Plants in enclosure

[George red foot]

Hi I've recently tried adding some plants to my tortoises indoor enclosure, but every time I add plants he eats them straight away or knocks them over and walks all over them. Any tips on how to keep plants inside your enclosure?

 

[phebe121]

I put mine in flower pots where they can still get them but they still have to work for it

 

[George red foot]

I put mine in a plant pot and he pulled it straight over and pulled the plant out of the pot completely lol

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I've had some luck with planting plants in mounds in the center of the habitat. Most foot traffic is the outside parimeter. I also use plants that the tortoises aren't fond of eating.
Maybe your set up is on the small side?

 

[George red foot]

Thank you I've just made my enclosure larger and he seems much happier but still enjoys pulling plants over

 

[George red foot]

Also I'm considering feeding him mice. I've seen people talk about it and I'm excited to give him a new taste. He's 9inches, would you stick to feeding him a pinky? Or would you try something a bit larger?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

No. Too gruesome and not really any better than some great quality dog or cat food.
I use dog food. (I have a dog.)
Maybe folks that also keep snakes might have some extra mice? I don't know.
My girls are over 12" each. No mice for them.

 

[George red foot]

I've never been sure about dog food :/ I usually give him some cooked chicken

 

[DawnH]

I put mine is bigger plant pots and sink them (so they can't be tipped) yet keep them raised up above the substrate enough so he can't chew the stalk, only the lower leafs that come down. (Hopefully this make sense!)

 

[George red foot]

I'll try that, mine were in quite small plant pots

 

[Prairie Mom]

I always keep a mix of plants that are there to be eaten whole and ones that are an occasional light bite for decoration.

For the plants that I want to keep around, I do exactly what @DawnH does. I sink the plant lower in a large pot. Sometimes, I just lower the potting soil or I place a smaller pot within a larger pot. This way the plant can be nibbled on when the leaves are big enough, but the main body of the plant remains intact.

My tortoise is like yours and will do EVERYTHING possible to knock over even large pots. I must use larger pots AND brace the bottom of the pot so my tortoise can't knock it over. I sink my pots deep in the substrate (much deeper than it appears in the photos and I even place buried rocks and pieces of wood around the pots to keep them standing up. My growing tortoise hasn't knocked these down since.


If you look carefully on the right side of the above photo, you can see a small piece of 2x2 strategically placed so that every single pot is tightly braced against other pots, the wall, or rocks. This is typically buried beneath substrate and no one ever knows it's there. (You'll also notice that all the decorative plants are planted lower in the pots like others have said before)


These plants were intentionally grown as tort food. My plan was to let her snack on these and I'd replace them in a few days. The glazed pot is buried pretty deep in the substrate AND has heavy rocks in the bottom of it. She has given up trying to knock this over! I don't mind that she puts her legs on it to reach up and snack, that's why it's there. Yum...yum!


Also, Home Depot has a few nifty set ups for small hanging pots right now. I picked up the cute hanger with the green pots a little while ago. It was mixed in with the pots that were shelved by the houseplants inside the store (not the garden center)...


I hope this helps! I love talking plants and tortoise enclosures inside and outside

 

[DawnH]

Gah!! Seriously adorable photo above, Prairie Mom!!

 

[Prairie Mom]

Gah!! Seriously adorable photo above, Prairie Mom!!

ha ha Thanks! I love her so stinkin' much!

 

[George red foot]

Thank you so much prairie mom! All that advice was so helpful and I will be using lots of your techniques!
I LOVE that last picture! Your enclosure looks great! Thanks again!

 

[Prairie Mom]

Thank you so much prairie mom! All that advice was so helpful and I will be using lots of your techniques!
I LOVE that last picture! Your enclosure looks great! Thanks again!

Thanks! I hope it does help I imagine your tortoise is like mine and it will take a bit of trial and error to get things figured out. Eventually one of you will win the battle...hopefully it's YOU!

 

[Jacqui]

I agree hanging plants, plants that drape over but ate not in the enclosure and those hung on the wall are the way to go.

I fed my redfoots mice. Depending on size, I prefer feeding older mice, as I think you get more benefits from them over pinkies.

 

[George red foot]

Thanks for all the advice guys! My tort is a real character and like to knock everything over!

 

[Jacqui]

Thanks for all the advice guys! My tort is a real character and like to knock everything over!

Our tortoises like to keep us on our toes and coming up with new and inventive solutions to life with them.

 

[George red foot]

They sure do!

 

[TerraTheRussian]

Great advice. Thank you.