Weeds...pull them out or eat them?? Please ID

[lisalove]

Please let me know what these are-I have a ton of them and need to know if I need to pull them out of Nodder's enclosure.
Thanks!

Last 2 are the same weed.

 

[Edna]

1 & 2 are spurge. Pull it out.
3 & 4 are a clover. Leave it in, but cut it low to to ground to encourage new growth. It has a big root system and you can't hurt it by trimming it back.

 

[GBtortoises]

The 1st two photos are spurge, of which there are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of varieties. They all contain a milky looking fluid in their leaves that is toxic.

I don't know for certain what the second two plants are but they are not clover.

 

[Edna]

3 & 4 are melilotus. Its common name is yellow sweetclover. It is grown as hay and is a major nectar source for honeybees. It has toxic properties when it becomes moldy, so if you compost it don't let your animals eat the compost.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Yeah, the first two are prostrate and spotted spurge, respectively (both in the genus Euphorbia). My Russian tortoises like to eat them, especially my female. Given that they have a milky sap (latex), they probably are high in oxalic acid. But as long as your tortoise has a varied diet, it's not a problem.

I don't know what the other plant is. But even if it's toxic, I wouldn't worry about removing it. Tortoises don't try to eat every plant they find. They have good nutritional wisdom, and generally know what is good to eat and what isn't. Palatable plants get eaten, and unpalatable ones fade into the background.

 

[Carlos83]

Yeah, the first two are prostrate and spotted spurge, respectively (both in the genus Euphorbia). My Russian tortoises like to eat them, especially my female. Given that they have a milky sap (latex), they probably are high in oxalic acid. But as long as your tortoise has a varied diet, it's not a problem.

I don't know what the other plant is. But even if it's toxic, I wouldn't worry about removing it. Tortoises don't try to eat every plant they find. They have good nutritional wisdom, and generally know what is good to eat and what isn't. Palatable plants get eaten, and unpalatable ones fade into the background.

So a tort on a good diet it's ok to eat prostrate milky sap ? ? ?

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

So a tort on a good diet it's ok to eat prostrate milky sap ? ? ?

Yep. A lot of wild plants contain latex, including dandelion, prickly lettuce, and poppies, all of which are on the menu for wild Testudo tortoises. Prostrate and spotted spurges are native to North America, so Testudo species would not have coevolved with them in the Old World. Nevertheless, they appear to be similar enough to plants that are suitable for Mediterranean tortoises, to make them both palatable and safe for them to eat.

Yes, the oxalic acid in them would be a problem if that's all a tortoise had access to. However, as long the tortoise has a varied diet, I think these plants are fine. Like I said, my tortoises certainly seem to like them, and I have yet to see them eat anything that makes them ill.

 

[Carlos83]

So a tort on a good diet it's ok to eat prostrate milky sap ? ? ?

Yep. A lot of wild plants contain latex, including dandelion, prickly lettuce, and poppies, all of which are on the menu for wild Testudo tortoises. Prostrate and spotted spurges are native to North America, so Testudo species would not have coevolved with them in the Old World. Nevertheless, they appear to be similar enough to plants that are suitable for Mediterranean tortoises, to make them both palatable and safe for them to eat.

Yes, the oxalic acid in them would be a problem if that's all a tortoise had access to. However, as long the tortoise has a varied diet, I think these plants are fine. Like I said, my tortoises certainly seem to like them, and I have yet to see them eat anything that makes them ill.

That's good to know thanks buddy,my 5month old sully chows down on them plus the extra I give him !

 

[ssydney]

Plants one and two are spurge, I'm pretty sure.

 

[lisalove]

Thanks to all. I sent an email with pics to Tortoise Table Org and this is what was said...

The plant that has the green leaves and is creeping along the ground is Prostrate Spurge and the one that looks similar with the red ovals on the green leaves is Spotted Spurge.  Both are from the Euphorbia family where it is thought that most, if not all contain a toxin that is known to be carcinogenic.  All of the Euphorbia/Spurge entrys on our website has the red traffic light so I wouldnt offer either of these to your sulcatas.

I still go with the other one being the
Melilotus albus to which is not good to feed noted by the red light as well.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Thanks to all. I sent an email with pics to Tortoise Table Org and this is what was said...

The plant that has the green leaves and is creeping along the ground is Prostrate Spurge and the one that looks similar with the red ovals on the green leaves is Spotted Spurge.  Both are from the Euphorbia family where it is thought that most, if not all contain a toxin that is known to be carcinogenic.  All of the Euphorbia/Spurge entrys on our website has the red traffic light so I wouldnt offer either of these to your sulcatas.

I still go with the other one being the
Melilotus albus to which is not good to feed noted by the red light as well.

The Tortoise Table is a great resource, but sometimes I think they err on the side of caution. For example, they list buttercups and poppies as "Do not feed," but wild Russian tortoises are known to eat them in Central Asia. These two plants contain toxic alkaloids, and can make mammalian herbivores like sheep ill, or even dead if they eat enough of them. Tortoises, however, can detoxify these plants, and relative to their body size can eat much more. There are some indications that tortoises eat more toxic plants to deworm themselves, and then go back to eating more mild plants once they're well again.

As I said, spurges are native to America, not Asia, so they probably have some different properties. Nevertheless, my tortoises eat them from time to time with no difficulty. Tortoises have an amazing ability to detoxify plants that other herbivores may not have. Being prudent about which plants you offer your tortoises is certainly a good policy. Me, I like to let them eat whatever they find, as long as it's not a pesticide, herbicide, or plastic. Sometimes they also want to eat poop. They may do that in nature, too, but for all its nutrients, poop can also give them parasites, so that's where I draw the line.

 

[redbeef]

3 & 4 are melilotus. Its common name is yellow sweetclover. It is grown as hay and is a major nectar source for honeybees. It has toxic properties when it becomes moldy, so if you compost it don't let your animals eat the compost.

this one, it seems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melilotus_albus[hr]
oh, my bad: looks like someone already got the full id on that one

 

[lisalove]

Maybe when he gets older I'll let him decide on what to eat and not to eat. For now, I'd rather err on the side of caution too for my own peace of mind.
Ahhhh yes...poop eating! I have to scoop poop fast to keep him from doing that too!
Thanks for all the posts, they're greatly appreciated.