Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have got some questions about some items that don't seem to appear on the lists of suggested fruits and veggies to feed (can't find them in either the do or do not catagories.) Does anyone know nutritional info on these, or see them mentioned in reliable sources?

Red Cabbage
Green Beans
Bell Pepper (green and red variety)
Cauliflower

Thanks!

Try http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/nutrientanalysis.htm for good plants.

Try http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/plantsthatpoison.htm for those that are not.

My sense is that cabbage and cauliflower are not that good (aren`t they similar to broccoli?). Beans I don`t know about. And if you find out something definitive about bell peppers, please let me know. My turtle likes the red ones, but I remember reading somewhere that they were not good.

Here are some things I found at this site regarding oxalic acid content:

Pretty much nothing is oxalic-free...this should be a good chart to compare levels in different foods.

Vegetable Oxalic acid
(g/100 g)
Amaranth 1.09
Asparagus .13
Beans, snap .36
Beet leaves .61
Broccoli .19
Brussels sprouts .36
Cabbage .10
Carrot .50
Cassava 1.26
Cauliflower .15
Celery .19
Chicory .21
Chives 1.48
Collards .45
Coriander .01
Corn, sweet .01
Cucumbers .02
Eggplant .19
Endive .11
Garlic .36
Kale .02
Lettuce .33
Okra .05
Onion .05
Parsley 1.70
Parsnip .04
Pea .05
Pepper .04
Potato .05
Purslane 1.31
Radish .48
Rutabaga .03
Spinach .97
Squash .02
Sweet potato .24
Tomato .05
Turnip .21
Turnip greens .05
Watercress .31

Taken from this website: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/Other/oxalic.html

Thanks for giving me that link to check out! I appreciate it!

And thanks for this list. I figured nothing was totally free of it, but am surprised to see that the oxalic acid content of carrots is higher than broccoli.

I checked a few other sites...bell peppers seem to be a decent source of vit. C, and have a bit of vit. A as well. And according to the previous chart are low in oxalic acid.

My turtle loves green and red bell pepper so I am glad that they seem basically safe when served, as with anything else, in moderation.

Thanks for getting me pointed in the right direction with all of of this veggie analysis!

these are usually popular with turtles that eat any vegetable matter but they are high in sugar so they shouldn't be over used

Thats odd according to that chart most of the things they say not to feed are lower in Oxalic acid then those that are good to feed ...

Weird * checks to make sure im not in the twilight zone * ... maybe there are other reasons they are good or not good other then just Oxalic acid or that they have some good quailities that over power the bad .. HMMmmm

Seems like the most important thing is to provide variety. As for the bell peppers being a good form of Vit. C mentioned above, if I`m not mistaken, RES (unlike humans) can make their own Vit. C.

i wish there was a chart of all the important factors that effect turtles diets .. with different foods .. so we would all know what we should look out for or look for to feed more