A surplus of hibiscus flowers as a learning moment

jsheffield

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My hibiscus plants are flowering like crazy, putting out dozens of blossoms, and in feeding Darwin bunches of them the last few days I've noticed something.

2232CD57-302B-4E64-9B0C-580C32142F77-5800-0000053A1AB1776A.jpg

When giving Darwin more hibiscus flowers than he can eat, he vastly prefers the pistil... this morning when I went down to check in on him he had eaten the pistil out of eight flowers since I'd put them in at 5:30 the previous afternoon.

Does your tortoise have parts of their favorite foods that they favor above others?

Jamie
 

jsheffield

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I wonder if this part of the flower is different, nutritionally, from the rest of the flower.

J
 

Ink

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My hibiscus plants are flowering like crazy, putting out dozens of blossoms, and in feeding Darwin bunches of them the last few days I've noticed something.

View attachment 277399

When giving Darwin more hibiscus flowers than he can eat, he vastly prefers the pistil... this morning when I went down to check in on him he had eaten the pistil out of eight flowers since I'd put them in at 5:30 the previous afternoon.

Does your tortoise have parts of their favorite foods that they favor above others?

Jamie
Ink, my leopard, only ate the pistol. Left the rest of the flower, but likes the leaves. Gilbert, my Hermann, doesn't like any part of the hibiscus. Picky eaters
 

dmmj

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No matter how many I put down my RF maynard eats the whole flower. I would imagine the pistil tastes different then the rest of the plant, probably sweeter.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Mine eats the pistol first too, then the petals. He usually leaves the ovary and calyx part.
 

jsheffield

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When he didn't have a surplus of them, Darwin eats the entire thing, including stem and leaves.

J
 

vladimir

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While we're on the subject of devouring hibiscus, is there anything wrong with putting out a massive pile of flowers while they're in bloom, and letting our sulcata just help himself to as much as he wants? Obviously this isn't his only diet, but I'd like to not feel guilty letting him gorge on his rose of sharon blooms. :)
 

Blackdog1714

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I supplement with the blooms. My Russian is in love with PLAINTAIN weeds. I have had to convince my neighbor that I am not neglecting my alley responsibilities as I have a small farm of them. I change a whole plant out once every 4 days. My tort also has pothos, geranium, and zinnia growing and just nibbles on them
 

Maro2Bear

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While we're on the subject of devouring hibiscus, is there anything wrong with putting out a massive pile of flowers while they're in bloom, and letting our sulcata just help himself to as much as he wants? Obviously this isn't his only diet, but I'd like to not feel guilty letting him gorge on his rose of sharon blooms. :)

Thats what I do. We have a Lord Baltimore hardy hibiscus, produces about 10-15 new flowers daily, they bloom for a day, then fade, wilt, with new ones the next day.

We pick all the faded ones daily, pile them in our Sullys dish. They disappear like magic.
 

Sue Ann

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Our Sully starts at any end and just stops when all the flowers are gone.
My Sully will not eat any hibiscus. I have planted special grasses in his outdoor enclosure and I never see him eating them.He is outside 4-6 hours a day and spends most of the time digging a hole and sleeping.
 

Blackdog1714

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So my coworker tells me she saw a turtle on the way to her car in the morning. Not so uncommon since the life next to a river. Little did she know this turtle would save her life- the spiders web was one step away at face height! Yuck spiderwebbed face is never good especially in the darkView attachment 278539View attachment 278540
 

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