The Tortoise Table

Hello all,

Our newish 7 year old spur thighed tortoise (Gonzales) had a bit of an iffy diet for the first 7 years of his life - lettuce etc. Since he came to live with us, we have moved him across to eating wild leaves and flowers, and have now got him eating dandelion, plantain, nettle, and nasturtium leaves. Next step is to give him more variety, and so we would be grateful for some help IDing these wild plants that we have an abundance of our untamed Irish garden. I'll attach photos.

Many thanks!

TP
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Hi TP, and thanks so much for the photos and for outlining the plants in them. I've only just seen this post because we discovered that our automatic notification system doesn't seem to be working. I can ID some of them but not all yet, and I wan't to have a word with Lin so I'll get back and post some IDs later today.

Nina

Thank you Nina - that would be fantastic as we have no clue about wild plants and aren't confident enough to figure it out ourselves even though your database is really great tool! There's no rush on answering really because he's happy out eating the plantain etc. We just want to try to replicate (as best we can) his natural diet but he will probably take ages to transition to new plants.

Hi TP,

Lin and I have conferred and we have ID'd most of the plants. Before I list them, can I just check? Did you get an email and also a message through the forum from me today? I ticked a box when I sent you the email via the forum, to send a copy to myself, but I never got it, so something is really wrong with the way our notification system etc. is working (it seems to have been not functioning since 30th September).
Anyway, on with the IDs!

In your first post there are three photos:
1. Herb Robert https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... Vic-33TWNI Some tortoises don't like it because it has a strong smell (a bit like wee), but mine happily eat it.
2. Cat's Ear https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... VidUX3TWNI
3. This one is a puzzle. Can we see a close up of one of the cluster of flowers, but also some leaves? Is the stem/flower stalk really soft or is it firmer? If you break the stem is there a white sap inside?

In the second post there are two photos:
1. Yes, that first plant is probably buttercup https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... Vie1H3TWNI
but the other one could be one of several, as at this time of year the leaves are very similar. It could be Foxglove https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... VieDX3TWNI and also https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... VieO33TWNI
or possibly Comfrey https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... ViecX3TWNI
or even Green Alkanet https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... ViepH3TWNI
2. This is one of the Vetches (but difficult to say which one without seeing flowers, etc.), but this entry should suffice: https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... VifKH3TWNI

The third post has three photos in it
1. Smooth Sowthistle https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... VifqH3TWNI
2. There are several plants in here. The one at the top with frilly leaves (and there is also some at about 3 o'clock) is Ragwort and very toxic: https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... Vif5n3TWNI
also the prickly plant towards the bottom of the pot (6 o'clock) is one of the thistles (difficult to say which) but perhaps https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... VigWH3TWNI or https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... Vigf33TWNI
The little plant at about 9 o'clock is one of the Willowherbs https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... Vig133TWNI, and I think I can also see one growing out of the middle of the Ragwort at the top.
At about 10 o'clock there appears to be a bit of a dandelion growing.
Because of the Ragwort, I don't think you should use that soil to grow plants, because there are probably Ragwort seeds in it and you will get more. So you can pick some of the edible plants that are there and feed them, and then get rid of the whole thing at start again with fresh compost. You can use soil from the garden or either a seed sowing compost or John Innes no ! compost, as both of those have very little fertiliser in them.
3. Another Cat's Ear https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... VihxX3TWNI

Hope that helps.

Nina

Thanks so much Nina and Lin for the IDs! Your time and expertise is much appreciated.

Nina - I did get a notification and private message but I can't find an email - although now I can't remember what email address I used so maybe I'm not the best guinea pig!

Thanks again,

TP

Your more than welcome TP. If there is anything else we can do then please just ask.

Lin

Thanks for letting me know -- at least you got a notification (Lin and I aren't getting any notifications of posts). We'll be reporting this and hopefully we'll be back to normal soon.

Cheers,
Nina