Opium Poppy

Craig_J

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I’ve attached an image of what I think (according to a plant identifier app) is opium poppy. I have quite a bit of this growing in the garden by the previous house owner, I’ve lived here for longe enough that there won’t be anything harmful on them.

I am wondering, as I can’t find it anywhere, whether Hermann’s can eat it? It’s not flowering so just lots of leaves. It has also grown slightly during winter and can clearly withstand the weather quite well, which is always a perk for tort food.

10FC25B1-1E89-46D6-8D7B-03D232A01D09.jpegC95EEB11-4076-492B-B138-09EFFAEF3D3C.jpeg
 

JoesMum

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The Tortoise Table Plant Database is your friend here.

Search for your plant and it will tell you whether it si safe to feed and why.

I searched for Poppy and there are several species. Yours is, I think, an Oriental Poppy (my mother in law has them in her garden) and they are “Do not feed”
See
 

Craig_J

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Thanks for the reply.

I did have a look on the database but I was unsure if any of them were the Opium Poppy. I guess I’ll know for sure once it flowers.
 

Yvonne G

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I don't think that's opium poppy. the base of each leaf wraps around the stem on the opium poppy:
 

Craig_J

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Yeah I wasn’t 100% either. I wish the tortoise was smart enough to only eat things that are good for him!
 

Loohan

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I have read that all parts of the plant contain opium. It is something to be wary of in a yard previously owned by others. I once rented a room in a house that had such plants growing out back.

But this stuff looks almost like kale or something.
 

RosemaryDW

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I’m going with a mustard of some kind, which easily reseeds, it’s a safe food.

I don’t think it’s an opium/Oriental poppy, their leaves can run more gray than green and as Yvonne already mentioned, the leaf pattern is different.

Poppies also reseed easily so if you’re worried just wait a while; an opium/Oriental poppy is going to grow taller than mustard fairly quick. Mustard will put up small sprays of small yellow flowers with four petals. Poppies will grow a very obvious single large flower head on single, long stalks.

I know that some plant sites are very anti poppy but the fact is that wild Russians eat a ton of poppies, some of which might be opium/Oriental poppies which have naturalized over much of the European and Asian continents. No need for anyone to feed anything they aren’t comfortable with, I just like to point out that poppies get a bad rap. I’ve given my wild Russian the occasional bit of stem amd leaves of an ornamental strain of that poppy and it was interesting to me that it was a plant she bit into with no hesitation, no obvious sniff. She knows that plant, although it’s no longer a favorite. One of the very few plants I’ve her eat similarly is ranunculus, another plant with a giant NO NO on some plant lists but a huge part of the native diet; she devoured it. Again, no reason to feed anything you’re uncomfortable with, just putting out there that some plant sites are considered overly cautious by some owners and/or based largely on mammal observation. We just don’t have that much tortoise specific research.
 

Craig_J

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Thanks for the reply.

I guess waiting for the flowers will be a good start. My Hermanns has eaten many things that aren’t advisable, mostly before I owned him. I think with many things, so long as they aren’t actually poisonous and fed in moderation with a blend of things they should eat, then it’s not too bad.
 

RosemaryDW

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Thanks for the reply.

I guess waiting for the flowers will be a good start. My Hermanns has eaten many things that aren’t advisable, mostly before I owned him. I think with many things, so long as they aren’t actually poisonous and fed in moderation with a blend of things they should eat, then it’s not too bad.
Agreed. As much variety as you can provide, everything in moderation. I do study plants that aren’t familiar to me but there are relatively few that I absolutely would not feed or encourage, as least not for something in the testudo genus of tortoises.
 

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