• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Good Plants for Russians?

L

LaxGekko25

New member
Joined
Jun 30, 2011
Messages
106
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
Houston, Texas, USA
I might get a Russian Tortoise, and I was wondering what kind of seeds should I spread in the enclosure? I will have both an indoor and an outdoor enclosure. Outside he/she will be able to graze freely. Moreover, inside, I will offer many greens in a food dish, lightly dusted with calcium and vitamins.
Inside I was hoping to put some Mustard or Clover seeds into the substrate of the indoor enclosure. Any ideas? I would preferably have a quick growng, less invasive species of edible plants with some nutrition? Sorry I'm not very specific, but I'm new to chelonians.
Help willl be appreciated,
Brian
 
Clover is great, and, to be honest, they love dandelions. Mustard, collards, kale, escarole, any of the dark greens. You may want to put another garden outside the pen, as these guys will wreak havoc on plants. Unless the enclosure is huge, you'll have trouble keeping lettuces alive. They go over, under, and through, everything! I have a 'tortoise garden' so I can grow free food all summer.

Noelle
 
Noelle has given some very good advice.

One thing that comes to mind for me is Carolina Pet Supply's seed mixes (http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/ca...ath=41&zenid=a4f262eb813acb830a0ae0263fd15948). They used to have a "Broadleaf" seed mix which is absolutely perfect for Russians--I see they removed it from the catalog, but you might contact them to see if they'll mix some up for you. Otherwise, they have a "Russian Tortoise" seed mix, but I have often heard it tends to have too much in the way of grasses--which Russians are rarely keen on eating much of.

Carolina Pet Supply also has seeds of individual types available. Turnip Greens, Chicory, Dandelion, and Plantain are a few they have that are especially good, but just about all the ones they have available short of the grasses are excellent for Russians.

So, that's one option. I believe there's a couple other vendors floating around that have similar seed mixes available; I just don't know any of them off the top of my head. You can also get seeds from local stores' gardening sections. Turnip greens, Collard greens, Endive, lettuces, Opuntia (prickly pear) cactus, and even such edible flowers and decorative plants as Nasturtium, Calendula ("Pot Marigold"), Hibiscus, Pansy/Viola, California Poppy, Day Lily, most Sedums, and several others, are all great to plant in the tort yard. I've found this website: http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plant_database_14.asp to be incredibly helpful with finding what plants are edible for the torts. It's also very useful for figuring out whether the various plants already growing in your yard are safe.

Hope this is helpful to you. :)
 
I realize this thread is a bit old, but I wanted to add to it in case someone like myself tunes in late.
Arizona Tortoise Compound sells seed mixes that I bought for my baby Russian Tortoise's outdoor enclosure. I purchased the Tortoise Salad Greens Mix, the Edible Weed Mix, and another one that I can't remember the name of off-hand. They grew wonderfully!! Since I am not much of a "green thumb", I was pleased to be able to lay them, cover them with organic soil mixed with dirt(my choice to add the organic soil, but not necessary), water and watch them grow!!
In my indoor enclosure, I provide different broad-leaf greens, and also pull plants to bring inside from the outdoor enclosure.
I hope this may be of help to others!! Have fun with your torts!!
 
Thanks to all you respond!
So basically dark greens, dandelions, and certain seed mixes (as long as there are for tortoises) are fine? If I remember corretly, Reptiles put out an article about russians saying that fruits could be fed sparsely, but at your own risk because the sugars can cause parasite blooms.
 
LaxGekko25,
I buy the seed mixes because they produce plants that are edible for tortoises. It just makes it easier for me. I also feed Mazuri (soaked in a bit of water) to my baby tort on top of her greens in her indoor enclosure. In her outdoor enclosure, I use a Pyrex glass pie plate for water. I placed some pebbles in the bottom of the pie plate to be sure that she can get out of it on her own. She is still very little and I don't want her to drown in there!! LOL!! I don't know anything about planting plants in an indoor enclosure. In mine, I only have artificial plants for now. I bring my baby inside in the evening, so I figure she doesn't really need real plants inside just for the night. It would be nice, but I definitely do NOT have a green-thumb!! All of my plants from the seed packs grow wonderfully on their own outside though. Yay, for me!! Take care.
 
Yes, dark greens (keeping in mind to avoid such not-so-tortoise-friendly greens as spinach), edible weeds such as Dandelions (Plantain is also good--another common weed in the US), and the plants from tortoise seed mixes are all great food.

You can also put certain salad mixes to use if you want to mix things up now and again. I regularly buy Spring Mix salad in order to add that extra variety to my torts' diet.

Yes, fruit can be fed on an occasional basis, but it is definitely feed at your own risk. As far as "treat" foods, if you feel like spoiling your tort, squash, pumpkin, and cactus pad are all good treats with far less risk of upsetting his stomach than fruit.

Monique, since you mentioned growing plants indoors, growing grazing trays is generally a pretty easy way to go. I don't have much of a green thumb, either, but the grazing trays are super easy to grow and maintain, if you want live plants in the enclosure.

Pick a tub size that fits well in your enclosure. Get at least 3 tubs, so you can rotate them out as the tortoise mows them down. Drill some drain holes if it doesn't already have them. Fill with dirt. Add seeds. Sprinkle on a light layer of dirt over the top. Put them in a sunny area (i.e. a south-facing window or on the porch) and water as needed.

Once the plants are tall enough to stand any chance of withstanding the tortoise, throw it in your enclosure. My tubs (6 qt sterilites) ended up being too tall, so I put a big cork bark partial round/hide beside the grazing tub, surrounded with dirt so he could climb on top, and voila. (This also worked to give the tortoise a more interesting roaming space, with the big hill to conquer and a nice den underneath.) As the tortoise mows down the tray, swap it out for the ones that have been growing, and re-seed the old tray as needed.

I've been doing this for over 6 months at this point. It works wonderfully!
 
No problem, glad you guys like the idea! :)

As far as plants, I just used a tortoise seed mix. Specifically, I'm using the Russian Tortoise mix from Carolina Pet Supply (http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=41&products_id=162), but any good mix appropriate to your species will work great. It looks like Tortoise Supply has seed mixes now (here's their broadleaf Testudo mix: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix), and Monique already mentioned Arizona Tortoise Compound's seed mixes (http://www.arizonatortoisecompound.com/Edible-Tortoise-Seed-Mixes/) Seed mixes from any of these companies would be great options to plant your grazing trays with.
 
Back
Top