New Member - AZ - Any Toxic Grasses?

[pliken]

Hello all -

From me and Lightning. Lightning is a Sulcata, approximately 2 years old, that I just acquired from my daughter who had to move. He (guessing) has had a couple of different owners and has pyramiding; I am getting him onto grasses, weeds and a few flowers, all of which I think he has never had. I am converting one side of the yard to a pesticide and fertilizer free zone and planting appropriate edibles, but in the meantime I am collecting. Having done my research, and found the weed and grasses identification sites, I am still having trouble identifying many of the dried up grasses prevalent now in central Arizona. Can anyone tell me if there are any grasses that are actually bad for Sulcatas?

Paula Liken

 

[DesertGrandma]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Pics of the grasses would help in possibly determining what type of grass you have and then if it's edible..

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Paula:

Welcome to the forum!!

I really like the bio you put up about you and your family!


I don't know the answer to your grass question. My first instinct was to say no, there aren't any you have to worry about, but its strictly a guess. I used to grow sudan grass for my horses, but found out that if it gets moldy it turns toxic. I know that my Dudley (100lb sulcata) loves his Bermuda grass. Its pretty hardy and can get by with not too much water. But it goes dormant in the winter.

 

[ascott]

Welcome!...are you referring to turf grass or invasive grasses?

 

[pliken]

Welcome!...are you referring to turf grass or invasive grasses?

Wild grasses mostly - I found pretty good pictures of the turf grasses and of "noxious" grasses and weeds

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Hi Paula:

Welcome to the forum!!

I really like the bio you put up about you and your family!


I don't know the answer to your grass question. My first instinct was to say no, there aren't any you have to worry about, but its strictly a guess. I used to grow sudan grass for my horses, but found out that if it gets moldy it turns toxic. I know that my Dudley (100lb sulcata) loves his Bermuda grass. Its pretty hardy and can get by with not too much water. But it goes dormant in the winter.

Thanks for your reply! Got lots of bermuda, but I am aiming for variety. I found sideoats gramma, rye, dallisgrass and purple threeawn when out collecting. Good to know about the mold factor - not too much of a factor here usually, but I've started misting so that could become an issue.

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Hello and welcome to the forum.

Pics of the grasses would help in possibly determining what type of grass you have and then if it's edible..

I am camera-less until my husband gets back from his latest Harley ride (to the Midwest). I can certainly provide pictures in the near future. Some of the grasses I am finding are so dry and brittle that they fall apart so they may be difficult to identify. In particular there is a bunch grass that Lightning really likes (just trying small quantities) that just looks like a bundle of tiny straight twigs by the time I get it home. I think it may be needle gramma, which is OK - when I get the camera back I will take a picture in situ before I collect. Until then....

 

[DesertGrandma]

I know that people who grow bermuda here in the Phoenix area will overseed with winter rye to keep green grass through the winter. I have no experience doing that but you might check that out. I am new to tort keeping so I will also need to find that out when it starts to cool off and the bermuda starts to dry out. Mine loves dichondra very much so I am hoping that will stay green in the winter, but also don't know that yet. Will you be keeping a tortoise pen in Payson too? How cool! Oh, and maybe Neal will chime in also. He keeps/breeds them in this area too. Right now I am using the "tortoise grazing seed mix" from Carolina Pet Supply and it has some really neat stuff in it. I can't for the life of me get dandelion to grow. Have started it twice from seed and yet nothing. Go figure!!

 

[pliken]

I know that people who grow bermuda here in the Phoenix area will overseed with winter rye to keep green grass through the winter. I have no experience doing that but you might check that out. I am new to tort keeping so I will also need to find that out when it starts to cool off and the bermuda starts to dry out. Mine loves dichondra very much so I am hoping that will stay green in the winter, but also don't know that yet. Will you be keeping a tortoise pen in Payson too? How cool! Oh, and maybe Neal will chime in also. He keeps/breeds them in this area too. Right now I am using the "tortoise grazing seed mix" from Carolina Pet Supply and it has some really neat stuff in it. I can't for the life of me get dandelion to grow. Have started it twice from seed and yet nothing. Go figure!!

Yeah, you wouldn't think growing dandelions would be a problem! Have you tried growing plantain in the valley?

I don't think I will keep a tortoise pen in Payson as my daughter has three rambunctious dogs there. It is great to have two completely different climate zones to collect from, though.

 

[DesertGrandma]

I know that people who grow bermuda here in the Phoenix area will overseed with winter rye to keep green grass through the winter. I have no experience doing that but you might check that out. I am new to tort keeping so I will also need to find that out when it starts to cool off and the bermuda starts to dry out. Mine loves dichondra very much so I am hoping that will stay green in the winter, but also don't know that yet. Will you be keeping a tortoise pen in Payson too? How cool! Oh, and maybe Neal will chime in also. He keeps/breeds them in this area too. Right now I am using the "tortoise grazing seed mix" from Carolina Pet Supply and it has some really neat stuff in it. I can't for the life of me get dandelion to grow. Have started it twice from seed and yet nothing. Go figure!!

