Edible Flowers

Melissa9987

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Hi,

I bought a container of organic edible flowers from my local grocery store's produce section. Is it safe to assume that if these flowers are safe for people, they will be safe for my hatchling Russian? There is no list of the flowers on the package, but they are mostly bright colors.. oranges, reds, and such?

Thanks for any feedback!
 

G-stars

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Hard to tell, and I'm not that great at identifying flowers. However top left one looks like hibiscus which is good to feed to tortoises.
 

Prairie Mom

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That is so whacky! Cool, but whacky!!:) I grow a bunch of edible flowers for fun, but have NEVER seen any pre-packaged. I am very far from expert, but from what I've investigated on my own, it does seem like most human-edible flowers are tort safe also. When in doubt, look up the flower online and serve it in small amounts from time to time. I'm really surprised that the package doesn't list what flowers are in there!? What if someone has an allergy to a specific kind?? I still think this is kind of cool and would've probably picked up a package to give my tortoise a winter treat if I had seen one :)
 
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Odin's Gma

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Yes, several marigolds in there and our sulcata loves them! So much so, I am starting several plants from seed for him to get us through the long winter.
 

TortsNTurtles

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It might help too if you take them out of package and take a picture to identify. That is really cool I will have t o see if my Giant Eagle has them.
 

Mavrik

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I buy those packages a lot, my RF Che Guevara loves them...

From what I've seen in my packs -- they contain some mums, some hibiscus, some common marigolds (not to be confused with French marigolds), and possibly a few others. For the most part through my own research, the flowers that I've been able to identify through photos and asking some garden-y minded friends are fine for tortoises as well as humans.
 

Mavrik

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I bought a couple packages of edible flowers yesterday at the grocery store. I spread them out on a paper towel and took the most detailed photos I could so y'all could see some of what's in there. (I'm sure not every pack has the same exact flowers, or in the same ratios, but this at least gives a good glimpse.)

Let's play Ident-a-flower!

edible flowers 1.jpg edible flowers 2.jpg edible flowers 3.jpg edible flowers 4.jpg edible flowers 5.jpg edible flowers 6.jpg edible flowers 7.jpg
 
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Mavrik

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I will add as a post-script --

I did not feed Che the light purple coloured one (#5) because I have no idea what it is and I did not feed the daisy (#6) because I know that I read somewhere that they are not good for tortoises in large amounts (can be nibbled on okay).

So just because it is in the package, you still want to check the contents to make sure there's nothing potentially problematic in there. :)


**EDIT**
I believe the light purple one is Bee Balm, which is in fact perfectly edible and safe according to the Tortoise Table. But if someone thinks it is something different, please chorus in!
 
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Odin's Gma

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Some of the pics are a bit blurry, but the red one looks like a carnation and the red and orange one is a marigold. Most of the orange and yellow ones look like marigold.
 

Mavrik

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Like I said, they were the best photos I could take at that time. When I crack open the next package I will take more/better photos!
 

Odin's Gma

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Like I said, they were the best photos I could take at that time. When I crack open the next package I will take more/better photos!
It's not just the photo quality, it's also hard to tell when the blooms are closed as some of them are in the photos, at least for me. lochroma can probably name them with his eyes tied behind his back. :D
 

Yvonne G

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The third one down is snap dragon and I think the blue one is bachelor button. And, like was already said, the last one is a carnation.
 

Mavrik

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It's interesting, because for some reason it seems like this package had a lot of what I will call "weird" flowers in it, as in not ones that I normally see when I buy them. Normally I just get the marigolds, the snapdragons, possibly some hibiscus, possibly some others. Maybe it has to do with the weather in my area? (Subzero the last few days of the week, 6-8" of snow yesterday, now more subzero temps to start the week)
 

Melissa9987

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Is the bright yellow one also a hibiscus? Not the marigolds, but the bright yellow one in the back of the first and second pictures
 

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