weeds

[j.martin]

were do people get their weeds from?

 

[Isa]

I get mine from Carolina pet supply and I buy organic seeds at the plant store near my house.
Here is the website of Carolina pet supply
http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/catalog/

 

[j.martin]

so do u never go and pick them urself?

 

[Seiryu]

so do u never go and pick them urself?

I would only pick things personally if they were in my yard and I knew what I was picking. And if I knew it was free of fertilizers and pesticides.

If your neighbor uses pesticides/fertilizers I probably wouldn't pick anything close to the fence.

All clovers for instance are NOT ok. You want White, Yellow or Red/Crimson clovers.

There are clovers called "sweet clover" that are very bad. These clovers can be the same colors as the good ones but there are differences. There is a great thread in the food/diet section about clovers. I would check that out.

 

[j.martin]

wot about dandelions, theres a big field near me away from the road, surely there would be no fertilisers there?

 

[Seiryu]

wot about dandelions, theres a big field near me away from the road, surely there would be no fertilisers there?

Dandelions (flowers, stem, leaves etc) are great. You have to make a judgement call in terms of picking things from other areas.

If the grasses and vegetation in that area are really tall and not kept up, I would probably say it'd be safe. I'd wash anything you pick up though well.

 

[Crazy1]

j, I do pick weeds I know the names of from fields near me and away from roads (car exhaust isn't good either). Like Seiryu said I make the call if the field does not look like it gets sprayed but tilled under then I will use them. Shelled Warriors also sells seeds and cactus is also a good treat for a hermann. Check out the Hermann forum here there is some great info and HermanniChris is a great source.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

just wash the hell out of them too

 

[Yvonne G]

My sister lives in Oregon and has several tortoises, one of which is a large sulcata. She takes a plastic bag and some scissors and every morning wanders the neighborhood clipping weeds for her tortoises. She lives in a pretty rural area, and there is plenty of open space for her to pick from. You just need to remember to wash anything that you bring home before you feed it to the animals.

Yvonne

 

[Seiryu]

My sister lives in Oregon and has several tortoises, one of which is a large sulcata. She takes a plastic bag and some scissors and every morning wanders the neighborhood clipping weeds for her tortoises. She lives in a pretty rural area, and there is plenty of open space for her to pick from. You just need to remember to wash anything that you bring home before you feed it to the animals.

Yvonne

Yvonne do you use any soap mixed with water to wash the greens? If so dish soap? and about what %? Like a drop of soap?

 

[dmmj]

I no longer have weeds in my yard, they get eaten before they can grow very far. I usually will ask my neighbor who I know does not use fert or pesticides.

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't use weeds in my feeding plan. But the produce that I buy, I wash in plain water in a dish pan. I fill the dish pan with cold water then work the greens up and down, back and forth until they are clean. I change the water after washing a couple different greens.

I don't know if my sister uses soap when she washes weeds or not.

Yvonne

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Not only do I not use soap, most of the time I don't rinse them either. Remember this is Oregon, everything is organic, everything is green and all the hippies form the '60's moved here. Most people ride bikes not cars and you just never found a place that was more politically correct in everything. Yvonne is exactly right, that's what I do every morning then I come back and feed what I picked. I have picked so many huge dandelions that I had both arms full and I was on my way home and some guy came by and asked if he could help me because I had such an arm load...all my tortoises (8) eat what I pick and if they don't like it, then they don't get to eat that day...Most of what i collect is away from the road in a rural area.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I wash the weeds I pick (rare for me as I live in a suburban area without a yard) and greens from the store, mostly organic. I'm more worried about animal poop than anything else. It at least makes me feel better knowing they are "washed" with water.

 

[helensky]

if you are from england i recommend these guys

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/torts-n-allsorts/

i planted a load a few months back and now have a bountiful supply of wild flowers, weeds and grasses etc and i dont need to worry about picking something poisonous as they're all picked specifically for a good tort diet

 

[j.martin]

Thanks for all ur help on this one. have found stacks of dandelions out my own back garden and its all he will eat for me at the moment, wont eat anything i put in his box

 

[Madortoise]

Hi there,
I thought I'd share some weed stories...
Lately, my tort Penelope has been enjoying yellow milk thistles in bloom from my neighborhood alley. She eats flowers and the leaves.
I know there are no fertilizers used there since no one is obviously attending to the area. The plant is as tall as me and getting bigger everyday. I'm concerned not just about car exhausts but all the industrial pollutants in air and possible toxins or industrial wastes in soil (we're not far from oil field) but I thought if I give her a moderate amount of different things it can't be so bad. I also give her plenty of aloe vera hoping that'll clean her system I wash well those that I pick with water and sometimes with gentle vege-wash soap that I buy at WholeFoods. I also got some seeds from the thistle plant so I'm hoping to harvest it in my backyard.
My backyard was always filled w/common mallows and I used to hate this drout tolerant prolific weed. Penelope has recently been awaken to this particular weed in addition to her favorites including vetch and dandelions. I really enjoy watching her forage through our yard rather than feeding her store-bought produces. She seems to agree as she does not care for expensive store-bought organic dandelions ($3 a bunch) or baby squashes ($6 for green & yellow mix) for an example. Chards were on sale so I bought 2 bunches for $3 this weekend but she wouldn't go for them. I'll probably end up eating them. I'm currently trying to figure out if it's safe to feed her what I call "mist-plant" in Japanese, Commelina communis, because she is going for it.

 

[stells]

There are lots of us mad weed pickers in the UK It is a good idea to check with your local council to see where they use weedkillers... alot of big areas they won't do as it costs to much... so they just mow them every once in a while... while Dandelions are good as part of a mixed diet only feed them once or twice a week as they are high in Oxalic acid... stalks being the worst part...

Any weeds picked need to be washed... i soak mine for a couple of hours too... just incase anything has peed or pooped on them lol