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Is it safe to feed yams to RES?

Yes but they need to be steamed to soften them so they can eat them.

Yams have little nutritional value.

There is a difference between yams and sweet potatoes.

Yams: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vege ... cts/2726/2

Sweet potato: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vege ... cts/2668/2

Sweet potatoes have tons of Vitamin A, but are very high in sugars.

The flesh of sweet potatoes is white/yellow.

The flesh of yams is deep orange.

Sweet potatoes can also have a deep orange colour flesh. Yams have a lighter colour.
Yams are larger, and have a rough skin. Sweet potatos have a much smoother skin.
Sweet potatoes are often incorrectly called "yams" in North American super markets.

Like Caphits pointed out, yams have less nutritional value than sweet potatoes. Yams have a really poor calcium:phosphorus ratio.

So to answer your original question, it is probably OK to feed RES yams (though not more than once a month, I'd say), but it'd be much better to feed them sweet potatoes on occasion.
Sweet potatoes also have a good amount of vitamin E (which can help with shedding).

Yams:


Sweet Potatoes:


There's even purple sweet potatoes!

I took this pic at the grocery store with my cell phone.

The top is the yam.
The bottom is the sweet potato.

K9.....You probably distinguish the difference between a "yam" and a "sweet potato"....Right? lol.....Everything here always needs to be "excessive".
To answer your "simple" question, yes.....you can feed your res yams.Just steam them a little so they get soft.

Actually, believe it or not Caphits, they're both sweet potatoes! (Ipomoea batatas) I know, at all the grocery stores here they call the top one "yams", but they're actually sweet potatoes. Notice how they are similar shape, and have the same type of smooth skin. I looked all this up a few years ago, because we were having a family discussion on whether they were called "sweet potatoes" or "yams" one Christmas dinner

Stupid english language... Too many words for the same thing!

I know... English... PSH!

So... What is the difference between orange and white sweet potatoes?

I'm not sure. I started wondering that myself when you posted the pic of the two of them together. Usually more colourful veggies have more nutrition than dull or white veggies (think about green leaf lettuce vs. iceberg). But I'm not sure if that's the case with sweet potatoes. Nutritiondata and Wikipedia don't make any distinction between white, orange, or purple sweet potatoes as far as nutrition goes. I suppose that means there's very little nutritional difference between the different colours.

Last time I went for white sweet potatoes, because they were actually cheaper. If I recall, they tasted about the same, maybe a bit sweeter? I didn't see if the turts would eat the white though! Often they're drawn to the colourful foods.

Mine turn pretty yellow when I dry mine. My turtle seems to enjoy them. I think they smell enough that they dont have to be super colorful.

Do your sweet potatoes pieces sink when you put them in?

jozzep wrote:K9.....You probably distinguish the difference between a "yam" and a "sweet potato"....Right? lol.....Everything here always needs to be "excessive".
To answer your "simple" question, yes.....you can feed your res yams.Just steam them a little so they get soft.

Were not really being "excessive" we are just discussing sweet potatoes. This is a forum after all. A place to discuss things.

Yes, they sink. I boil mine in the microwave to soften them.

Yah it's yam. My mom told me it's yam