The Tortoise Chef

[KarenSoCal]

I bought a flat of wheat grass at the grocery store...it claims "organic".
1. Is it safe for Chug?
2. Do I just cut some off? Or can I just put the whole thing into some dirt and have it grow? Will it come up again, or is it an annual?
Thanks...bet you can't tell I'm new to all this gardening. And I live where nothing grows!

 

[KarenSoCal]

I bought a flat of wheat grass at the grocery store...it claims "organic".
1. Is it safe for Chug?
2. Do I just cut some off? Or can I just put the whole thing into some dirt and have it grow? Will it come up again, or is it an annual?
Thanks...bet you can't tell I'm new to all this gardening. And I live where nothing grows!

Forgot to add picture!

 

[Yvonne G]

You'll have to keep it mowed, because when it gets too tall it changes the flavor and is not eaten as readily. So, I would cut it with the scissors, then cut the "cuttings" up in smaller bite-sized pieces and mix it all up real good with his food.

 

[KarenSoCal]

You'll have to keep it mowed, because when it gets too tall it changes the flavor and is not eaten as readily. So, I would cut it with the scissors, then cut the "cuttings" up in smaller bite-sized pieces and mix it all up real good with his food.

That's what I did today, and he showed little interest. But he'll hopefully learn to like it. If he doesn't, my dogs and cats will eat it!

 

[RosemaryDW]

We’re back from vacation and our tortoise has been enjoying a diet of frisee and desert primrose while we’ve been gone. Plus yay (?) it’s the time of year when she notices the irises are in bloom and starts knocking the plants over. As always the usual caveats occur: we keep a single hungry Russian in a warm climate, with access to great grocery stores and farmers markets. Our cost of living is very high so foods may seem expensive. YMMV.

In the hopes of including more fiber and keeping some of the yard intact I threw out the kitchen sink: the usual squash and yam leaves; some chrysanthemum, which I include on occasion; a taste of amaranth; one tiny bok choy and also some methi (fenugreek). I lucked out and found a vendor who was willing to sell just one cactus pad. Amaranth is always listed in the Tortoise Table as a “do not feed” but plenty of people do feed it, usually in the wild form of lambs quarters. I try it a few times a year; YMMV.

I bought a little Chinese broccoli. She’s never had it; I don’t usually by this brassica but was wondering if she’d eat the stem. I had a bunch of mint and added a few leaves; I doubted she’d eat it due to the strong smell but hey, it’s from a plant family she doesn’t get often. She’s active enough that I thought she might sample some none favorites.



Not much interest in the “occasional” foods so far. She’s tasted the chrysanthemum and the amaranth when they are included with other foods but not otherwise. The broccoli attracted little notice. Surprisingly she was quite interested in the mint, sniffing for some time and taking a few bites. I’m saving the cactus and bok choy for a busy day as they stand up to heat.

Ultimately did it matter? Not really. :/ You can’t tell a tortoise what to do.

 

[wellington]

I don't have pictures to share. This is a list of what I feed to leopards and a Russian during the winter months.
My winter diet consist of dried grass and leaves like lilac, Rose of Sharon, mulberry, hibiscus, magnolia, another tree leaf I don't remember the name of, cactus, spring mix, and all other grocery greens and mazuri. The dried stuff doesn't last all winter, but about half the winter. All depends on how much you can collect and store. Oh and I did start adding some Purina Layena after reading that both Will and Yvonne used or uses it.
Forgot grape leaves also.

 

[daniellenc]

Skurts winter fare was definitely a learning curve for me as this was his first winter. Luckily my grocery store carries something called spicy herb mix which is actually all types of chicory, endive, escarole, radicchio, and assorted green and red lettuce varieties. I add spring mix, mushroom, fruit, chicken, shrimp, cactus and dandelion leaves from my local international market, and mazuri on a rotating basis. I also discovered frozen fruit can easily be thawed and mashed. I found dried flowers online from tortoise supply which made for a good summer topping and while I know he missed his wild fare I am happy to report between my grocery store and our Latin/Asian market his diet remained varied.

 

[Jay Bagley]

With getting my tortoise in October, winter was upon us before I knew it. So I did not have a whole lot of time to prepare. I know my diet that I am going to list was not 100% optimal, or nearly as varied as it should be. Sheldon in my opinion, that's all really it is, seem to thrive on it. I always used a huge handful of wheatgrass, either endive, escarole, and sometimes collard and mustard greens, a large pinch herbal hay from tortoise Supply, then I would use 10 to 15 Zoo Med grassland pellets, and 10 or so mazuri pellets. I would add some water, and make him a nice mash. When I would come across cactus I would also offer that two to three times a week.

 

[EdMurphy]

I don't have pictures to share. This is a list of what I feed to leopards and a Russian during the winter months.
My winter diet consist of dried grass and leaves like lilac, Rose of Sharon, mulberry, hibiscus, magnolia, another tree leaf I don't remember the name of, cactus, spring mix, and all other grocery greens and mazuri. The dried stuff doesn't last all winter, but about half the winter. All depends on how much you can collect and store. Oh and I did start adding some Purina Layena after reading that both Will and Yvonne used or uses it.

How do you dry these for winter use? just with a food dehydrator and then rehydrate to serve it?

 

[daniellenc]

I air dried a bunch of rose of sharon leaves and flowers and simply sprinkled it on his food as a topping.

 

[wellington]

How do you dry these for winter use? just with a food dehydrator and then rehydrate to serve it?

