Some Weeds I'm not sure about ?

Len B

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I have these growing in the front yard and not sure if they could be used as part of a varied diet. The first one I've seen around for a couple years but they never got large enough to consider using as food.Picture 004 copy.jpgThis one looks something like a weed that gets tall with a single stem and the tortoises (sulcata and hermanns) have never touched it before. I offered a couple leaves this year and they ate it like a kid eating candy.Picture 001 copy.jpgThis one I actually planted as a ground cover years ago and thought is was all gone. It's not. I'm not sure but think it was deemed a no food item.Picture 005 copy.jpgThis last one isPicture 006 copy.jpg Thank You.
 

ZenHerper

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The second one is some kind of wild lettuce. Fine to feed the leaves as part of a varied diet. The stalks contain a large quantity of a milky sap that I would not personally feed smaller torts. Young leaves are tender and even tasty...they get bitter, tough, and spiny as the summer comes on.

The last one looks like some kind of dock/sorrel. Hard pass (crazy-high oxalate content).

I'd be leery of any decorative ground cover plants.
 

Len B

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The second one is some kind of wild lettuce. Fine to feed the leaves as part of a varied diet. The stalks contain a large quantity of a milky sap that I would not personally feed smaller torts. Young leaves are tender and even tasty...they get bitter, tough, and spiny as the summer comes on.

The last one looks like some kind of dock/sorrel. Hard pass (crazy-high oxalate content).

I'd be leery of any decorative ground cover plants.
Thank You. I was thinking the last one might be horseradish.
 

Tom

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I don't know the first or third one.

The second one is in the dandelion family and I feed it to mine whenever I find it.

I think the fourth one is dock. I thought that one was a do not eat, but when I just looked it up it said people can eat it. @Yvonne G is the one who taught me what dock was. Hopefully she can verify.
 

Len B

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A very similar appearance! You could dig one up for a taste-test =))

Horseradish leaves can interfere with thyroid function, so it would be one I'd avoid...
Since I'm not going anywhere tomorrow I'll dig one up. And post a pic
I don't know the first or third one.

The second one is in the dandelion family and I feed it to mine whenever I find it.

I think the fourth one is dock. I thought that one was a do not eat, but when I just looked it up it said people can eat it. @Yvonne G is the one who taught me what dock was. Hopefully she can verify.
She might know what the one in the first pic is also. Whatever I'm officially finished using store bought tort food until next winter. Except Mazuri, I just bought 3 bags of the original blend.
 

Tom

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Whatever I'm officially finished using store bought tort food until next winter. Except Mazuri, I just bought 3 bags of the original blend.
Me too my friend. I'm good until the leaves drop off in November here. And even then, I'll still have lots of cactus pads to feed out for a while until the rains bring back the weeds.
 

Len B

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Me too my friend. I'm good until the leaves drop off in November here. And even then, I'll still have lots of cactus pads to feed out for a while until the rains bring back the weeds.
I'm mainly talking about sulcatas here, and I'm not sure how many different types of opuntia you grow. Have you noticed that they have a preference of some cactus over others ? Especially the old growth pads during the winter months. Their favorite is also mine too, it is a spineless that I can handle freely and not worry about getting the tweezers out to remove spines from my fingers.
 

Tom

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I'm mainly talking about sulcatas here, and I'm not sure how many different types of opuntia you grow. Have you noticed that they have a preference of some cactus over others ? Especially the old growth pads during the winter months. Their favorite is also mine too, it is a spineless that I can handle freely and not worry about getting the tweezers out to remove spines from my fingers.
I grow about a dozen different opuntia types. I have three different ones that I can handle bare handed and not worry about the spines, but the rest get handled with rubber gloves or a fork. My tortoises seem to like them all and scarf down anything I put in front of them. I don't "feed" the sulcatas and SA leopards all that much. They all have a flake of Bermuda and orchard grass hay to munch on all day every day, so everything else is a bonus. I cut some opuntia pads for them two or three times a week during the time of year when there are no weeds or grasses to eat, and also throw down mulberry branches, grape vines, bags of leftover salad from the catering trucks on the movie sets, and whatever else I randomly find. I'm always looking and scavenging, but their hay holds them over in between. If I "fed" them more often, I might see more of a preference.
 

RosemaryDW

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Agreed with Yvonne the first is some kind of cranesbill geranium and the fourth is dock.

Geranium is safe; I don’t worry about oxalates the way that some do but I just don’t like the look of dock, lol. My tortoise won’t eat it so I guess she doesn’t either.
 

ZenHerper

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...I just don’t like the look of dock, ...

I've known Guinea Pig keepers to feed it to females who then had fatal uterine bleeds (unknown if they were pregnant). I don't recall our herd of deer bothering with them where we used to live, but possibly the groundhogs ate them.

Groundhogs are the gophers of the northeast. Monsters.
 

Len B

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Agreed with Yvonne the first is some kind of cranesbill geranium and the fourth is dock.

Geranium is safe; I don’t worry about oxalates the way that some do but I just don’t like the look of dock, lol. My tortoise won’t eat it so I guess she doesn’t either.
With a good varied diet I'm not as concerned about them as some people are. Thanks
 

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Third one is something in the mint family. The square stem and opposite leaves are the give away. Unfortunately, being something you planted means it could be just about anything.
 

ZenHerper

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Canadian Mojo

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