# Homegrown lizard food thread



## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

Thought I'd start a thread where people could post questions, suggestions, ideas, recommendations etc regarding growing your own lizard food. We've recently planted some watercress and it's much easier than I thought (ie the watercress doesn't die when step-son decides to flood the plant pot!!).
Also, ssthiso (?!) put me onto this website to buy alfalfa seeds from www.sowseeds.co.uk which seems to be very reasonably priced, with a good range. I'm not saying I'm great at horticulture, but maybe this thread could be the ideas station for anyone interested in who fancies a go  Thoughts / comments anyone?


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

For example, my green iggy Stanley could happily munch through his own body weight in watercress every day, and at £1 a bag it's getting expensive (but I buy it cos I looooove him!), but my OH found this site showing you how to grow it yourself - and if we can do it, anyone can!! 
How to grow watercress at home | Clarkarty


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

Ta da! For Em


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## Daised (Jul 9, 2011)

oh this is a great idea! 

we've just brought our own place and were planning on putting quiet a large veggie plot in the back garden, since getting Uther last week I'm now planning some lizard friendly planting as well to make it a bit cheaper to keep him 

so far spring greens, turnips (for the tops) and a dandelion patch


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

Daised said:


> oh this is a great idea!
> 
> we've just brought our own place and were planning on putting quiet a large veggie plot in the back garden, since getting Uther last week I'm now planning some lizard friendly planting as well to make it a bit cheaper to keep him
> 
> so far spring greens, turnips (for the tops) and a dandelion patch


Yay, I knew it would catch on eventually  If only we could plant locusts!


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## Daised (Jul 9, 2011)

so what else do you think it would be easier to grow in the garden? we're going to be going organic (although this will be my first time on such a big scale so don't know how sucessful it will be) so shouldn't have too many problems with pesticide contamination etc. etc. 
I'm also looking at a dubai roach colony but a locust tree would be cool 

My OH reckons I'm trying to go for some bizzaro world "good life" set up


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

Daised said:


> so what else do you think it would be easier to grow in the garden? we're going to be going organic (although this will be my first time on such a big scale so don't know how sucessful it will be) so shouldn't have too many problems with pesticide contamination etc. etc.
> I'm also looking at a dubai roach colony but a locust tree would be cool
> 
> My OH reckons I'm trying to go for some bizzaro world "good life" set up


Oh my mates think I'm a total hippy! Alfalfa is dead easy, the sowseeds.co.uk site sells a big bag for £2.10 which is loooads. The packet says the soil should be dry but mine's been really wet and it's sprouted within a couple of days - so far so good  
Herbs are dead easy - beardies can have basil, spinach etc. You can raise these from seeds or just buy a plant from supermarket and plant it out. They've been on offer for 50p in Asda lately  Just ease them out of the pot they're in, use your hand to loosen the roots and soil, then plant them into a 9inch plant pot and water. Ta da  
We're trying to grow pumpkins but I'll keep you posted on that! Lol


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## Daised (Jul 9, 2011)

ruthyg said:


> Oh my mates think I'm a total hippy! Alfalfa is dead easy, the sowseeds.co.uk site sells a big bag for £2.10 which is loooads. The packet says the soil should be dry but mine's been really wet and it's sprouted within a couple of days - so far so good
> Herbs are dead easy - beardies can have basil, spinach etc. You can raise these from seeds or just buy a plant from supermarket and plant it out. They've been on offer for 50p in Asda lately  Just ease them out of the pot they're in, use your hand to loosen the roots and soil, then plant them into a 9inch plant pot and water. Ta da
> We're trying to grow pumpkins but I'll keep you posted on that! Lol


yeah I need to restart my herb garden, unfortunately we spent most of June camping whilst we were waiting for our house to complete so I lost everything except one tomato plant! 

