Supermarket diet?

[Mikeedubb]

Alright guys so i live up in canada and we are covered in snow with -20 c temperatures right now so obviously weeds from outside are out of the question.

i need to feed him greens from the supermarket at least until summer at which point i can start bringing him outside and letting him graze.

But until then i am having a bit of trouble finding which greens are good and okay to feed as all over the internet it says different things. One website says something is good and the other says it is bad so hopefully some of you can help me out here.

i have been feeding things like kale, collards, red leaf lettuce, carrot tops, radicchio. I dont really know what else to buy so if you guys could point me in the right direction that would be great. Thanks!

 

[Saleama]

Cactus pads if you can find them are good and spring mix is always ok. Just get the kind that has a little or no spinach and not the half and half kind. You could also look into buying seeds online. There are many that sprout within a few days, red clover is a good one. I keep 2 tubs going and turn them loose when the sprouts get to about 3 - 4 inches and start to actually look like clover. They mow down 9 sq ft of sprouts in less than an hour and I start over.

 

[Yvonne G]

I think that pet stores (in the rabbit section) sell little packages of hay, but its real old and very hard/prickly, so you should cut it up in small pieces and let it sit in some water to soften. Mix it with the greens.


GREENS
Most grocery stores have a decent selection of greens that Russians readily eat. Ideally the greens should be organic and pesticide free. However this is the real world and not all tortoise keepers have access to "ideal" food.
Romaine lettuce (fed on occasion)
Red and green leaf lettuce (fed on occasion)
Endive
Escarole
Radicchio
Chicory
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)
cabbage (fed on occasion)


Variety is the key!
Don't feed the same food day in and day out. Mix varieties and choose a different green as the basis every few days.

OTHER GOOD CHOICES

Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Plantain (not the banana type fruit....the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves....make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
Californian Poppy escholzia
Chia Salvia hispanica

 

[Saleama]

I think that pet stores (in the rabbit section) sell little packages of hay, but its real old and very hard/prickly, so you should cut it up in small pieces and let it sit in some water to soften. Mix it with the greens.


GREENS
Most grocery stores have a decent selection of greens that Russians readily eat. Ideally the greens should be organic and pesticide free. However this is the real world and not all tortoise keepers have access to "ideal" food.
Romaine lettuce (fed on occasion)
Red and green leaf lettuce (fed on occasion)
Endive
Escarole
Radicchio
Chicory
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)
cabbage (fed on occasion)


Variety is the key!
Don't feed the same food day in and day out. Mix varieties and choose a different green as the basis every few days.

OTHER GOOD CHOICES

Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Plantain (not the banana type fruit....the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves....make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
Californian Poppy escholzia
Chia Salvia hispanica

Yvonne, are you able to grow all these items year round outside in Clovis? I live in Dallas Texas and I can not do that here and I have yet to be successful doing so inside. My Mother lives in Houston and she can grow alot of those outside year round. The difference 268 miles makes, Huh? If you grow them inside, do you have any tips on how to do so successfully? I can't get much to grow past the 3 -4 inch stage myself. Of course, I like to set my babies loose on it around that size because they seem to love it. I find most success with red clover. Are there any of these plants that you suggested that are easy to grow indoors until outside becomes hospitable enough to plant?

 

[Yvonne G]

The trick to getting 'outdoor' plants to grow indoors is lighting. The brighter the better. Fluorescent lighting seems to be best for them. I have some T-5 tubes with mirror-reflectors behind them. The light is VERY bright. The plants I have in those habitats do very well.

 

[Saleama]

The trick to getting 'outdoor' plants to grow indoors is lighting. The brighter the better. Fluorescent lighting seems to be best for them. I have some T-5 tubes with mirror-reflectors behind them. The light is VERY bright. The plants I have in those habitats do very well.

That might be my issue. I use all the old coil bulbs I bought before I knew better. Maybe it is time to get some more powerful grow lights. I think I might visit a hydro store and get a complete set up fo next winter.

 

[TortsNTurtles]

What is the difference between the red and green lettuce & the red & green leaves found in the Spring mix? Are they completely different?

 

[Yvonne G]

What is the difference between the red and green lettuce & the red & green leaves found in the Spring mix? Are they completely different?

This is the USUAL mixture in Spring Mix:

Arugula, Baby Green Oak, Baby Green Romaine, Baby Red Oak, Red Baby Romaine, Baby Spinach, Frisée, Green Chard, Green Tango, Lola Rosa, Mizuna, Red Chard, Red Leaf, Tat-Soi, Baby Kale, Green Leaf, Radicchio, Red Tango, Mache - sometimes it varies. As you can see, baby red leaf and baby green leaf are listed. It is the same as what you buy in the larger head as red/green leaf lettuce, except the spring mix contains very young leaves, not mature heads.

 

[Saleama]

What is the difference between the red and green lettuce & the red & green leaves found in the Spring mix? Are they completely different?

All of my babies and my adult Russians will pick out the red stuff first and then go for the green. I am no expert in lettuce but I know the red stuff is fine for them. I even buy extra radichio (sp) to chop up for them because they like it so much.

 

[Elohi]

My Leo's are the same way, they select the red leaves first.

 

[Volksvegan]

Interesting - my RT always picks out the red radicchio first, too.

 

[MzNENA]

In my case our little Greek hatchling picks his green lettuces from his spring mix first, and avoids or leaves his red lettuces for last lol

 

[Cozl86]

Quick question. Is spinach ok or not?

 

[lynnedit]

In very limited amounts. If you do get Spring mix, try to pick a version that has little to no spinach. But you don't have to pick it out.

 

[LisaTurtle]

Spinach is ok in really small amounts. Mine won't eat it. when I give him a handful of spring mix spinach will be the only thing leftover.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Re: RE: Supermarket diet?

Mine won't eat it. when I give him a handful of spring mix spinach will be the only thing leftover.

Funny, none of mine will either. Russian or Leopard...they all leave it behind.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Spinach tastes bitter to me. This might be the reason they leave it. Same reason I don't chew aspirin.

 

[Cozl86]

That's funny. I have fed mine spinach and kale and he gobbled it all up. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't bad for him in some way.

 

[Elohi]

Mine will sometimes leave spinach. Will only nibble chard, but eat kale up.
It seems to go in cycles but I don't offer the spinach very often because I know it's in the "feed occasionally" category.
They seem to only eat a little of it anyways.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I say it's not bad and it's not good either. Spinach contains oxalates which bind with calcium making the calcium unavailable to your tortoise. Couple that with the calcium deficiency most captive tortoises seem to have and it's a bad food. On the other hand, spinach probably contain vitamins and minerals that are lacking in the lettuces.