Question about growing plants in a Hermann's tortoise tank

[colleenrobinson]

Hi! I recently adopted a ~10 year old Hermann's tortoise from a classmate who was going away for college. I wanted to try growing a plant for my tortoise to eat in the tank. I wanted to have it in a Tupperware-like container, not in the actual substrate.

What would be a good plant? What about a safe soil? Thanks!

[Nina]

Hi Colleen,

There are lots of plants that you can grow for tortoises to eat, but be aware that if you buy a nice plant that is edible then he might just eat it all down to the ground on the first day. It's quite good to grow plants for tortoises from seed, and you can grow them in a succession of little containters (perhaps sowing every two weeks or so), so that when one container of plants is eaten then another will be ready.

Can I ask what country you live in? Because you used the word 'tank', I'm thinking you might live in the USA and, if so, then you can buy lots of different kinds of seeds from Carolina Pet Supply (here's a link: https://www.carolinapetsupply.com/catal ... x&cPath=41 ). If you live in the UK or elsewhere just let me know, and I can recommend places in the UK or elsewhere to buy seeds and/or plants.

You can use the filter tool on our website plant database to produce lists of plants that are good to feed to tortoises. Just go to this page here and scroll down the the section called 'How to Use the Traffic Light Filters': https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... -database/

Be sure to put some holes in the bottom of your container (you can burn holes using a hot poker), so that plants have drainage and don't get waterlogged. Regarding soil, you want a soil without any fertilizer in it, so just ordinary topsoil that you can buy in garden centres, etc. will be fine.

I hope that helps, but if I've misunderstood or you have more questions, please get back to us.

Best wishes,
Nina