Alfalfa sounds good, will order some next payday 


ooooh my mum and dad grow fantastic pumpkins in their allotment normally have enough pumpkin soup in the freezer to last all winter  

because our back garden is basically a waste land at the moment with just some wood chips thrown on top of the soil we're starting from scratch and putting in raised beds so will be ready for planting for next year, but hoping to get some fast growing stuff in in the next couple of weeks even if it's just grow bags on the patio


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## staffymum (May 21, 2011)

Great thread: victory:
Ive noticed seed packs on ebay for beardies etc.
Mine love watercress too:lol2:
Even got a greenhouse with a water system etc attached to end of the shed,so after living here 3years finally going to use it.
Gonna order some seeds today.
Cheers for this as inspired me as well to get my a$$ into gear and get growing.:whistling2:

Tracie


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

shelled worriers has some good seeds. 

im now starting to pot some opuntia cactus pads wich were kindly given to my by labmad. 
hes given me some great advice on planting and caring for growing cactus too  thank you! 

im having a bit of trouble with my hibiscus - only a couple of seeds have sprouted. im going to try putting them in the fridge for a few days and then potting them again. 
i think i probably need to use some sand in with the compost as they prefer a well drained soil. 

i have some wild viola growing in my garden which is lovely. they got there all by themselves so im going to up some of the roots and pot them  they are lovely looking flowers too. 

ive got a whole dandelion bed now lol. 
alfalfa is doing really well in large terracota pots and mustard is in pots and hanging baskets. 

i need to start on some cress and ive got my strawberries to plant, i know ive left it rather late but im hoping they wil still do well being of the wild variety. the greens are great for torts, lizards, rabbits!

my herbs are coming along well, ive just potted some corriander and rosemary which are appetite stimulants and nasturtium will go in hanging baskets too because the flowers are very pretty. 
nasturtium boosts immune system amongst other things. 

the thyme is on the kitchen window casing and looks very pretty. 

sooooooooo much to plant! i keep all my seedlings indoors so should be ok for a while...i hope.


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

oh and although its not great for reps, kale grows amazingly quickly! i added a load of lime powder to the soil to give it that extra calcium!


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

> Great thread: victory:
> Ive noticed seed packs on ebay for beardies etc.
> Mine love watercress too:lol2:
> Even got a greenhouse with a water system etc attached to end of the shed,so after living here 3years finally going to use it.
> ...


Yay, I'm glad I'm inspiring people 
The seed packs on ebay look great, I'm sure I used to see them for iggies to but when I looked recently I couldn't find them - hence my starting this thread! 



> because our back garden is basically a waste land at the moment with just some wood chips thrown on top of the soil we're starting from scratch and putting in raised beds so will be ready for planting for next year, but hoping to get some fast growing stuff in in the next couple of weeks even if it's just grow bags on the patio


Aww the raised beds will be brill. There's a hospice opposite our house which has just put some in their garden....unfortunately they look a bit like coffins to me :s 
Yeah, get the ol grow bags out, it's how I started  That's what I love about the herb plants from supermarket - instant results! Lol. I planted out a live lettuce 2 weeks ago and it's still going - yay 

Apparantly courgettes are ridiculously easy. They might not get huge, but are great for those of us who might plant things and...ahem....forget about them :whistling2: Will be buying some courgette seeds tomorrow then!


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

lovemysnakes said:


> oh and although its not great for reps, kale grows amazingly quickly! i added a load of lime powder to the soil to give it that extra calcium!


Em you plant well fancy stuff! I'm so impressed!:2thumb: I want to do some nasturtiums for Stan the iggy. How much credence do people give to organic compost vs cheap "whatever's in supermarket" stuff? And seeds - can you get organically grown seeds? If so, where from?


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

ermm i dont know about the seeds. if you go through shelled worriers i know their seeds are naturally produced from plants which are grown in calcium rich soil and their seeds always do really well for me. 
i just tend to look at the nutritional values of different plants and pick the best ones to buy seeds for to plant for my chucks. 
my neighbour has a cucumber plant for me which i shall have to go collect  result! 

with the soil i would say just go for a cheap peat free compost for most plants. 
just check that its got extra nutritional values and nothing nasty in it. they lable compost pretty well in places like b&q and homebase. 

i dont find dearer organic soil makes much of a difference with herbs and perennials. just make sure your not over packing the soil and its nice and airy for good drainage. 

garden lime works wonders with veg! extra calcium for our loved reps


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## Daised (Jul 9, 2011)

wow LMS you do grow some fancy stuff 

apart from basil and rosemary what other herbs are good for lizards? is there a thread somewhere with their medicinal benefits?

