leopard tort

[bonnie000]

Hi everyone, I have just joined this website, and would like some advise off people please, I have a leopard tortoise, and would like to know what sort of plants, flowers and weeds I can offer her, as im trying to widen her food variety... any help would be grateful thanks

[84KB11]

Hi, and to a great forum.

My Leopards get a mix of mainly grasses (several types) and:
Plantain, Dandylion, Mulberry Leaf, Clover, Bindweed (leaf and flower), Sow Thistle.

They also get a very small amount of bramble leaf and banana leaf as treats.

[bonnie000]

Thanks for the welcome, . and thanks for the msg.
Iv had my leopard tortoise for about 3 years. she's normally fed on weeds from the garden, and i buy her fresh cabbage which she loves, but cus the winters come, all the weeds have died off. so just wondered what else I could give her. The thing is aswell shes a really picky eater. . I was thinking of buying some seeds to plant in the garden?
write bk thanks

[84KB11]

I am lucky to have a very sheltered garden, so still plenty of weeds here.
Also have Mulberry and dandylion in the greenhouse.

Leopards will be fine on a mixture of fresh and dried grasses.
If yours is fussy, try mixing some chopped things she likes into it (Cabbage, watercress, mixed salad leaves etc).
It is best to keep Cabbage to a minimum, its not great for them.
Also avoid high moisture foods (eg. Iceberg lettuce), as Leopards are a dry grassland species (you probably know all this already).

They are my favorite tortoise, would be great to see a picture of yours if you can post one.

[Shelley66]

I never give mine cabbage. Leo's need lots of hay and grass. In the winter it's a problem, but I have always managed to cut grass from the garden for mine, I put hay in a blender to chop it up small (otherwise they wouldn't eat it!) and when there are no weeds around I add Crispy Floretti to their grass, though they could get through the winter on mainly grass and hay quite happily.

[bonnie000]

thanku, yes i will give her grass mixed with a bit of the cabbage, can u buy the mixed grass from a shop or would it have to be fresh? sorry for all the questions lol, 1 more question, lately she wont eat her food with the nutrabal i put on, is there any other way i cud get her to have the calcium? wb thanks

[EVIEMAY]

I would avoid cabbage if I were you - it does inhibit the uptake of calcuim.

I have kept Leopards for 4 years and have never had a problem getting weeds - mallow dandies plantain sow thistle are growing in abundance where I live at the moment.

I go weeding around once a week and keep them in 2 big crisper plastic tubs in the fridge.

Mine have Romaine lettuce, pak choi and cucumber ( small amount) for a treat and they graze most of the year round

[84KB11]

You can buy dried grasses (good quality meadow hay or Redigrass), but mine much prefer fresh from the garden.

You can encourage them to take dired grasses by chopping and mixing with fresh grass.
Another trick is to add a little cucumber juice to make it smell nice.

Some keepers use grass pellets over winter.
I have tried them, but neither of my Lepoards will eat them.

For calcium, I use Limestone flour placed in a shallow dish.
They help themselves when they want.
I give Nutrobal once a week, mixed well into a large amount of food to hide the smell.