Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'd like to go searching for Dandelions, Hibiscus, and Clover plants but I just wondered if tortoises eat the colorful flower part of these plants or the leaves/stem...or both?

Fred

For such little ones, I only feed the leaves and flowers of the hibiscus, because the stems are difficult for them to bite through if they can even get through it at all. The dandelions are softer; I feed all of it to them, but they mostly go for the leaves and flowers. It has been so long since I have seen clover, but from what I remember it is soft also. Make sure that all those items have not been sprayed or treated with pesticides.

Michael

Good to know, thanks. I even noticed when feeding Romaine or Endive, when the baby tort gets to the middle of a leaf where the hard vein is, he has trouble munching through that so I try to give him the soft parts.

Fred

Its still good to offer the hard parts, them trying to munch on it helps keep their beak in good condition. Helps to keep it from over growing.

Cute pic From the bottom veiw, looks like its a hermann's for sure

Yeah I'd say with almost certainty an Eastern Hermanns. I found his first poop pellets today, stinky but nice and solid, dark pellets. Now if I can just find some plants outside to give some variety to his diet. I wonder if regular grass is even ok.

Fred

Dear Fred, feeding fairly coarse vegetation if generally desirable, it wears the beak etc. If you live in California or another Mediterranean climate, you should be able to find weeds now, they are growing like crazy after recent rains. Otherwise, build a couple of grow boxes from scrap lumber or big pots and you can grow a lot of food on your own. See Russiantortoise.org or San Diego Turtle and Tortoise Society or California Turtle and Tortoise Club web-sites (and others) for plant lists of edible weeds etc.

also, if you have the broad leaf "weed", plantain, growing in your unsprayed lawn, this is a tortoise favorite.

matt

I went searching today locally here in Florida and found some wild Hibiscus growing. Apparently it is in bloom from summer until almost winter. We don't have dandelions down here. I guess it's risky to feed the Hibiscus leaves to my tort but he didn't seem interested in it anyway, just went back to his green leafy stuff. It's funny to see his beak all green after he gets done eating. I'll look for those plantain leaves and keep up with the course vegetation.

Fred

Do you have Kudzu growing in florida? We have lots here in SC and there is even more growing in GA, So it should be there also.
My Sulcatas love it, it grows everywhere, fast, and is free! They eat the stem, leaves, everything I give them. I will try to get a good picture of it If you cant find it on the web.

You live in Florida? Do they have water hyacynth choking the canals/ditches there? If so, most tortoises love the lavender flowers that grow on them. They will also eat some of the leathery green leaves. I do not know about the nutritional value, Cah ratio, so moderation is probably a good idea. The flowers are a real favorite with my herd. I mostly feed "weeds", and you soon learn to identify and love them!

Are you referring to Ipomea aquatica "Swamp Cabbage or Chinese Morning Glory?" It sounds like it. It is a plant pest species that is choking the waterways of Florida. It sounds like the Thai variety, which is great. The Chinese variety (often used in Asian recipes) has a Calcium : Phosphorous ratio of 2 plus : 1. I forgot where you can find the analysis, but look under the species name and nutrition when you search for it. It will take a while! I researched it when I moved to Thailand because tortoise dealers/breeders as well as the National Zoo were using it for their tortoises and other herbivorous reptiles. If it is the Thai variety, you will not find a reference for it, but a graduate student at one of the universities here had an analysis done on it and found the Thai variety to have many times the calcium content of the Chinese variety. Chinese variety: long smooth leaves. Thai variety: three pronged leathery leaves. I believe I referred to it in an earlier post and wrote “Attention Florida residents: …” I use it to make up about 25%-30% of my tortoises’ diet.

If it is the Chinese variety, try cooking it up for yourself with oyster sauce and crushed garlic; it is very good you and tastes good. If it is the Thai variety, it is a little bitter and is only good raw as a side dish with Thai dishes such as Som Tom (Green Papaya Salad) and Larb.

Michael

It sounded like Swamp Cabbage/Chinese Morning Glory (Ipomea aquatica), which has nearly the same color of flower and is also causing problems in Florida, but it is not.

Michael

I did some research and came up with this picture for the water hyacynth plant. Is this the one you're talking about? If so I'll get out there and try to find some. It looks like that spot of yellow should help me easily identify it.

Thanks,

Fred

That is the plant that VICtort was referring to. I will try to post a picture of the other plant, Swamp Cabbage (Ipomea aquatica), today.

Michael