Cheers
Nic


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

Daised said:


> wow LMS you do grow some fancy stuff
> 
> apart from basil and rosemary what other herbs are good for lizards? is there a thread somewhere with their medicinal benefits?
> 
> ...


Not sure about all the medecinal benefits, but this is a good page for the properties of different beardy-suitable foods:
Nutrition Content
Actually on that site there's some info on aloe vera and grapefruit seed extract, but I'll see if I can find anything more comprehensive.


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## Daised (Jul 9, 2011)

I'd already found the beautiful dragon one, it's bookmarked and I'm waiting for the boss to be out the office so I can print it out to stick on the notice board at home 

gonna have a look down the garden centre this weekend see if I can pick up some catcus pads


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

I've just bought some more off sowseeds.co.uk and shelledwarriors.co.uk (or .com, not sure!) - shelled warriors have free postage on seeds too - yay


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

i got some butternut squash, water cress, several types of nasturtium seeds today and some more succulants and rosemary. 

mustard seems to be the best grower at the moment, they dont do as well outside as they do indoors but needs must.


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

oh and if you look up things for rabbits you might find more on ratios etc. 
the only difference is what is needed by the animal. 

ive got some useful info but will post it when i have more time.


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

herbs for lizards

herbs « grow your lizard food by Iguanagirl


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

Brlliant link Em! Thanks 
Here's the link to iguanagirl's blog, which has loads more info and ideas:
grow your lizard food by Iguanagirl
Legend


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

ive added quite a lot to her list as was missing loads of stuff. 
im doing my own with colour coding for how often they should be given. as soon as its done ill post it


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

lovemysnakes said:


> ive added quite a lot to her list as was missing loads of stuff.
> im doing my own with colour coding for how often they should be given. as soon as its done ill post it


blimey, your certainly going for it..........i'll just sit with me feet up and admire the finished article :lol2:


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

lol. well ive done quite a bit already. just think it will be a really useful tool. 
how does an average of 5.4 grams a week in weight gain sound? thats for sol and hes the smaller one. 
just about to bath and weigh loki now. i like to weigh them after theyve had a poo. lol.


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

6.2 grams weekly for Loki - hes always been bigger and has more of an appetite! lol. 

im going to do some research on the nutritional value of sesame plant and seeds too. seeds can be complicated.... :S


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

lovemysnakes said:


> 6.2 grams weekly for Loki - hes always been bigger and has more of an appetite! lol.
> 
> im going to do some research on the nutritional value of sesame plant and seeds too. seeds can be complicated.... :S


Yeah, seeds are great fun, but it confuses me how the nutritional values change from seed / sprout / plant- grr! Makes my head do un-necessary thinking!


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

hi all!

just thought id let you know how ive made my slurry stew for my poorly chuckwalla iguana. 

firstly i made a salad consisting of
spring greens
carrot greens
turnip greens
chicory (endive)

water cress
spring onion 
leek

corriander 
rosemary 

carrot
parsnip
turnip
sesame seeds

cucumber 
butternut squash
strawberry
grapes

i put the contents into a large glass bowl and filled it with a little water. 
I then drained the water off and poured it into a large glass. 

after mashing and pulverising some strawberries and butternut squash i added them to the water. 

i added half a spoonful of natural pro biotic yogurt and a small alfalfa pellet and mixed well. 

i then added nutrobal and left the pellet to soak up much of the moisture. 

i then added some of the salad to the mix and stired well. 

ta-da one super healthy soup!


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

my chuck salads change every day, this is just today salad, tomorrows will be quite different lol.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

OK - OK - i wouldnt wanna let you ladies think your doing all the work and having fun sowing your seeds, and creating an a-la-carte menu for your crew.......i had a word with Uro-Gang before going to work today, and they put in a few requests for me to get them......

So, to be sown this weekend are, lollo rosso, mustard, radicchio, pepper(bell), alfalfa sprouting seeds, and butternut squash 

1 or 2 are a bit out of season, but will sow them anyhow and see what happens....Uro-Gang will be happy as pigs is s**t when i give em the news in the morning


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

great stuff labmad! 
nice to know its not just us ladies doing the home grown foods. 

i got my little sister and her friend around today to do some seed planting  got another 10 or so pots done. Good stuff and keeps them busy on their summer holidays lol. im sure ill have more for them to do soon enough! lol.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

lovemysnakes said:


> great stuff labmad!
> nice to know its not just us ladies doing the home grown foods.


