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Is "Maiden (miscanthus) grass" a safe feed?

Posted: 22 May 2018, 22:06
by ElizabethTW
I have lots of this pretty and hardy grass around my house. I suppose it could be called an ornamental grass. Is it a safe feed for my tortoises?
Thanks in advance!

Re: Is "Maiden (miscanthus) grass" a safe feed?

Posted: 22 May 2018, 22:08
by ElizabethTW
Here's a photo from my garden too :-)

Re: Is "Phalaris arundinacea"(aka Ribbon or tiger stripe)grass a safe feed?

Posted: 22 May 2018, 22:32
by ElizabethTW
Looks like I initially misidentified the grass. It wasn't maiden grass... It appears to be phalaris arundinacea.. aka ribbon or tiger stripe grass. And it looks like it's invasive. Anyone know if it's safe?

Re: Is "Maiden (miscanthus) grass" a safe feed?

Posted: 23 May 2018, 11:24
by lin
Hi Elizabeth.
Both the grasses you mention are grasses from the poaceae family and they will be fine in the tortoise enclosure but it depends on what species of tortoise you have. Some will benefit from it being a place to shelter and dig beneth and if you have a grazing species it might eat it although none of mine ever did they prefered the lawn grasses to the ornamental ones.
Hope that helps and if we can be of any more help just get back to us.

Lin

Re: Is "Maiden (miscanthus) grass" a safe feed?

Posted: 25 May 2018, 04:41
by ElizabethTW
Hi Lin,
Thanks so much for your reply! I keep Russian tortoises.

Re: Is "Maiden (miscanthus) grass" a safe feed?

Posted: 25 May 2018, 07:05
by Nina
Hi Elizabeth,
I have Russians (Horsfields), and although that species are not usually grass eaters, mine have developed a taste for lawn grass over the last couple of years. I also have ornamental grasses, and in particular one called Carex 'Frosted Curls', that I plant in both their indoor table and their outdoor enclosure. They ignore the outdoor plants and just use them for shelter, but the ones I plant in their indoor table they eat to the ground in no time, so I have no idea what is going on there! I would just try it and see.

Nina

Is "Maiden miscanthus grass" a safe feed

Posted: 09 Aug 2018, 05:45
by MichaelCoela
Got heaps of these in the garden lately. I used to call these spitfires as a kid, but dont know what their proper name is.

Are they safe to feed to the fish?

Re: Is "Maiden miscanthus grass" a safe feed

Posted: 09 Aug 2018, 10:10
by lin
This is a site that gives advise about tortoises, their diets and their care so it would not be right for any of us to advise about fish diets. Sorry but maybe go to a fish forum and ask your question.

Lin

MichaelCoela wrote:
> Got heaps of these in the garden lately. I used to call these spitfires as
> a kid, but dont know what their proper name is.
>
> Are they safe to feed to the fish?