Camilla Flowers

[aka2tal]

One of my Sulcatas ate some Camilla flowers this morning. Can someone please tell me if these are ok???

 

[Crazy1]

I didn't find it on any of these poison plant list - Nor on any Tort food lists either.
People often drink a tea made from camillia flowers and leaves -But do you use fertilizer or other chemicals on them?

http://www.tortoise.org/general/poisonp.html
http://www.sdturtle.org/Plants that Poison.htm
http://www.wonderland.com/~teddy/tortoise/tort_non_food.html
http://www.anapsid.org/resources/plants-ag.html
http://gctts.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Public/EdibleAndPoisonousPlants
http://africantortoise.com/toxic_plants_and_flowers.htm
http://www.turtlestuff.com/avoidthese.html
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/plantsthatpoison.htm

 

[aka2tal]

No chemicals or fertilizers on the tree, but I don't see Camilla on the lists either. Still researching if anyone knwos a answer.

 

[Crazy1]

I PM’d Egyptiandan and Reptileeats and they said they didn't find them on any list and they didn't think they were poison.
Then I asked on a couple of other forums I'm on and a Vet on the list said they weren't poison however they do have a high amount of caffeine so you tort may be up for a while and it may give him diarrhea. One person found this site that said they were safe. http://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/ce/king/PoisPlant/SAFE-COM.htm
But I think it is more for plants for everyone (humans etc.). One person said his Tgg took a couple of bites and then left it alone. He wondered why and tried it himself and he said they are bitter and vile tasting. Most people said their torts won’t eat them. So I wouldn’t worry that your Sully ate some I just wouldn't give it to him as a staple. Don’t want a hyper awake tort running around all times of the day and night.
Hope this helped you out.

 

[Yvonne G]

One of my Sulcatas ate some Camilla flowers this morning. Can someone please tell me if these are ok???

Here's what I found for you:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Camellia+japonica

According to this site I wouldn't worry about it. I have found that they usually won't eat what's toxic...having said that, I would NEVER plant something on purpose in their pen that I know is toxic. But I have seen my Burmese tortoises dig up and eat Iris bulbs, and they are supposed to be toxic.

Yvonne

 

[Itort]

I don't quite understand tort digestion. I had a redfoot eat all the leaves off a pointsetta and was none the worse for wear. Pritchard writes of redfoots and yellowfoots eating philodandrums in the wild. I pretty much stick to plants I can eat and wonder about what they may eat in their native habitat.

 

[aka2tal]

Thanks everyone for your tips and research. I will not worry about it unless i see the Tortoises running around the yard at 50 MPH, then i will know that the caffeine has kicked in.

 

[treebeard]

One of my Sulcatas ate some Camilla flowers this morning. Can someone please tell me if these are ok???

The following website lists camellias as non toxic for cats (they are usually highly sensitive to plant toxins) so your tortoise should be alright. I didn't see it listed as toxic in my herp toxic plant list but it wasn't listed in the edible list either.