I think i may have been 'lady' in a past life :lol2:


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

lol are you sure it was a past life? not a secret second life? lol. 
its actually men that do most gardening, not women much. i think women prob do more of the flowers and strawberries where as men like the lawn and big ferns lol 
im constantly generalising, how ignorant lol.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

what do you guys grow your seeds in, especially when space is an issue - do you reckon you'd get a decent crop growing in things like the plastic tubs you get from the chinese takeaway?

Also, do you do what it says on the packet, like pricking out and spacing 'x' distance apart? I think i am just gonna thinly sow and see how they go, cant really be arsed pricking out n all that, especially when i dont have a lot of space to play with


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

*takeaway plastic containers*



labmad said:


> what do you guys grow your seeds in, especially when space is an issue - do you reckon you'd get a decent crop growing in things like the plastic tubs you get from the chinese takeaway?
> 
> Also, do you do what it says on the packet, like pricking out and spacing 'x' distance apart? I think i am just gonna thinly sow and see how they go, cant really be arsed pricking out n all that, especially when i dont have a lot of space to play with


I use the Chinese takeaway containers all the time using the lids as propogators while the seeds first sprout. Works perfectly for me! With most of these perninels they are really hardy so you don't really need to worry about lack of drainage/over watering. 

I've got every spare surface in the reptile rooms covered with containers containing seeds/seedlings. 

I don't follow any instructions. I just use me common sense and once you've grown a few its easy to work out how much space different seeds need. 

The only thing I do is put hibiscus seeds in the fridge for a few days before planting, and place them on their side. I mist/spray plants every day. Once they are big enough I plant them out in the garden. 

Even though they get rained on in the garden I still find they need watering every now and again to stay lush.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Happy Days, cheers Em 

just got some Zinnia's too, well a bit back actually but frgot about em......lovely flowers for the garden but ok food for the uros too 

Not clued up on the herbs really, so just found a couple of packs of Basil and Corriander that were free on the gardening mags - are these safe for Uro's please??

cheers 



lovemysnakes said:


> I use the Chinese takeaway containers all the time using the lids as propogators while the seeds first sprout. Works perfectly for me! With most of these perninels they are really hardy so you don't really need to worry about lack of drainage/over watering.
> 
> I've got every spare surface in the reptile rooms covered with containers containing seeds/seedlings.
> 
> ...


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

*Herbs and Flowers*

Yup basil and coriander are both good. 
Coriander and rosemary are appetite stimulants so great for growing or underweight herb reps. 

I got some black pansies which are really gorgeous so nice bedding plants and edible for the reps too! 

Generally any plant that is edible for us, it can be fed to our reps. With herbs and flowers you don't really need to worry so much about values, more so with vegetables

I would always recommend googling anything you feed your reps though, chives for example have lots of beneficial nutrients but also oxalic acids so should be used sparingly in the diet and ideally grown in calcium rich soil. 

I'm going to get some calcium carbonate and mix it in with a few plants and see if they wilt etc. I suspect most will be ok as I already use garden lime in my soil. 

Some plants contain quite high fat and sugar contents which should be monitored especially with uros and older herbi reps but none of yours appear overweight so not something you need to be concerned about yet. 

Usually a more varied diet will encourage appetite and therefore weight gain should be suspected. We just have to make sure that we are not overdoing the non staples which is so easily done. 

Also I thought I would add, Kale actually isn't as bad as everyone says. The oxalic acids are not actually that high. From memory they contain less than carrots! 

So don't avoid kale all together because its very rich in calcium and other vitamins


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

I know Pak Choy/Bok Choy whatever you wanna call it, i see it recomended quite often as a good feeder veggie, but see you or someone else posted its quite high in oxalic's or whatever its called......moderation is key then i suspect with this one?


