Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone tell me a place where I can find a list of safe plants for my sulcata's outdoor enclosure? Thanks!

Hi,

It's always a good idea to try the World Chelonian Trust's search engine when seeking information. It is easily accessed from the left side of the home page (www.chelonia.org or click on link next to the picture below).

With over a thousand pages of content from pictures to original care articles to taxonomy to identification quizzes, the site is easily the most complete as well as the most crosslinked on the web.

A direct link to the poisonous plant section is below:

http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/plantsthatpoison.htm

Chris Tabaka, DVM

World Chelonian Trust

hibiscus, geraniums, mulberry bushes - I have those in mine, also
I have what's called butterfly bushes, he doesn't mess with those,
and a white spruce (need something green in there in the winter
for looks, everything else turns to sticks and the hibiscus
die completely and are replaced each spring.) I've got some
ornamental grasses in there also - like beach grass. Nothing
I've got in my cage provides enough shade for the size Teddy
is now, but of course he has his house. Also if it's hot he
gets the tarp. Bermuda grass is good to plant, I planted lots
of little lettuce seeds and they're popping up everywhere -
endives, butter lettuce etc. just a variety I found in the
Lowe's.
For small sulcatas, these plants provide nice hiding areas
and shade, plus if you had hibiscus you could see if he'll eat
the flowers which you could pluck off daily. (mine didn't eat
them until he was bigger). When the sulcatas get bigger the
plants won't feed them in an enclosure - Teddy could eat the
entire enclosures plants in one meal if he could reach them all!
He can and has destroyed hibiscus and geraniums in one sitting.
I got the tall hibiscus trees this year to save them for the
flowers only!

What most people do is draw from plant lists that are composed of edible plants based on plants that are fit for human consumption. While this is a good starting point you have to wonder if we are not limiting what is required. Turtles and tortoises have been seen consuming plants that are known to be harmful to mammals without adverse effects. If you are planting an enclosure, by all means add plants that you know are safe but if plants pop up (like milkweed and the like) I wouldn't put much worry into it. The tortoises seem to 'know' what is edible and not.
2 good references I use are both Peterson Field Guides. You can get them through Amazon.com
One is on Edible plants and the other is Medicinal Plants.
Ed

I've found that certain kinds of seedum are very popular. But if you plant them, your tort will utterly devour them. I just feed mine a regular diet of Romaine and turnip greens, occassionally supplemented with other greens and sometimes fruit. He grazes on the naturally growing weeds and grasses in his enclosure for additional food.