Which of my houseplants are safely edible?

[RosieRedfoot]

So I have a few houseplants and I've tried looking up which ones are safe and I have gotten some conflicting answers via the internet.

I have a yearling redfoot tortoise female who lives indoors but gets short daily trips outside to the fenced yard with me watching. We will eventually build an outdoor tortoise pen when funds permit. She does nibble on the grasses (or ants) out there from time to time, but I just want to know what I can give her when I have to prune back my potted/inside plants!

Here are the plants I have:

Wandering jew (T. zebrina) - Hear it's safe, double checking
Boston fern - Have seen in enclosures, not sure about for eating
Neanthe bella palm - Unsure
Red zonal geraniums/pelagorniums - Have seen it being fed, double checking
Prayer plant (maranta leuconeura) - Unsure
Spider plant - Unsure
Golden pothos/devil's ivy - Unsure

Any help is highly appreciated! Just thought I'd double check on here before feeding anything. Also, if anyone wants pictures of the specific plant I can try to get you images.

 

[Yvonne G]

With a redfooted tortoise you can safely use most house plants. Almost all the house plants we buy originally came from South America. So even though "they" say to not feed pathos, this is a plant that grows in the redfooted tortoises native land. I doubt your tortoise would even sample the fern or palm, but they would look very nice in the habitat and not harmful to the redfooted tortoise.

 

[Madkins007]

My guys have never bit a fern or palm, and seem to really like pothos.

 

[RosieRedfoot]

Ok, thanks! Whenever I get the funds to work on building the outdoor pen I plan on putting some ferns/palms for shade, as well as wandering jew for ground cover/munching. I'll probably also plant some aloe since it can grow outside here in SC. Haven't decided what else, but for my rabbits I was going to start an herb/edible flower garden and I know the tort can probably eat anything the rabbits can (oregano, thyme, basil, pansies, nasturtiums, etc)

 

[JoesMum]

Wandering jew - feed in moderation
Boston fern safe
Neanthe bella palm (Is this the same as parlour Palm?) - Don't know
Red zonal geraniums/pelagorniums feed in moderation
Prayer plant (maranta leuconeura) safe
Spider plant safe
Golden pothos/devil's ivy - Don't know, but my gut feeling is not safe

You can look plants up on The Tortoise Table Plant database (as I did, click on the links above)

What you really need to be careful of though is the soil that these plants are grown in. They are planted to grow well, not to be healthy to eat. You should pot any house plant on into organic soil and then let it grow for at least a month before feeding to reduce any chemicals and fertilisers that it was originally grown with in it's leaves.

 

[Jacqui]

Most of the time, the tortoises seem to shy away from eating any of the herbs, most likely due to their strong smells, but they won't hurt them if they do eat them plus they make some nice shade hides. Now those pansies and nasturtiums are going to be well loved.

 

[emmalaub]

i agree with u

 

[Brewster320]

Pothos I've heard is mildly toxic however, even though I'm new to torts I have more experience with aquatic turtles and many people use pothos as a "filter plant" growing it in either out the filter or directing out of the aquarium as the plant can grow very well aquaponicly and sucks load of nutrients out of the water. And people have had turtles munch in it before with any ill effects. My guess is it wouldn't cause any harm in small doses but it's not something I think you'd want to give them on a daily basis.