I bought the mesh laundry bags, very cheap, like 2 bucks at Walmart. I put whatever I'm drying in them and hang them in the tortoise shed. Every day for awhile I carefully turn the bags around to try and mix the stuff around. The grass is the hardest cuz a lot will fall out, but more stays in. Whatever falls out they get to eat.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Some different today at the farmers market: jute mallow. I was looking for okra leaves but this is the mallow they had so I thought I’d try it. You can see some similarities to the leaves on another popular mallow: hibiscus.

I picked up a little mache, also known as corn salad or lambs lettuce, from the Caprifoliaceae family. (I had to look that up; it’s the honeysuckle family.) You sometimes find it in salad mixes or you can buy a whole bag of it at Trader Joe’s and elsewhere. This grows wild in greener places, definitely not near me!

She’s never had either which I realized only after I got home. Fortunately she took to both.

I’m testing out some seeds in pots on the patio. One of them is daikon radish which puts out enormous leaves, as you can see; the thin white radish itself has barely begun to grow. The other is nasturtium which has been slow to start. She got exactly one flower. Lol.

As always the usual caveats occur: we keep a single hungry Russian in a warm climate, with access to great grocery stores and farmers markets. Our cost of living is very high so foods may seem expensive. YMMV.

 

[Via Infinito]

I want to have this thread to gather intel for asian plants diet as we seem to only have info on US-UK-European plants.

I am currently feeding these in a mix for my Sulcata, I cut them up every 3 days and store in a box in the fridge:
From garden:
- Axonopus compressus grass clippings (staple)
- Moringa oleifera (drumstick tree)
- Hibiscus leaves (staple)
-Some rose leaves (often)
- Ruellia simplex leaves (quite abundant here) (sometimes)
- Bougainvillea glabra leaves (paperflower) (staple)
- Nephrolepis cordifolia (ladder fern) (staple)

From fridge:
- Sauropus androgynus also called katuk ( vet doctor recommended) (staple)
- Asian watercress (once every two weeks)
- Mustard greens
- Brassica integrifolia also called (cai ngot), it has a sweet pleasant taste.
- a few Morning glory leaves
- Bok choy
- Salad greens (staple)
- Radicchio (rarely)


There are of course tiny sprouts of weeds in the garden that my tortoise plucked them out but I really can't find ways to identify them.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Another visit to the stand that seems to favor India and some parts of Asia. I’m watching this stand pretty often this, trying to see what they offer over the season.

This week I bought some long bean leaves, which are said to be a native food for star tortoises. She liked the leaves pretty well.

Also Malabar spinach, which is not a true spinach although it tastes very similar. High in calcium and supposedly there is healthy goo in the stems (I never noticed any). Apparently it grows everywhere that’s warm and humid. It didn’t taste like much to me and it seems the tortoise felt the same. I’m sure she’d it more of it if that’s what she had access to.

The tomato guy gave me a few squash blossoms.

Because hope springs eternal I’m trying cilantro yet again.

She also got two fava beans; no chianti.

 

[RosemaryDW]

She hates everything I tried today. She might as well be Mikey in the Life cereal ad.

Ong choy: no.
Sow thistles: no
Arugula: no
Sunflower: no
Pumpkin leaf: no (Wat?)
Pink buckweat: no
Calendula: no

Self feeding from a wild snapdragon and my turnips. Those turnip greens are mine missy; stay out!

 

[KarenSoCal]

She hates everything I tried today. She might as well be Mikey in the Life cereal ad.

Ong choy: no.
Sow thistles: no
Arugula: no
Sunflower: no
Pumpkin leaf: no (Wat?)
Pink buckweat: no
Calendula: no

Self feeding from a wild snapdragon and my turnips. Those turnip greens are mine missy; stay out!

Did she ever eat the cilantro? Chug loves it!
I sure wish I had access to the places you shop at! It's so hard to find greens here, except the usual ones. I just found a store that has endive...at $7.00 a pound!

 

[RosemaryDW]

Did she ever eat the cilantro? Chug loves it!

No, she never did eat the cilantro; I’m pretty sure she never will.

QUOTE="KarenSoCal, post: 1609267, member: 100202"]I sure wish I had access to the places you shop at! It's so hard to find greens here, except the usual ones. [/QUOTE]

I just looked at your user profile; you ARE really out there, aren’t you? I’m amazed you can find anything at all!

 

[KarenSoCal]

No, she never did eat the cilantro; I’m pretty sure she never will.

QUOTE="KarenSoCal, post: 1609267, member: 100202"]I sure wish I had access to the places you shop at! It's so hard to find greens here, except the usual ones.

I just looked at your user profile; you ARE really out there, aren’t you? I’m amazed you can find anything at all![/QUOTE]Yes, we are. It's 40 miles to the nearest WalMart.
The biggest problem is that I'm in low desert. There are no weeds here, just desert scrub. I'm trying to grow seeds, and some are coming up, but nothing wants to thrive in this sandy, salty dirt. It never rains...I don't think the drought will ever be over here. It hasn't rained a measurable amount here in almost a year. [emoji20]

 

[RosemaryDW]

Well he is a desert tortoise, right? He should be used to eating all that scrub. Buckwheat; cactus; vetch; Mohave aster; creosote bush; desert four o’clock; tacoma stans; bladderpod; globe mallow; goldenhead; burro weed; so many things!

They aren’t flashy but they get the job done!

 

[KarenSoCal]

Well he is a desert tortoise, right? He should be used to eating all that scrub. Buckwheat; cactus; vetch; Mohave aster; creosote bush; desert four o’clock; tacoma stans; bladderpod; globe mallow; goldenhead; burro weed; so many things!

They aren’t flashy but they get the job done!

Didn't know he could eat creosote! That we have plenty of! I'll look for those others, too. Thanks!