What plants/weeds are unsafe for Sulcatas?

Courtney760

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Feb 23, 2020
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Marana, AZ
I live in Tucson, AZ and there SO MANY weeds that grow in my backyard that are a part of Sulcatas diets. But what plants and weeds are dangerous to them? I will be getting my first hatchling towards the end of May, so I know he won’t be out grazing/wandering in the backyard anytime soon. But I just want to be prepared. I’ve also stopped all use of herbicides.
 

RosemaryDW

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Welcome!

We’ve seen a case or two where they dug up tulips or another bulb plant and had an allergic reaction. I know you are asking about weeks but that’s the only definitive issue I can recall. There was also an article about some aldabras getting very sick from eating a ton of wild garlic/onion; at least one of them died. These are also bulb plants, so generally best to avoid bulbs in general.

It would probably be easier for you to tell us what specifically is in your backyard and get our feedback, rather than asking for all the potentially bad ones. There are a lot of plants out in the world. :)
 

Courtney760

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We definitely don’t have any bulbous plants. Funny enough, I’ve identified all of the weeds we have but had no clue of what trees/bushes we had. I never really put any thought into it until we made the decision to add a Sulcata to our family. I just downloaded a plant identifier and the bushes that would be within its eating range are purple flower violets, crimson bottlebrushes and Texas rangers. All other plants would be too high for even the biggest of Sulcata to reach.
 

Tom

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We definitely don’t have any bulbous plants. Funny enough, I’ve identified all of the weeds we have but had no clue of what trees/bushes we had. I never really put any thought into it until we made the decision to add a Sulcata to our family. I just downloaded a plant identifier and the bushes that would be within its eating range are purple flower violets, crimson bottlebrushes and Texas rangers. All other plants would be too high for even the biggest of Sulcata to reach.
Leaves will drop in from taller plants...

They should not have access to ANY plant that you have not identified and verified as safe. I believe bottle brush is toxic. I don't know about the other two you mentioned.
 
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