The Tortoise Table

Hello, I have this plant in my tortoises table believing it was hypoestes, which is a safe plant however I am now thinking it may be Fittonia? If so is this okay for tortoises to eat? Or I could be completely wrong with both! Have you any ideas please?
Thanks in advance
[attachment=0]20170618-201649.jpg[/attachment]

Hi and so sorry that it has taken a while for us to respond to your post. Fittonia and Hypoestes are in the same family, but it can be difficult to tell them apart. From what I can see, the stems of Fittonia are covered in a short fuzz (are your stems smooth or fuzzy?), and the markings on the leaves tend to be mainly in white or red -- whereas your leaf markings are darker, and that would indicate Hypoestes. As far as I can see, Fittonia is also safe for tortoises, but I haven't explored everything yet, so I would feed only with caution. However, if the plant is growing in your table and your tortoise has never attempted to eat it, you are probably safe in keeping it there.

Nina


Bls193 wrote:
> Hello, I have this plant in my tortoises table believing it was hypoestes,
> which is a safe plant however I am now thinking it may be Fittonia? If so
> is this okay for tortoises to eat? Or I could be completely wrong with
> both! Have you any ideas please?
> Thanks in advance
> 20170618-201649.jpg

Thanks for your reply. I have just checked and the stem are covered with short fuzz I think, I have attached a picture hopefully you can see it clearly. He does nibble on it from time to time but it never gets destroyed like other plants in his table so do you think it would be okay left in?

Thanks for your help!

[attachment=0]DSC_0434.JPG[/attachment]

Ahh, yes, I can see the fuzz. I think it's probably OK to leave it in, but hopefully Lin will do some further checking (I'm out for the afternoon now), and confirm or deny! Fingers crossed.

Nina

I agree with Nina in saying it is probably ok to leave is and as he isnt showing much interest in it anyway there would be no worries.

Lin