# Marigolds...To eat or not to eat?



## pguinpro (Oct 5, 2018)

There are so many kinds of marigolds it's hard to tell which ones are which and honestly the tortoise table is not tortoise specific and the stores are not plant species specific and I'm not a botanist; yet! Anyways just wondering which of these is safe to eat for my Sulcata tort. Also i searched for, "Pot", "Field", and "wild" marigolds and all of the results were packets mixed with other marigolds. Suggestions for where i can but strictly edible marigold seeds would be awesome, thanks in advance for input.


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## RosemaryDW (Oct 6, 2018)

I’m not an expert with marigolds but can tell you the last two photos are calendula, “pot” marigolds, and safe. You can get calendula seeds from major seed companies in the U.S. (Burpee, Parkseed) if you can’t find them at your local nursery. They are easy to grow.

Whether your tortoise will eat them, I can’t say. My Russian won’t even eat the flowers.


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## Tom (Oct 6, 2018)

I grow marigolds. I grow them from seeds from Lowes. I cut off upper sections that have several leafy branches and flowers. My tortoises all eat them, despite the strong smell. They seem to favor the leaves over the flowers, but eventually eat the flowers too.

I also grow calendula. Its a small part of the seed mix from tortoise supply. My tortoises don't seem to like it much, but they will eat if there is nothing else.

As an aside, I have found plants that some species seem to like while others won't eat it. My SA leopards seem to like lambs quarter, and my sulcatas won't touch it. A lot of it grows on my ranch and I don't want it, so I pull it out by the root. If there are no seed heads, I drop it in the enclosures. It dries out and disintegrates int e sulcata enclosure, but the leopards eat it up.


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