Greens, greens, and more greens!

Chip's mom

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Hi all! Is anyone else's tortoise obsessed with Radicchio? Who would think it could be so exciting! We've been giving our Hermann's an organic spring mix (plus dandelion, a bit of cucumber and other veggies). The spring mix has a TON of greens so I wanted to be sure none were dangerous:

Red & Green Leaf
Collard Greens
Frisse
Mustard Greens
Arugula
Kake
Beet Greens
Mizuna
Tatsoi
Swiss Chard
and his favorite Radicchio

I can't tell what's what (except spinach that I take out), so if any are not safe for him I think I need to find another Spring Mix. Thanks for your thoughts and any other staples for Hermann's!
 

harrythetortoise

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I think anything in moderation should be fine, and variety is the key.
I use thetortoisetable.org.uk to look up plants/veggies to see if anything are harmful to tortoises and avoid those. Hope this helps!
 

Chip's mom

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My little man is the same loves radicchio. It was watercress and sowthistle but bypasses all those if there is a sniff of radicchio ?
It's so funny, it's like a cookie to them. I'm glad because we're trying to not give fruit or just once in a few weeks because he loves strawberries so much. So good that he can be excited about radicchio!
 

Chip's mom

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Torts seem to like red foods.
A while ago someone posted about their tort trying to bite their red painted toenails!
They love things like strawberries and tomatoes but unfortunately they're not good for them.
Bit like us with chocolate !:)
Ha! I was thinking the same thing about me and chocolate. We have strawberries and tomatoes in our garden and are thinking we'll let him have a tiny treat a couple times this summer. Hopefully a tiny bit in moderation will be okay!
 

Chip's mom

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It's so funny, it's like a cookie to them. I'm glad because we're trying to not give fruit or just once in a few weeks because he loves strawberries so much. So good that he can be excited about radicchio!
Good to know also about watercress and sow thistle!
 

Lyn W

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Ha! I was thinking the same thing about me and chocolate. We have strawberries and tomatoes in our garden and are thinking we'll let him have a tiny treat a couple times this summer. Hopefully a tiny bit in moderation will be okay!
Should be very rare, because their digestion can't cope with the sugars and acids in fruits.
 

Tom

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Hi all! Is anyone else's tortoise obsessed with Radicchio? Who would think it could be so exciting! We've been giving our Hermann's an organic spring mix (plus dandelion, a bit of cucumber and other veggies). The spring mix has a TON of greens so I wanted to be sure none were dangerous:

Red & Green Leaf
Collard Greens
Frisse
Mustard Greens
Arugula
Kake
Beet Greens
Mizuna
Tatsoi
Swiss Chard
and his favorite Radicchio

I can't tell what's what (except spinach that I take out), so if any are not safe for him I think I need to find another Spring Mix. Thanks for your thoughts and any other staples for Hermann's!
All of those things are safe to feed, and so is spinach. The problem is that grocery store foods by themselves aren't great tortoise foods. They need weeds and leaves and flowers and more "natural" stuff that doesn't grow in rows on farms. If you can't get weeds and leaves because of the current weather, then, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Add in dandelion greens, arugula, cilantro and many more for occasional variety. You also need to add in amendments. Dried leaves, dried flower mixes, and even horse hay pellets for fiber. ZooMed pellets work great too.

Rather than re-type it all, check out the food section here for more explanation:
 

Skip K

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The spring mix we use has all the things that yours does...but it also includes spinach. I decided to remove the spinach to see how much of the mix WAS spinach. Turns out spinach makes up a pretty big amount of the mix...so I now when I get home with a new container..I remove about 95% of the spinach before using. Chard also has about the same heavy oxalate load...which I am debating removing some as well.
 

Chip's mom

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Should be very rare, because their digestion can't cope with the sugars and acids in fruits.
Yeah, we're thinking a couple times over the summer. Luckily we have many weeds and flowers in the yard that he can have too! And today I read the young leaves of green bean plants, which we will hopefully have a lot of!
 

Chip's mom

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The spring mix we use has all the things that yours does...but it also includes spinach. I decided to remove the spinach to see how much of the mix WAS spinach. Turns out spinach makes up a pretty big amount of the mix...so I now when I get home with a new container..I remove about 95% of the spinach before using. Chard also has about the same heavy oxalate load...which I am debating removing some as well.
Our mix has a lot of spinach too. I can't tell which is swiss chard, but when I mistakenly bought it earlier and tried to give it to him he fortunately had no interest in it. He would just eat the raddiccio in that spring mix if we'd let him!
 
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Skip K

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Ours has a lot of spinach too. I can't tell which is swiss chard, but when I mistakenly bought it earlier and tried to give it to him he fortunately had no interest in it. He would just eat the raddiccio in that spring mix if we'd let him!
This isnt a 100% rule of thumb...but you can usually spot chard because it sorta looks like spinach and can have a red or purple leaf stem and leaf veins
 
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Chip's mom

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All of those things are safe to feed, and so is spinach. The problem is that grocery store foods by themselves aren't great tortoise foods. They need weeds and leaves and flowers and more "natural" stuff that doesn't grow in rows on farms. If you can't get weeds and leaves because of the current weather, then, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Add in dandelion greens, arugula, cilantro and many more for occasional variety. You also need to add in amendments. Dried leaves, dried flower mixes, and even horse hay pellets for fiber. ZooMed pellets work great too.

Rather than re-type it all, check out the food section here for more explanation:
Thank you! Definitely looking forward to spring to get more outdoors variety. I have been able to get dandelion greens. He is not interested in the Mazuri and Zoo Med pellets and dried flower mixes I got. We have tried hydrating them. Any tips?
 

Chip's mom

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This isnt a 100% rule of thumb...but you can usually spot chard because it sorta looks like spinach but has a red or purple leaf stem and leaf veins
Thanks! I'm going to become an expert at lettuce, weeds, and flower identification! :)
 

harrythetortoise

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Thank you! Definitely looking forward to spring to get more outdoors variety. I have been able to get dandelion greens. He is not interested in the Mazuri and Zoo Med pellets and dried flower mixes I got. We have tried hydrating them. Any tips?

I soak the zoomed pellets until they become soft and mix with greens to feed my baby 2 times a week. It took a couple weeks before he started actually eating it. I think it takes time for tortoises to eat new foods, especially as babies, so keep trying! :D
 

Chip's mom

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Thanks so much- that's good to know that it can take a while. We celebrate when he eats a new food, it's funny how exciting it is to see him expand his horizons. We'll keep trying!
 

zolasmum

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Our Hermann's tortoise is 20, and radicchio has been his favourite food for years. We live in a fairly rural area of Devon,England, and have to order it from a special greengrocer 25 miles away. So I get 3 or 4 whole heads, which keep well in the fridge, and give him a bit every day. He always sorts it out from his other food and eats it first ! Luckily neither I nor my husband like it at all, so he has it to himself , as you can see!
Angie
Z-'s-food.jpg
 

Chip's mom

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Oh my goodness- that is what we will do for our tortoise for a Christmas present! So funny. Could you grow it in your yard? I'm going to look into that because we have a small garden. I tried some and it's so bitter, I'm surprised they like it so much.

That's amazing that your tortoise is 20!
 

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