identification- (help please) salad mix
- Thread starter Yingg
- Start date
I think that's the oak leaf lettuce
I think it might be young arugula but OP there is nothing in that mix that is unsafe to feed. Warnings about spinach are out of date. Keep it in a varied diet and it's fine. You need to eventually bulk this up with foods with more fiber and calcium but it's not a bad starting point.
If you can find the Santa Barbara mix from the Ready Pac brand to sometimes rotate in with this one, it has more of the bitter lettuces we like, without extra work on your part. You'll still need the fiber, but you'll be a step ahead, having reduced the sugar content of the lettuces.
If you can find the Santa Barbara mix from the Ready Pac brand to sometimes rotate in with this one, it has more of the bitter lettuces we like, without extra work on your part. You'll still need the fiber, but you'll be a step ahead, having reduced the sugar content of the lettuces.
Yingg
Well-Known Member
oh okay!! thank you very much. i will see if i can find this at walmart. do you have recommendations on supermarket food with fiber?
my testudo mix is growing, i haven't been able to feed it to her recently because the snails ate it first... haha.
Yingg
Well-Known Member
is this correct?
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Yingg
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jeez i cannot find this in any stores nearby, this is crazy
The_Four_Toed_Edward
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Can you find a mix with the same three ingredients? All three are good for Russians, escarole is a favourite of my tortoise and we have a similar mix here in Finland.jeez i cannot find this in any stores nearby, this is crazy
Yingg
Well-Known Member
found this just now. is it alright? i couldn't find escarole.
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Escarole, if I'm not mistaken, is a close relative to frisee, chickory, radicchio and endive. So no problem if you can't find it but feed other chickories instead.
!
Yingg
Well-Known Member
awwww zola is a cutie! this is a great idea. i wonder if i could grow some of this stuff
It's going to be cheaper and easier to just buy it. It also only grows in cool weather, so you can't manage it year round by yourself.awwww zola is a cutie! this is a great idea. i wonder if i could grow some of this stuff
That's the one. Don't worry if you can't find it.
It's fine. Any of the bitter lettuces are fine: escarole, endive, radicchio, frisée. Just go to the most expensive side of the lettuces and boom! That's where they'll be.
It's not necessary to feed everything, all the time.
It's fine. Your tortoise might not eat everything in it but they are all fine to eat.
All of the brassicas will have more fiber than the lettuces/chicories. So a bit of Brussels sprout, kale, collards, mustard greens, broccoli, cauliflower. Lots of choices here.
Where in California are you from? Many/most areas have a Mexican grocery store selling cactus (nopales). It's a great food, lots of calcium and fiber. Not all tortoises like it, from watching here seems like maybe half of them.
Yingg
Well-Known Member
you are correct, she has left her bowl half full
Yingg
Well-Known Member
i will definitely look into kale and mustard greens. however i was under the assumption that cauliflower and broccoli weren't good... and also kale and brussel sprouts. can you explain why these are good for russian tortoises and how often i can feed it to her?
i am in Bay area. i know of nopales. I actually managed to grow some, but there aren't any extra "pads" growing from the one i managed to propagate. she is alright with it. hates the slimeyness though, and she sneezes a lot when she eats it.
Cabbages (kale included) belong to Brassica plant family. People freak out because, "omg, it contains goiterogens", however kale has enough iodine to mitigate that. And goiter in tortoises caused by Brassicas is somewhat a "city legend" (there was one study of goiter in captive Aldabra tortoises and results were not definitive). Will (KapidoloFarms) have posted about it a long time ago here on TFO, but I just can't find it right now).
Russian tortoises in the wild consume fair amount of Brassicas (and some other plants marked as "Toxic") without adverse health effects. Of course, that doesn't mean that you should feed your tortoise mainly cabbage
Just rotate salad mixes weekly, throw in something from your garden like hibiscus, mallow or broadlead plantain. Variety is the key, no plant is good enough to be fed as a sole option.Similar threads
