What species of plants do Sulcata's EAT EXACTLY IN THEIR WILD HABITAT?

[Southshore]

Hello Everyone! Hope you and your torts are doing great!

As some of you members already know I rescued a Sulcata a month back and been trying to implement the diet in the diet pinned thread. I have had quite some success since in the beginning he wasn't eating ANYTHING on that list! Now he is doing much better

For my own general knowledge, I have been really curious as to EXACTLY what species of plants do they sustain themselves on/ eat in their NATIVE WILD HABITAT IN AFRICA?

If anyone can please name these species of plants I would be really grateful and would add IMMENSELY to my knowledge of these amazing being!

Thank you for taking out the time to go through my post/. Hope to hear from lots of you soon!

 

[wellington]

The only one I know that might know the answer is @Tom.

 

[Yvonne G]

The only one I'm sure of is Elephant Bush (Portulacaria afra).

 

[Tom]

Hello Everyone! Hope you and your torts are doing great!

As some of you members already know I rescued a Sulcata a month back and been trying to implement the diet in the diet pinned thread. I have had quite some success since in the beginning he wasn't eating ANYTHING on that list! Now he is doing much better

For my own general knowledge, I have been really curious as to EXACTLY what species of plants do they sustain themselves on/ eat in their NATIVE WILD HABITAT IN AFRICA?

If anyone can please name these species of plants I would be really grateful and would add IMMENSELY to my knowledge of these amazing being!

Thank you for taking out the time to go through my post/. Hope to hear from lots of you soon!

There are a little over 3,000 plant species in all of North America. There are over 22,000 in South Africa alone....

No one could possibly know the answer to this question as it just depends what is growing in a given region at a given time of year. Sulcatas have a huge range spanning most of the top of Africa. There will be a different list of plants in Senegal to the west than in the Sudan to the east. Imagine a single species of herbivore that lives in CA and all the way across the country to the east coast, and asking what plants does that species eat. It's very likely different plant species in CA than it would be in FL, and very likely different lists of plants at different times of year in each region. There are likely 1000s of plant that would be on a list like this.

Complicating the answer further is that plants from various parts of the world have been relocated to other parts of the world for centuries. While I can't say from first hand experience, I'm quite certain that non-native plants have also invaded the Sahel regions where sulcatas come from. So whatever it is they eat in a given area at a given time of year, it might not even be native plants anyway.

You might search around and try to figure out:
1. Where do sulcatas currently still occur in the wild. Sulcatas are highly endangered in the wild, and presumed extinct from at least two countries in their native range.
2. What plant species occur in those areas.
3. Which of those plant species would be readily available, safe, and palatable for a sulcata to eat.
4. There might be a section in "The Crying Tortoise" that lists some of those plants. Its been years since I read it, but I vaguely recall some mention of what they eat in the wild.

I get why you are asking, and I think that is super cool, but it's not an easy answer. I know of three plants that I grow or scrounge that naturally occur in Africa. I do not know if any of the three occur in areas where a wild sulcata could eat them.
1. Goat head weed, also called puncture weed, Tribulus terrestris. If you grow this one, harvest it before or as soon as you start to see seed head forming. Do NOT let it go to seed, or you will regret it terribly.
2. Bermuda grass, Cynodont dactylon.
3. African hibiscus, Hibiscus sabradiffa. My friend Tomas from Senegal brought me some of these seeds and said that he feeds this one to the tortoises that he works with at the African Chelonian Institute.

 

[Fluffy]

There are a little over 3,000 plant species in all of North America. There are over 22,000 in South Africa alone....

Where did you get that there are only 3,000 plant species in all of North America?

 

[TammyJ]

In Jamaica we have abundant "Guinea Grass," which is actually invasive from long ago and originates in Africa. Sulcata tortoises definitely eat this grass. Also, Opuntia cactus, which is abundant here and worldwide in warm regions.