Field Bindweed

Field bindweed is a common climbing or trailing wild plant that can be used in moderate amounts for herbivorous reptiles. The key issue is identification: it should only be collected when the plant is confidently recognized.

🌿 Description and Distribution

Convolvulus arvensis is a perennial vine-like plant in the Convolvulaceae family.

Identified by:

• Slender twining or creeping stems
• Arrow-shaped leaves
• Funnel-shaped white to pale pink flowers
• Strong spreading root system

It occurs in field margins, gardens, dry grassland, disturbed ground, and agricultural land.

🍽 Edible Parts

• Young leaves — suitable in moderate amounts
• Tender shoots — suitable
• Flowers — safe

Older fibrous stems are less useful as food.

📊 Nutritional Value

• Calcium: moderate
• Phosphorus: low to moderate
• Fiber: moderate
• Water content: moderate

It is best treated as a mixed-diet supplementary weed rather than a staple.

🐢 Suitable For

• Tortoises (Testudo spp., Centrochelys sulcata, and others)
• Iguanas (Iguana iguana)
• Uromastyx (Uromastyx spp.) — as part of mixed greens

🌱 How to Source It

Foraging from the wild

• Collect only when identification is certain
• Prefer young untreated plants from clean areas
• Avoid field edges likely to be sprayed
• Never collect ornamental climbing plants just because they look similar

⚠️ Precautions

• Feed in moderate amounts, not as a major dietary base
• Use only with certain identification
• Do not collect from sprayed agricultural edges
• Do not feed wilted or mouldy material

📌 Conclusion

Field bindweed can be a useful supplementary wild plant for herbivorous reptiles, but only when it is correctly identified and collected from clean untreated ground. It belongs in a varied diet, not as a staple.