Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi all, we are prepping and planting our new emys yard and wanted to get some ideas of not just edible species but shrubbery as well. it is basically our septic field planted in grass and has a nice invasion of dandelions (only tortoise keepers would be happy to see weeds growing in their lawn!)and some plantain. i mowed paths and open areas so that we can watch them and then left areas of grass and weeds to grow tall. today i am going to rototil a few strips and plant some lettuces (which i will pen up till it matures). because it is a septic field i cant get too crazy with trees (there is some old tall pines on one side that provide shade for most of the day). i want to plant some shrubs around the perimeter that are safe and maybe not too tasty so they leave them alone, any ideas?? thanks, john and muriel

i am not sure how much this will help you, but i came along this a while ago:

http://www.russiantortoise.org/edible_plants.htm

its a huge list, most of which is small growing leafy plants...and alot of it is probably impossible to find but it may help you out a bit.

the site is obviously specifily for russians, but as far as i can tell (with very few exceptions) it will work for most torts.

when i had a boxie pen a long time ago, i always planted rasberry/blackberry bushes...which get pretty big, and are tasty for torts and humans alike.