Fun food and boredom solutions

Hoka's Mom

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I live in Michigan so they amount of indoor time for our tort is far greater than the outside time. We spend a fair amount of energy finding ways to supplement his food and his happiness. Recently I started growing him garden patches with these neat plastic trays. They are allowing us to give him both a nutritional component AND a tactile experience when he is indoors. Please share what you have tried for growing food and entertaining your tort while indoors.

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RosemaryDW

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With limited success I’ve grown turnip greens and radish greens on a dark patio but they do fine inside. They grow in cool conditions with limited light so they are good candidates. They also grow incredibly fast, which is why they are often included in commercial tortoise seed mixes. My problems were about bad husbandry, not the plants themselves.

You can find turnip seed varieties online that are specifically for growing mostly green tops (fewer actual turnips) but any variety is fine. The package will have directions for growing them primarily as tops.

Daikon (a large Asian radish) put up really large leaves but any radish will do. I actually found both Daikon and “green top” turnip seeds at a local nursery but it is a BIG nursery.

The benefit to both is that they grow VERY quickly so you and your tort get immediate gratification.

Because these plants form fairly large roots, a deeper tray might be better but “regular” radishes and small turnip types (usually Japanese seed types) would be fine in there, Even daikon radishes and regular turnips could be fine, so long as you are prepared to pull them up and reseed often. Since they grow so fast, that wouldn’t be a problem.

Tortoises love both; at least my Russian does.
 

Hoka's Mom

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Ann Arbor
With limited success I’ve grown turnip greens and radish greens on a dark patio but they do fine inside. They grow in cool conditions with limited light so they are good candidates. They also grow incredibly fast, which is why they are often included in commercial tortoise seed mixes. My problems were about bad husbandry, not the plants themselves.

You can find turnip seed varieties online that are specifically for growing mostly green tops (fewer actual turnips) but any variety is fine. The package will have directions for growing them primarily as tops.

Daikon (a large Asian radish) put up really large leaves but any radish will do. I actually found both Daikon and “green top” turnip seeds at a local nursery but it is a BIG nursery.

The benefit to both is that they grow VERY quickly so you and your tort get immediate gratification.

Because these plants form fairly large roots, a deeper tray might be better but “regular” radishes and small turnip types (usually Japanese seed types) would be fine in there, Even daikon radishes and regular turnips could be fine, so long as you are prepared to pull them up and reseed often. Since they grow so fast, that wouldn’t be a problem.

Tortoises love both; at least my Russian does.

One tray is wheat grass and the other is clover. Thanks for the ideas... We have been looking for other items to grow. We really like the sprouting trays because they allow him to eat the top and play in it but he can't dig it up or eat the seeds (since we heard that many plant seeds are not very good while the leaves are fine (like corn). The radish sounds like our next step. I think they will work well for us.
 

Hoka's Mom

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Nice. Is that wheat or grass you have growing.? Ive found that chia seeds sprinkled down on the substrate sprout quickly, get gobbled up quickly as well too.
One is Wheat Grass and the other is Clover. Chia seed? Wow, wouldn't have thought of that....Thanks. Maybe grow them on a chia pet and he can have art and dinner at the same time! lol.
 

RosemaryDW

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Sprouting trays are a good idea but won’t work for radishes, which put up fairly large leaves. You don’t need to worry about him eating any seeds (radishes grow practically overnight) but even if he did eat a radish seed or root, it wouldn’t harm him.

Good luck!
 

RosemaryDW

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Chia seed? Wow, wouldn't have thought of that....Thanks. Maybe grow them on a chia pet and he can have art and dinner at the same time! lol.

Ha! Chia pets have unhealthy stuff on/in them so you’ll have to grow them the old fashioned way. :) I was surprised to learn chia is a sage and grows pretty big if given a chance. Most tortoises don’t give them a chance, though, lol.

I was thinking, if you want to give him something to occupy his time you can give him something that isn’t easy to eat. An inch or two of raw winter squash with the rind on it; a small slice of a raw yam or sweet potato, the very end of a raw summer squash with the dry end still on it. It will take them some time to eat but what else do they have to do? It’s good for the beak as well.
 

Hoka's Mom

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Great ideas! We recently gave him a small chunk of thick asparagus and he had to really work at it. Squash would be nice since it is a treat...but he would have to really work at it. I was wondering about foods for his beak too so this is a great suggestion.
 

SPILL

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I use cage furnishings to hang bigger leaves from so they have to reach up for them. I've seen it suggested to use the clips attached to suction cups for the same purpose.
 

Shuler24

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I use cage furnishings to hang bigger leaves from so they have to reach up for them. I've seen it suggested to use the clips attached to suction cups for the same purpose.
Cool idea Spill, can you share a picture of how you set that up? I would love to see it.
 

SPILL

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Cool idea Spill, can you share a picture of how you set that up? I would love to see it.
For the cakes I just wedge it between a couple pieces of stacked slate. This one decided to be a wise guy and climb on top to eat from above.

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SPILL

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The spiders are so small that I just put some finely chopped on a Tupperware lid and place a couple larger leaves throughout.

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