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

*Bok Choy*

Yes there is a high volume of oxalic acids (which bind calcium making indigestible) and also lack the nutritional value found in other plants. 
Occasional yes, a very little once a week at most maybe. 
I tend to go with lots of springs and then a little of everything else.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

havent come across spring green seeds in the GC's as yet? you managed to find any, unless they label them as something else on the packets?

just sown some bell peppers, butternut squash today, aswell as alfalfa, mustard, zinnia's and basil.......look forward seeing if i can produce the squash and peppers


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## ruthyg (Oct 15, 2010)

My son's planted some pumpkin seeds, and I've ordered some other obscure squash lol, but I have no idea how I'll get on.
Space is an issue for me too, though I've just got a walk in greenhouse which has made my dandilions race up! Every windowsill in the house is covered in my planting effort, and the picnic table has been my plant hospital lately as I kinda forgot about everything so had to give them some special attention! Btw if you have an Ikea nearby, if their sale's still on they were flogging ceramic coloured plant pots for 33p / 50p :O So I got loads! Hah! I also have one of their side tables (£1.75 in sale! :O) in garden so plants are on different levels and slightly further away from interested dog!


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

our 7 dogs aren't the prob for me, its when those bloody ninja slugs n snails are out in force they love a nibble .........where's the Frog-Gang when you need em


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

yeh i know about the slugs - theres not much can be done about them lol suppose we are doing our bit for garden wild life though and if we had tegus or something could be a nice snack for them! lol 

im being such a sado checking on my newly potted seeds and hoping i see a sprout! its like, c'mon seeds, you can do it! lol deary me i need a life! lol 

one of the cactus pads you gave me has gone all wrinkly  i potted it and watered it. dont know what else can do to help it. hopefully its just settling! they are pretty hardy i shouldnt be concerned! lol


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Pot the pads but dont water immediately, i like to leave for a bit......having siad this i just gave all mine a little drink yesterday ........juts make sure its in an airey position and not too stuffy .......just keep an eye on it, prob just settling in


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

ta  I didnt over water them, just a little but that one pad isnt doing as well as the others for some reason. never mind, should sort itself out. 

thank you again for the pads, really kind of you. i really look forward to seeing them grow and making clippings for the chucks. im sure they will love them! 

have you fed any to your uros yet?


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

lovemysnakes said:


> ta  I didnt over water them, just a little but that one pad isnt doing as well as the others for some reason. never mind, should sort itself out.
> 
> thank you again for the pads, really kind of you. i really look forward to seeing them grow and making clippings for the chucks. im sure they will love them!
> 
> have you fed any to your uros yet?


No not yet - i wanna try and grow them a good size 1st, but 'might' sacrifice a pad this afternoon to see what they think


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## 66921 (Feb 12, 2011)

Holy crap I can't believe I missed this thread! Thanks Em .

In my garden I am currently growing and harvesting for Chilli (My Chuckwalla) on a daily basis:

*Fruit:*
Apple
Pear
Cherries
Strawberries

*Vegetables:*
Watercress
Rocket
Tomato
Courgette
Leeks
Carrots
Parsnips
Spring Onions
Radishes
Runner Beans
Broad Beans
Peppers

*Herbs:*
Coriander
Basil
Mint
Parsley
Chives
Thyme

At the moment the only things she gets that I buy (apart from the nutrobal) is cucumber and grape.

I also have recently purchased seeds for:

Acacia robusta - The Splendid Thorn
Adenium obesum - The Desert Rose
Brachychiton populneus - Bottle Tree
Ficus benghalensis - The Banyan Tree
Ficus glumosa - African Rock Fig
Ficus religiosa - The Sacred Fig
Ficus sur - The Cape Fig
Jatropha curcas - Physic Nut
Olea europea ssp africana - The Olive Tree
Peltophorum ferrugineum - Copperpod

Obviously I am not feeding all this to Chilli, I have just germinated the seeds and waiting the results. Most of these would survive in a desert viv but we will see! Leaves would get munched in there .

I'll take some pics later on for you all to see my mission of a garden! As I said I can't believe I missed this one .


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

wow! i think us ladies have to crack on! lol. 
that is awesome MrC4ff


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

thats a far list there, thnk between you, ruthyg and emilie you should set up the ChuckUro Tuck Shop, I'd buy from you :lol2:

One thing though, are raddish safe for Uro's, the lists i have previously seen dont have them, but i guess it might not be a case of them being un-safe etc - also the broad and runner beans, can you just shop them up and give as they are or do you have to take them out of the pods/skins etc..again for uro's, as dont keep chucks :whistling2:



MrC4FF said:


> Holy crap I can't believe I missed this thread! Thanks Em .
> 
> In my garden I am currently growing and harvesting for Chilli (My Chuckwalla) on a daily basis:
> 
> ...


