogue" centipede was scary as ... you know it).