The Tortoise Table

Hi, I am a newbie tortoise keeper.

Do tortoises able to eat wishbone/torenia?
Couldn't find about torenia from the database...

And please recommend any of indoor plant which has good nutrients for the tortoises.

Thanks a lot.

Hi JellaBee and welcome to The Tortoise Table! What species of tortoise to you have (different species have different diets)?

As far as I can see Torenia is not toxic and could probably be safely fed, but because there is no documented evidence of tortoises eating it, I would be cautious and only feed it in small amounts, and as part of a wide and varied diet.

If you want to know which indoor plants you can feed, you can use the filter system on our database. Here is a link to the section of our website on how to use the database https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... M23F6R7m9s It tells you about the 't'raffic light' symbols and then if you scroll down it tells you how to filter out all the plants that are not good, and just see the plants that can be fed. if you are looking for indoor plants then you want to go into the Garden and House section (that section is a mixture of plants that grow in the garden and also indoor plants). If you have trouble understanding how to use the filter then let us know and we will guide you through it.

The best plants for tortoises are weeds and some of the garden plants as well. Do you have access to the outdoors, where you could pick some plants? Things like dandelions, plantain, and sowthistle are favourites with tortoises, but also many garden plants like pansies, campanula and many others.

You can also buy seeds especially for plants that you can feed to tortoises, and you could try growing some of them in trays or pots indoors (but they will need access to sunlight to grow properly). We can also point you towards sites selling those seeds.

I hope this helps and please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any problems or any more questions. If you let me know what species of tortoise you have, I can also send you a link to a care sheet for that species.

Nina

Hi, Nina.

Thank you very much for your response.

My tortoise is west Herman's, which is still young and only few months old. In that, I worry about choosing the safe vegetable/plant.
I just follow your table, and try variety of food for him.

Actually I am living in an apartment, it's able to grow small plants in my balcony.

I refer your table, and I bought some seeds like coleus, gloxinia.

If you recommend me few of easy & safe plants, I will plant them.

Btw your table is superb useful, I am glad for that.

Thank you!

Hi JellaBee,

You can easily grow food for tortoises on your balcony, and really weeds and wild flowers are the best food for him. Do you live in the UK? You can buy seeds for growing tortoise-friendly plants from Shelled Warriors https://www.shelledwarriorsshop.co.uk/s ... -302-c.asp -- you could try the seed mixes, as the more variety a tortoise has the better for him. Do you have any friends who have gardens where there might be dandelions or plantain growing? Also Torts in Need have seeds for sale and here is a link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081663 ... =bookmarks .

If you don't live in the UK, let us know where you live and we'll see if we can find some suppliers of tortoise-friendly seeds near you.

Nina

Hi, Nina.

I am living in Malaysia. I may find these safe weeds/wild flowers available at here, South Asia.
I have checked the list of seed mixes from Shelled Worriors, such as White clover, Crimson Clover, Plantain, & Chicory.

Perhaps, I can find few kind of these seeds at here.

Thank you.

That sounds like an excellent idea. Also, if you have plants growing wild near you and you want to know if they can be fed then you can send us good photos of them and we will try and ID them for you.

Nina

Appreciate your help !