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Oh yeah, whilst at the garden centre last week they had Hibiscus in the indoor plant section - are these edible and safe for uros to eat or s t just the ones for outdoors that are the safe ones?


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

all hibiscus is fine  as far as i know that is. usually if one sub species of a plant such as hibiscus is unsafe, the whole family is disregarded as food lol. 

they can eat loads of different flowers like pansies etc.

hibiscus is well known for its great nutritional value, i have hibiscus in my fruit drinks and tea. 

if your unsure of anything, you eat it first and if you get an upset tummy dont feed it to your uros lol. no really, if it looks edible it usually is! i wouldnt eat a daffodil because of the way it looks but i would look at hibiscus or lavender and think yeh, ill give it a go lol.


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## 66921 (Feb 12, 2011)

labmad said:


> thats a far list there, thnk between you, ruthyg and emilie you should set up the ChuckUro Tuck Shop, I'd buy from you :lol2:
> 
> One thing though, are raddish safe for Uro's, the lists i have previously seen dont have them, but i guess it might not be a case of them being un-safe etc - also the broad and runner beans, can you just shop them up and give as they are or do you have to take them out of the pods/skins etc..again for uro's, as dont keep chucks :whistling2:


At the moment I'm just giving her the leaves and flowers until the harvest is ready. I do give her carrot a lot though as it's really good for her and she bloomin loves it!

Maybe a shop is in order, whadya say em?


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

For sure a shop! I was only saying that the other day to ruthyg! 
My surname is waller so would have to do a play on words with chuckwalla lol. 

Carrot isn't that great, don't give too much. Check it out on google. I've got a great link for nutritional contents but don't have access to it now as I'm not on my laptop. 

Don't forget coriander, rosemary and nasturtium - got to be the best along with a little squash. They like leek too. 

Ill try find time to finish off my herbi rep diet piece coz I've collected all the data and ill post it which should act as a handy reference tool. 

And to open a shop you'd have to move back down this end! Lol. Would love a shop full of reps! A friend of mine did it, lucky sod. Either that or win some money and build a huge outhouse lol.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

ok great, will check the hibiscus out next time i go 

loads of petunia's and pansies at the mo in the pots outdoors, nasturtiams went down in NO TIME 

Just put a optunia pad in for all the Uro-Gang, so will see if there's owt left in a bit.....as normal and true to form the ornates just fired straight into it.....there bloody mental them ones :whistling2:



lovemysnakes said:


> all hibiscus is fine  as far as i know that is. usually if one sub species of a plant such as hibiscus is unsafe, the whole family is disregarded as food lol.
> 
> they can eat loads of different flowers like pansies etc.
> 
> ...


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

LOL. 
regarding beans and raddish they are both all good with uros. uros and chucks are pretty much the same thing. all herbi reptiles can eat the same things its just their environments that differ really with husbandry. 

just remember when buying plants from G.C to take it out of the pot, take off most of the soil, repot in calcium rich soil. ideally give it a month before its fed to reptiles. 

the pesticides they put in most of the stuff youll find in the garden centre wont do any damage in small quantites as its done to be ok with us and the products we buy in shops are also treated. i think people make a bit of a fuss about it to be honest because there are hundreds of bacteria in a reptile gut, if youve got a healthy reptile with the main three bacterias that make up gut flora well established then the very minimal traces of feterliser and pesticides that still exist in the plant wont do much. 

however any chemicals that remain on the surface of unwashed plants can so really important to clean them well.


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

oh with the beans i just slice them finely, sometimes peas jump out so i just crush them with the width of the knife and chuck it all in the salad. 
because they will rub the food up against something to move it to better fit their mouth or to rip a bit off, i make sure there are smooth stones around where i put the food so they dont scratch their faces. they can be a bit silly sometimes even though im sure they are no where near as sensitive as we imagine lol.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

thanks for that em 

PS - fired some Opuntia into the Uro's vivs yesterday, the ornates had a chomp, the others dont seem fussed at the moment with them, but there was their normal menu on offer, which maybe why they weren't fussed?

Once i grow the pads on a bit, i will offer them again, but without putting other food in too, then should see what they REALLY think 

At least f they dont want them i can grow them HUGE in preparation for when i get a tortoise again.......jeessh, i regret selling my previous ones a while back


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

*Ellas kitchen Organic baby food*

Shame about selling the tortoises. I will defo have to get some when I have the garden space and a nice big green house. 

The Optunia is new to the reptiles diet so they are bound not to try too much to start with. Maybe try mashing it? Even if you put it as part of their normal diet they should eventually pick up interest in it, its just new. 

My chuckwalla Lea is not recovering well. She picked up for a few days but went down hill very suddenly so I'm having to force feed her water, energy juice, pro biotic yogurt and baby food. 

I did make some slurry but I found an organic baby food which contains butternut squash, carrots, apples and prunes. I also found some great other baby foods which seem ideal for Lea while she's recovering. 

I've got the force feeding down to a fine art now and its all over and done with quickly without too much stress for Lea. The quicker I can put something in her tummy and leave her alone again the better and it seems to be doing some good because she did a decent poo this morning and even took a tiny leaf to eat. 

I've been sick as a dog today and woke up late so by the time I called the vets they had no appointments. Its really hard trying to care for a sick reptile when I'm chucking up every half an hour and feel rotten. Never mind. I'll survive but her care is far more important.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

hope u feel better soon em, that was me and the kids about 2 weeks ago, so feel for you 

hope the chuck turns the corner and picks up 

yeah am sure they'll be fine with opuntia once i shop it up a bit til they get used to it 

PS - almost got nailed by 1 of my female occelated uro's......they are known for being skittish but ths one is VERY skittish, but then again i dont handle much to be fair........anyway scooped het up n a plastc tub, ok, ok yep i'm a soft git ......wanted to introduce her to my other pair with the view to make a breeding trio, so far so good


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## 66921 (Feb 12, 2011)

Continuing the thread I just planted a load of rainbow (bright lights) Swiss Chard. Super high in nutrients so should be a good one to add to the foods .


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

indeed  good stuff mrc4ff


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## lovemysnakes (Apr 17, 2011)

hey guys and gals. 
im repeating something i wrote on the iguana thread and i dont like to repeat but i should have posted it here. 

today while out dandelion picking i found a lovely looking wild flower which at first i thought was a cranesbill but did a little research. as i always do after picking a flower with the hopes i can feed it to my chucks. 
well its a common mallow. and it seems it was quite a lucky find so they are being fed in the morning  

check it out
edible « Wild Plants
common mallow flower - Google Search


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Yo Yo great fellow growers.

I posted this on the iguana thread but thought this would benefit too.

Good afternoon everyone.
Today I have decided to trawl through and find some damn answers.

Email upon email I have sent with still no straight answer.

So, I stumbled across this when doing some seed hunting.

Those of you who are confused about Alfalfa and what type to feed, I have found this on ebay.

(I just orderd some)
SW Alfalfa (lucerne) seeds 50g tortoise rabbit HERB | eBay

The mature plant image which states it is fine for reptiles, tortoises etc.
I think it is actually the shelled warrior shop? I didn't pay attention lol I just saw it and in the heat of the moment clicked the buy button straight away.

Now I just need to figure out and get my head around how it grows.
Anyways I thought I would share that with you 

I have about another 12 sets of seeds on the way.:whistling2:

I also stumbled across alfalfa pellets which were not there 2 months ago, just type it in.: victory:

I am like a fussy woman, NO ONE touches what I am growing.


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Just out of interest has anyone had any expirience growing mature alfalfa?

I can't find alot on youtube or google. 
Be interested if anyone could point me in the right direction, some things are new to me some are not


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

I just signed up to a grow your own fruit and veg forum, they have loads of ideas on them, far too many to choose from lol and really helpful peeps who are trying to help but they are fustrating me at the same time lol because of course they dont understand what such and such an effect of cabbage spinach and all that can have on an iggy. 

I have learnt though that to grow mature alfalfa I need some kind of fungus so if anyone was thinking that, it might be worth looking into.

I am planting some chicory tomorrow, apparantly that should do well through the winter, apparantly turni ps will sit still through the winter too especially for the tops (young ones I mean) woop.
I am still getting used to the new laptop too so my posts might seem like I am all over the place for a while lol.


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