# don't eat geraniums



## ennur (Jun 1, 2020)

Hi guys. I gave my tortoise geranium. He sniffed for a long time, bite once, and acted like he wanted to get it out of his mouth. I feed it in the pot and I am sure there is no pesticide. I washed before I gave him. Is this flower harmful to him? If not, I'll try to accustom him to eating geranium.


----------



## Kim&Tim (Jun 1, 2020)

It's fine to give as part of a meal. It shouldn't be the main part, just rotate different things. Maybe he doesn't like it, or he just needs to get used to them.


----------



## Tom (Jun 1, 2020)

Mine don't like it either, but its not toxic. Any new food will have to be introduced gradually over time. Few tortoises will walk up and eat a new food on day one, even if its something really good. New foods need to be introduced in small amounts over time.


----------



## Markw84 (Jun 1, 2020)

I do grow some geranimums in my outdoor enclosures for color and possible food. However, none of my tortoises ever eat it = so it ends up being a nice color and shade plant.


----------



## Kim&Tim (Jun 1, 2020)

Markw84 said:


> I do grow some geranimums in my outdoor enclosures for color and possible food. However, none of my tortoises ever eat it = so it ends up being a nice color and shade plant.


 Same, he likes to hide under it though, but that's it.


----------



## ennur (Jun 1, 2020)

I read that they like to eat geranium in another forum. I tried but did not eat. I will grow different flowers for him. Thank you everybody


----------



## LasTortugasNinja (Jun 1, 2020)

Mine is weird. He'll nibble on geraniums, but he really LOVES the fennel. I give him a stalk of it with his meal every other day, and it's gone in seconds. Usually though I stick to rose petals from my plants, and hibiscus from my mother's plant I harvest when I stop over to help her out.

Maybe torts are like any other animal... some things they like, some they don't. I have a cat that LOVES raw beef. My other cat won't touch beef (but she loves bread!). I once had a snake that refused white mice. You have no idea how difficult it was to find colored mice for feeders in the early 90's! Very expensive snake to feed at $4 a fancy mouse every other week...

Best you can do is make a mix of foods every week. I go to the grocery store and buy one or two greens to mix with his weeds and flowers. I try to have something different every week. Sometimes it's radicchio and dandelion greens, sometimes it's endives and strawberry greens, sometimes it's escarole and mustard greens, or I'll switch up the blends. That way he gets different mixes every week and doesn't get complacent... also it helps when the store is sold out of something, I can switch it up. I also toss in a few flowers and whatever local weeds are growing in my yard at the time, and it's a good mix, since the weeds naturally rotate. Last month it was dandelions and plantains, this month the mallow has sprouted EVERYWHERE with lilac flowers.


----------



## ennur (Jun 1, 2020)

I buy different kinds of greens from the market; arugula, artichoke, cress, dill, lettuce, red cabbage, iceberg.

I also collect mulberry leaves, grape leaves and roses from the outside. But I live in the apartment and I do not have a garden. So I have to grow weeds in pots. I started growing the things from the seed he would love. wheatgrass, violet, dandelion, cactus. So what are the weeds you gathered from the garden? I would like to buy their seeds and grow them.


----------



## LasTortugasNinja (Jun 1, 2020)

ennur said:


> I buy different kinds of greens from the market; arugula, artichoke, cress, dill, lettuce, red cabbage, iceberg.
> 
> I also collect mulberry leaves, grape leaves and roses from the outside. But I live in the apartment and I do not have a garden. So I have to grow weeds in pots. I started growing the things from the seed he would love. wheatgrass, violet, dandelion, cactus. So what are the weeds you gathered from the garden? I would like to buy their seeds and grow them.



I have various mallow, plantain, dandelions, puncturevine, thistles, and other local weeds. They just occur naturally.


----------



## RosemaryDW (Jun 1, 2020)

I don’t worry if my tortoise doesn’t like something so long as her overall diet is varied. But I do keep offering it on occasion, as they are prone to changing their minds.


----------



## ennur (Jun 2, 2020)

I try to give him various foods. I went to the park this morning and collected aloe vera with root because I want to grow it for him at home. He ate it without leaving a piece ? and I'll give him jasmine tomorrow. I hope he liked it.


----------



## Cindyberm (Jun 3, 2020)

Last year I filled the backyard (Zippy’s backyard) all with plants on the Sulcata Edible Landscape list, with the apparently unrealistic idea that he would nibble as he walked, as he does with grass. He does eat this way with some plants, like strawberries. But mostly he finds a plant he likes that day and mows it down. I solved this behavior for the time being by surrounding plants I care about, like Hosta, with temporary fencing and for some reason he is respecting the little fences. When the plant gets big enough to spill over the fence, he can eat that part but no more. He’s about 20” long now and could easily flatten these little fences but so far, so good. I realize this is probably temporary but I might get enough time for some plants (bushes) to grow tall enough that he can’t destroy them.


----------



## Ghazan (Jun 3, 2020)

ennur said:


> I try to give him various foods. I went to the park this morning and collected aloe vera with root because I want to grow it for him at home. He ate it without leaving a piece ? and I'll give him jasmine tomorrow. I hope he liked it.
> View attachment 296283



I do not think jasmine is safe to feed and has a milky residue


----------



## Kim&Tim (Jun 3, 2020)

Ghazan said:


> I do not think jasmine is safe to feed and has a milky residue


Yes it is, jasmin (jasminum) 
Star jasmin is not, winter jasmin in moderation.


----------



## ennur (Jun 3, 2020)

Cindyberm said:


> Last year I filled the backyard (Zippy’s backyard) all with plants on the Sulcata Edible Landscape list, with the apparently unrealistic idea that he would nibble as he walked, as he does with grass. He does eat this way with some plants, like strawberries. But mostly he finds a plant he likes that day and mows it down. I solved this behavior for the time being by surrounding plants I care about, like Hosta, with temporary fencing and for some reason he is respecting the little fences. When the plant gets big enough to spill over the fence, he can eat that part but no more. He’s about 20” long now and could easily flatten these little fences but so far, so good. I realize this is probably temporary but I might get enough time for some plants (bushes) to grow tall enough that he can’t destroy them.



Definitely the idea is very good. I can fence around the flowers that I plant in his garden. He loves eating so much that I hope he doesn't knock over the hedges.


----------



## ennur (Jun 3, 2020)

Ghazan said:


> I do not think jasmine is safe to feed and has a milky residue



I control every food I give him in https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/index.php#.XtfKkJ4zZQI

I'm new at this work, so I'm afraid to give him something wrong.


----------

