Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone who lives in California tell me if the plant commonly known as "wild mustard" is an acceptable tortoise food? There'll be tons of it sprouting here in the next couple months. I think it's in the Brassica family, but I'm not sure.

Thanks.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

Wild mustard? Is that the really hot kind like you get at Chinese restaurants? I never liked that stuff.

Wild mustard has a lot of good things in it and it isn't toxic, but I do believe it has quite a bit of oxalic acid in it so you may want to feed it sparingly.

It might be related to the hot mustard, but I don't know. If you've ever been up in the wine country in late winter/early spring, it's the plant that blooms yellow everywhere. It must be good for the soil, because a lot of vineyards plant it over the winter. I'll see if I can find a picture of it.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

I was just joking about the restaurant mustard. You can tell when I'm joking; people shake their heads and walk away.

The wild mustard grows like crazy around here too. Sometimes it looks like a sea of yellow on the hillsides. I have given it to my tortoises on occasion, but they don't seem crazy about it. I sometimes give them wild turnip greens too, but they don't seem to impressed with it either.

Mustard is mustard is mustard, right? Actually, I did look it up and it is in the Brassica family, along with kale. I guess it's OK for torts, but not great. Too bad; I could harvest enough around here to feed an Aldabra easily.

I found a website that has a lot of edible plants on it:

http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm

It says that bouganvillea is edible--is this true? I'm always looking for a good variety, and I may be a little limited on weeds until my new batch comes in well. I have access to about 5 different species right now, but I'd prefer more like 10. I figure the more variety, the less picky he'll be (I hope).
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

...would smell as...uh, bitter.

Thanks for posting that website. It's always good to know as many different types of plants to feed tortoises as possible. Some say you can't give a tortoise proper nutrition withoug resorting to processed foods like mazuri, but if you give them a TRUE varied diet, with enough wild plants that have grown in mineral-rich soil, it is entirely possible.

I have never read or heard anything about bouganvillea as a food item for tortoises, yay or nay. My neighbor has one that hangs over the fence and drops flowers and leaves in my yard, but I don't recall ever seeing them eat any of it.

If you do a search on the net you come up with tons of info. The thing that surprised me it that it is listed as a toxic plant but I'm pretty sure I've fed it to my tortoises. I'd proceed with caution. As you said, it is very abundant in CA throughout the year.
Ed