Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what type of grass and weeds in the yard are a good food for a tortoise. i just got a baby leopard tortoise. all he will eat is hibiscus leaves, aloe, some kind of clover, and some kind of weed that i dont know. he wont eat the grass. the grass grows about 6 feet tall and it feels like there is little spines on the leaves when you rub it. any one got pics of common grass and weeds that are edible or a link to a site with pics?

Well, you search the literature and the internet and identify the plants, then find out of they are known to be toxic, eliminate if so i.e. many bulbs etc. But most grasses are fine, and leopards like grasses. Mow it short, and let them eat the new sprouts, they will keep it mowed for you. In my experience, tortoises are fairly good at identifying what to eat, they seem to smell it first and "analyze" the food before ingesting it. I can not think of any grasses that are toxic, and most that grow in gardens will be fine, i.e. crag, bermuda, fescue, canary, sudan, etc. By the way, my leopard is very fond of spineless prickly pear cacti, pads and fruit along with bermuda grass.