Yeah, you wouldn't think growing dandelions would be a problem! Have you tried growing plantain in the valley?

I don't think I will keep a tortoise pen in Payson as my daughter has three rambunctious dogs there. It is great to have two completely different climate zones to collect from, though.

I think that there is plantain in the tortoise seed mix. There is a lot of variety in it. I am watering it every night to keep it alive in this heat.

 

[pliken]

I know that people who grow bermuda here in the Phoenix area will overseed with winter rye to keep green grass through the winter. I have no experience doing that but you might check that out. I am new to tort keeping so I will also need to find that out when it starts to cool off and the bermuda starts to dry out. Mine loves dichondra very much so I am hoping that will stay green in the winter, but also don't know that yet. Will you be keeping a tortoise pen in Payson too? How cool! Oh, and maybe Neal will chime in also. He keeps/breeds them in this area too. Right now I am using the "tortoise grazing seed mix" from Carolina Pet Supply and it has some really neat stuff in it. I can't for the life of me get dandelion to grow. Have started it twice from seed and yet nothing. Go figure!!

Yeah, you wouldn't think growing dandelions would be a problem! Have you tried growing plantain in the valley?

I don't think I will keep a tortoise pen in Payson as my daughter has three rambunctious dogs there. It is great to have two completely different climate zones to collect from, though.

I think that there is plantain in the tortoise seed mix. There is a lot of variety in it. I am watering it every night to keep it alive in this heat.

Did your tortoise garden survive the big dust storm? I just collected plantain seed and mallow seed (two types) from Payson. I am wondering if I should try to start some inside. What do you think? And how often do you water your garden?

Paula

 

[DesertGrandma]

My outside tortoise enclosure is pretty small and there is a cover made of hardware cloth so not too much damage from the Haboob except for lots of dust. I water it every evening. What I did was to plant some of the tortoise grazing mix in several of those little degradable seed pots from the hardware store with some organic soil. It sprouted outside in the heat very quickly. Once it was of some size I just planted the little pots around in the soil in the enclosure. The weeds quickly began to spread. I had already planted some bermuda and dichondra in there but it seems to be getting sparse now, so maybe it is getting too much water, or it is just too dang hot?? Anyway, the weeds are doing well. The one plant in it that is really thriving and my tort likes most is called nipplewort. I looked it up online. It stays nice and green. There are some taller grasses in it too, but I am no expert on what it is. Also, I made a little grazing box out of a smaller flat plastic container and put holes in the bottom for drainage. The bermuda and dicchondra seeds grew well in that with watering everyday. I plan to use the same idea to get some rye grass started and then transfer it to my outside tortoise enclosure when the weather cools off. Hope this helps you.

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My enclosure will need to be enlarged pretty sooon!

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With your space you will really have fun getting all the stuff growing!

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If you get a chance post some pics of your new tort.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[pliken]

My outside tortoise enclosure is pretty small and there is a cover made of hardware cloth so not too much damage from the Haboob except for lots of dust. I water it every evening. What I did was to plant some of the tortoise grazing mix in several of those little degradable seed pots from the hardware store with some organic soil. It sprouted outside in the heat very quickly. Once it was of some size I just planted the little pots around in the soil in the enclosure. The weeds quickly began to spread. I had already planted some bermuda and dichondra in there but it seems to be getting sparse now, so maybe it is getting too much water, or it is just too dang hot?? Anyway, the weeds are doing well. The one plant in it that is really thriving and my tort likes most is called nipplewort. I looked it up online. It stays nice and green. There are some taller grasses in it too, but I am no expert on what it is. Also, I made a little grazing box out of a smaller flat plastic container and put holes in the bottom for drainage. The bermuda and dicchondra seeds grew well in that with watering everyday. I plan to use the same idea to get some rye grass started and then transfer it to my outside tortoise enclosure when the weather cools off. Hope this helps you.

---

My enclosure will need to be enlarged pretty sooon!

---

With your space you will really have fun getting all the stuff growing!

---

If you get a chance post some pics of your new tort.

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You gave me some really good ideas here! Bermuda needs full sun so it might be affected by the hardware cloth. However, dichondra is supposed to grow well in shade... Thanks for all your suggestions. My husband broke the camera on his trip so pictures will have to wait. In the meantime, I found dichondra, dallis grass, dandelions and mallow growing along Dobson Road in Mesa. So the collecting is going well in spite of the heat! Lightning (the Sulcata) loves loves loves mallow! I am going to repost my toxic grass question on the diet thread & see if anyone there has an answer about that. Thanks again.