Tortoises and shop bought flowers

ElleSkywalkingintheair

ElleSkywalkingintheair

As excited as Kitty about to be a bridesmaid
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Afternoon,

Cedric my tortoise loves rose petals, almost more than he loves dandelions but with winter approaching rose petals are getting few and far between.

Do people know if he'd be safe to snack on shop bought roses? Do they add anything weird to then or anything?

Tea for all

Elle & Cedric the Hungry.
 
Please don't do that. The plants are full of the pesticides and other baddies that they add to the soil to encourage good growth and bright colours!
My tort is already hibernating but perhaps you could try rose leaves? Mine loves those
 
Definitely don't give him shop bought - I have loads of roses still flowering and I see loads about the area. Can you knock on a few doors and ask if you can have a few from people's gardens?? Alternatively tell him to go to sleep! :)
 
Glad I checked now as I thought I was just being over precious about him! Haven't tried him on rose leaves yet but good idea :)

He's not allowed to go to sleep as he lives inside under a lamp. He's only tiny so doesn't eat much :)

His faves are rose petals, dandelion head and other little yellow flowers (not buttercups or ragwort obs, maybe some sort of thistle?!) and red clover heads. He eats dandelion leaves too but doesn't like plantains, purple thistle flowers or white clover.

I love that 'weeds' are now ligitimately renamed 'Cedric food'
 
How about pansies and mallow? Mine loves those. I also grow evening primrose, red valerian and teasel for mine.

The tortoise table website is a great help in finding suitable plants!
 
Nudibranch said:
Buy a hibiscus plant, the indoor variety - the flowers are irresistible to veggie reptiles. They'll flower most of the year if you look after them.
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poiuytrewq said:
Just got a little bit excited to come across this thread :D
Fellow tortoise owners who dont feed pellets.... happy days
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Karran said:
ah but are they as idiot proof to grow?
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No pellets here :)

What does an indoor hibiscus plant look like? :o do they need to be grown from scratch?

Loving the tortoise table website but proving to be very very bad at identifing plants!

Today Cedric tried to eat some flowers on my bag. They are aplique. In think he needs tiny tortoise glasses :D
 
Although Dougal is hibernating now, I'm loving some of the ideas here, he's eaten most of these, both intentionally and by accident, but I've never tried him on rose petals, so I'll make sure to give them a go next year when he wakes up. He does love pansies, as someone else suggested and our local little garden shop often has these reduced when they can't sell all the stock.
Definitely never tried him on pellets, it's always been a case of picking a bag of weeds when I walk the dog, supplemented with some treats from the greenhouse or allotment, plus what the can graze in the garden that the bunnies haven't eaten.
 
He's being a little brat now and tried to hibernate yesterday. Have sorted his heat mat which actually doesn't appear to be doing much and I put him under his lamp to wake up. He's also now gone off his last fave food, white nettle flowers and is only eating peppers. He's such a diva :D
 
I used to work in a florist and can confirm that they put chemicals in the soil/water to make the flowers last longer - roses are also sprayed with a chemical to heighten the rose smell, so please don't feed shop bought flowers to your torts!
This includes flowers/plants from garden centres, unless they can assure you they don't use fertiliser in their soil, but it's safer to just buy your own seeds and plant using topsoil as there is fertiliser in potting compost.

I also wouldn't recommend using a heat mat for your tort, as this can burn the plastron (underside of shell), same goes for placing a 'basking' stone under the lamp/heater. The plastron is much more delicate than the carapace (top shell) and can burn easily, especially in young torts.

Hope this helps!

My guy is asleep for the winter and missing him already, they're such characters!
 
Horsemum, thanks for that. Really interesting as I know it's not a good thing to feed but didn't realise roses for example were actually sprayed!
Am I right in thinking if you buy a living plant and repot it the regrow is then safe?
 
Horsemum his heat mat is stuck on a little glass panel on side of his bedroom so he can't actually touch it, it just warms the air a bit near where he sleeps, he doesn't sit on it or anything.

V glad I asked the question re flowers now! He's currently having to make do with mixed leaf salad as the dandelions don't look terribly nutritious anymore soon be spring and he'll have fresh stuff coming out his wee ears ��
 
Why isn't he allowed to hibernate? I know nothing about tortoises, despite us having one when I was a kid - I'm intrigued about why he's not having a winter kip!
 
poiuytrewq said:
Horsemum, thanks for that. Really interesting as I know it's not a good thing to feed but didn't realise roses for example were actually sprayed!
Am I right in thinking if you buy a living plant and repot it the regrow is then safe?
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I'm not sure actually, though if you're re-potting it in unfertilised soil and only using the new plant you've grown yourself then I would imagine, so!

Elleskywalkingintheair said:
Horsemum his heat mat is stuck on a little glass panel on side of his bedroom so he can't actually touch it, it just warms the air a bit near where he sleeps, he doesn't sit on it or anything.
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That is so cute haha I never thought of doing that, as I have a heat bulb!

Auslander said:
Why isn't he allowed to hibernate? I know nothing about tortoises, despite us having one when I was a kid - I'm intrigued about why he's not having a winter kip!
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Can depend on the breed, and also owners choice whether to hibernate. Also you shouldn't hibernate torts until they are at least 4 years old, and you should get them checked by a vet a month or so before you plan to hibernate so the vet can give you the go ahead if it's healthy enough to survive the hibernation :)
 
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