laramill
Member
Hi all--
I've got a food question for someone with some experience.
I live in Wisconsin and so am forced to feed Wilson from the grocery store for a good chunk of the year. I do have wild strawberry, sedum, and hen-and-chicks planted in his winter indoor enclosure, but he really doesn't chew on them too often. I also have some spider plants in there he'll chomp on now and then. I tried to grow some dandelions and snap dragons, but our house is cold, dark and dry in the winter, so that was slow going and not real successful. (Really the most pleasant place is his enclosure! Haha)
I want to get a growing table set up into the basement before next winter and hope to feel confident enough about his progress to hibernate him after that... but until then- his special treats are when I could get the Christmas cactus or hibiscus to flower, or a leaf or two from the dandelion I potted this fall that managed to survive on my windowsill. We are still a long way from having weeds outside here this year and more snow is predicted for next week... (I had to incorporate him into our family so quickly this fall that I've had some regrets in not having everything thought-out perfectly, but there really was no alternative under the circumstances he came to us)
I feed him the full array of leafy greens from the grocery store, with spring mix, romaine, radicchio, kale, green/red lettuce being the mainstays, and other varieties sprinkled in now and then. He's not into carrot at all, though I do still offer it from time to time. Now and then (rarely) I'll give him a tiny flowerette of broccoli just so he's not too bored.
With all that as background- my questions are these:
I read at other sites that squash is fine to feed- so I've added zucchini to his regular lineup-- but I've noticed that isn't mentioned too often here- Whats the general feeling on it? Could someone cook slightly (to soften it) winter squash and offer that? (I'd imagine there may be some sugar content concerns with those, which is why I stuck with summer squash so far- but do I need to?)
My second question is, I was watching a clip on youtube the other day in which someone ( I believe in Japan) was feeding their pet russian bean sprouts- the tort was sure enjoying them, but what is the feeling on that?
Is that something I could offer now and again?
Last, this made me wonder about other sprouts sold in the produce dept. Any opinions?
This is probably just my transferring my human-need for food variety on to poor Wilson, but I just remember how excited he'd get when I'd find him wild snap dragons last fall and bring them in-- that little tort would come running!
Now I feel like every morning he looks at me like "Leaves again?!?"
I've got a food question for someone with some experience.
I live in Wisconsin and so am forced to feed Wilson from the grocery store for a good chunk of the year. I do have wild strawberry, sedum, and hen-and-chicks planted in his winter indoor enclosure, but he really doesn't chew on them too often. I also have some spider plants in there he'll chomp on now and then. I tried to grow some dandelions and snap dragons, but our house is cold, dark and dry in the winter, so that was slow going and not real successful. (Really the most pleasant place is his enclosure! Haha)
I want to get a growing table set up into the basement before next winter and hope to feel confident enough about his progress to hibernate him after that... but until then- his special treats are when I could get the Christmas cactus or hibiscus to flower, or a leaf or two from the dandelion I potted this fall that managed to survive on my windowsill. We are still a long way from having weeds outside here this year and more snow is predicted for next week... (I had to incorporate him into our family so quickly this fall that I've had some regrets in not having everything thought-out perfectly, but there really was no alternative under the circumstances he came to us)
I feed him the full array of leafy greens from the grocery store, with spring mix, romaine, radicchio, kale, green/red lettuce being the mainstays, and other varieties sprinkled in now and then. He's not into carrot at all, though I do still offer it from time to time. Now and then (rarely) I'll give him a tiny flowerette of broccoli just so he's not too bored.
With all that as background- my questions are these:
I read at other sites that squash is fine to feed- so I've added zucchini to his regular lineup-- but I've noticed that isn't mentioned too often here- Whats the general feeling on it? Could someone cook slightly (to soften it) winter squash and offer that? (I'd imagine there may be some sugar content concerns with those, which is why I stuck with summer squash so far- but do I need to?)
My second question is, I was watching a clip on youtube the other day in which someone ( I believe in Japan) was feeding their pet russian bean sprouts- the tort was sure enjoying them, but what is the feeling on that?
Is that something I could offer now and again?
Last, this made me wonder about other sprouts sold in the produce dept. Any opinions?
This is probably just my transferring my human-need for food variety on to poor Wilson, but I just remember how excited he'd get when I'd find him wild snap dragons last fall and bring them in-- that little tort would come running!
Now I feel like every morning he looks at me like "Leaves again?!?"
