Edible Weeds

Plant Categories - The Tortoise table

 

Pears are not good, nor is lettuce or carrots.

There is a "sticky" at the top of this Section which gives lots of info on the most suitable weeds for your tortoise.

Bagged salads are ok in the winter months when there are not so many weeds about. You can buy weed seeds - Urban Tortoise, a user on here sells some at very good prices and I have read lots of good reviews about her! There should be some adverts in Shelled Classifieds.

If you are unsure on which weeds are which if you post some photos (preferably of as much of the plant as possible) we can id them for you.

 

Thanku I go to the shops with a list off the sticky and can't find anything lol don't no where else to go! Im at a loss lol

 

well here's the problem , tortoise require a low protein high fibre diet ,supermarket food is the ohter way around high protein low fibre.
there are plenty of weed charts through out the internet , and also at this time of years weeds are every where.

 

Do you have a garden? If so you probably have a food supply right there, it's just a case of having a close look at what weeds you have growing and checking they're safe to eat. Then in addition you can buy some packs of tortoise seeds and plant them up either in the garden, greenhouse, coldframe or even indoors on the windowsill.

 

As has been said weeds grow everywhere you don't want them to, so I suggest you get looking for Sow Thistle and Dandelion for a start. The mixed salad leaves in a supermarket packet are a good stand by, also some curly kale. As long as you give a varied diet of different things your tortoise will be fine.

 

Hi yes have a back garden went out and pulled up a load of dandelion leaves before and he has munched his head off tonight! I've given him lettuce and curly kale past few weeks with carrot and pear so I'll stop the carrot and pear now and rummage out the weeds.

He wasn't planned I found him in a gutter scared and knocked around a few houses and put up posters with my number went to local vets and pet stores but no response a month on vet said he wasn't chipped so finders keepers got straight onto Internet researched housing etc made him a fab tort table and now wanna sort his diet out properly

Thanks for the help and advice

 

Best to avoid dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach etc...as they reduce the amount of calcium absorbed. Can't go wrong with plantain(the british leaf variety), dandelion leaves, clover, sow thistle, hawks bit etc...Water cress & florette lettuce can be given when weeds are in short supply, however a lot of tortoise keepers are feeding agrobs.

Marcus

 

Sorry what's agrob??

 

weeds are best mine love dandelion greens!

 

I've been giving him dandelions from my garden and he loves them so he is ok on them alot plus the others that have been mentioned!?

Winter he is ok on the supermarket stuff mentioned above? Got it sorted thanks all

 

you should feed yoru horsefield green beans, dandilions fresh veg and salad thats what i used to feed my tortoises it's quite a balanced and healthy diet :')

 

Thank you

 

No it really isn't a balanced diet any veg or fruit is a big no! Weeds are the best you can feed I have a horsefield tortoise and you would be amazed at where you can find them you can get them on waste grounds in the back garden even on a grass verge or a little nature walk they are really easy to find all you need is a good weed book or wild flower book.

 

Right no fruit or veg just weeds lol got it I take dogs on walks everywhere so will find loads of weeds just need to be knowledgable about what's what and what's bad

 

Thats the best way to find weeds is walking dogs the books my mum has are collins pocket nature wild flowers by neil fletcher and guide to wild flowers of britain and europe by dr dietmar and the best way is take a bag and pick lots of different weeds then id them then you know whats good and isn't.

 

as you mentioned weeds are extremely good for them i couldn't get me horsefeilds off green beans lol :/

 

Can I just chip in here and say you can feed greens and lettuce and kale and tomato, cucumber, apple, strawberry green beans and plenty weeds. Just don't make any of them a staple diet. It's all about variety and what is in season. Some are high in oxalates but carry other good nutrients, so make use of what is available.

 

see my spur thighed boy loves dandelion leaves, but I dont know what the thistle etc ones look like, so I'm wary of feeding him anything that I don't know is safe. HELP please!

 

I was told tomato and cucumber gave them the runs???????????

 

No, small amounts don't, cucumber is very good for hydration but has very little food value. I wouldn't feed hatchlings anything other than weeds but older tortoises are fine with it in moderation.