Store bought mixed greens

[Franklin2011]

Are the mixed greens sold at grocery stores safe for the Sulcatas?
I keep reading that it is ok to feed, but aren't all those store bought products treated with pesticide?

 

[Kuro]

i buy an organic spring mix for my local grocery store and the torts love it and it says "pesticide&perservative free" on the front

 

[NEtorts]

Agreed... i buy the organic package, but if its safe for humans wouldn't it be safe for a reptile?

 

[Yvonne G]

If you think it might be tainted, you can always put it into a colander and rinse it thoroughly. I just use it right out of the package.

But, you DO raise a good point. We're always saying if you buy a plant don't let your tortoise eat it until you've grown it for a month or so to get rid of all the pesticides and fertilizers. Think about it...before Spring Mix was cut and put into your plastic bag, it was a plant that the farmer fertilized and sprayed pesticides on. Oops!

 

[TRVEESO]

Somebody help me out here.. but isnt mixed greens lettuce? And often spinach? I thought lettuce was no good and I know spinach isnt great either for other reasons. Am I right? The only things my little guy eats, aside from the very irregular bit of apple or vegetable, is weeds, grass, grass hay, various other types of hay, and dandelions/flowers.

 

[Yvonne G]

Spring Mix is a mixture of the baby leaves of different plants. We're always saying to feed your tortoise dark, leafy greens...well, Spring Mix has done the assorting for us and has combined a nice variety of dark, leafy greens in a young stage. If you don't like the amount of spinach it contains you can always pick that out, but I leave it in. There's not enough for me to worry about.

To the Spring Mix, I'll add some grass, weeds and leaves as they're available. Usually mulberry leaves and grape leaves.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Some are up to 50-50 Spinach (I find this at Safeway especially). I only buy ones with little or no spinach, pick out any spinach, organic, and a large variety (some inferior spring mixes are just romaine, or only 3 ingredients, etc). I think a varied organic spring mix is great as part of a balanced tort diet. I try to avoid conventional (non-organic produce), but any grocery store produce is still far better than a nursery plant, as although it has chemicals, it is far less than items not meant for human consumption. Most of the greens I buy my tort are only available in organic anyways near me (dandelion & turnip greens, or those that are fresher to get at the organic grocer, meaning the cost offset pays for itself as I can use the whole bunch, vs. a store who doesn't sell much of something so they have a slow turnover).