Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live above a large canyon/hill, there are all types of weeds, can i safely offer this stuff to my young Leopard Tort? I am unable to identify any of these plants. Another note, when i take the guy out for a walk on the lawn grass he never tries to eat it but he does try for dirt and bark. Also, i saw him today try and eat some of his own poop. I seem to remember that animals do this sometimes to re-absorb things that they have not gotten from their diet? I have been offering him: spring mix, collared greens and dandelion greens, all supplemented with d-3. Im looking for dandelions at home depot to plant, but i have been unlucky so far. Is the poop eating telling me something? Any comments or suggestions.

My Tort has become a real favorite with all the friends and family. Sometimes i find myself sitting in class wondering what he's up to. I love my snakes, never quite found a lizard i liked enough, but i find the Tort very rewarding. Watching him cruise through the grass in the sun is very relaxing at the end of the day.

Here is a weed id link for you: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/weeds_common.html

You would have to do some research to see which ones are OK for your leopard to eat, but my Hermann's will eat sow thistle, dandelion, hawkbit, plantain, cranesbill, mallow, etc. I believe leopards need more grasses than Mediterranean torts, though.

I wouldn't offer weeds unless you know what they are and if they're OK. Not all weeds are healthy for tortoises to eat, and some are actually poisonous. We have a lot of poison hemlock up here. Supposedly tortoises won't eat something that's poisonous to them, but you probably don't want to take that chance.
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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
0.0.2 Hermann's Tortoises
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko