Feeding and Nutrition :: Is there a different an nutrients...

[tissigirl]

How much difference is there between lettuces like romaine, red leaf, green leaf, etc.? Is it worth interchanging between these, or are they pretty close to the same? I know that they are different from things like mustard greens, collard greens, and dandelion greens.

[sonyj]

I've heard that the darker green the leaf, the more vitamin A it contains. Out of Romain, red-leaf, and green-leaf lettuces, Romain has the least vitamin A.

[marisa]

I've read that red-leaf is a bit better than romaine. My turts also prefer it because it's more tender and they're more attracted to the red color. I don't give green-leaf lettuce as often.

If your turtle has a balanced varied diet, I think rotating them is a good idea---they can tire of the same food (especially veggies) if it's given too often.

[tissigirl]

Thanks for the info. I try to vary his diet as much as possible, but as he gets more veggies he becomes more picky! But as I am on this board longer I get more new ideas on what to try. Like the red leaf lettuce and cucumbers for instance.

Still wish I could find dandelion greens here!!

[marisa]

Are there any growing outside where you live in an area free of pesticides?

[tissigirl]

Unfortunately no. I live in an apartment, and in the Metro area of a city. I'm going to check out a few of the health food stores around here to see if they have any. I wish you could order stuff like that online or something.

[marisa]

I can buy organic ones in the larger supermarkets here (CT). Besides health food stores, you might try a local market like a farmer's market (I've seen them in big cities) or a store that deals in ethnic foods.