finally bought the hibiscus

[heyprettyrave]

so yesterday i bought a hibiscus plant, i was just curious as to what parts my redfoot will eat. so far I have feed her the leafs because that all there is. but i was curious if she would also eat the flowers?

also, i was curious as to whcih types of cactus the redfoots can eat? and if they can how do you give it to them?

thanks

 

[Missy]

They love the flowers, dont know about cactus.

 

[jackrat]

My redfoots love opuntia cactus.It's easy to grow or you can buy it at a mexican store.If it has spines,burn them off over a flame.I use my gas stove.

 

[Seiryu]

so yesterday i bought a hibiscus plant, i was just curious as to what parts my redfoot will eat. so far I have feed her the leafs because that all there is. but i was curious if she would also eat the flowers?

Where did you get the Hibiscus from? If from a nursery, home depot, or pretty much anywhere I suppose, they use fertilizers and chemicals on them.

You need a good month or two of it being in soil that has no fertilizers/chemicals in it before you can offer it to your tortoises safely. Any top soil works as long as it has nothing to it.

And yes it sure can eat the flowers. Some tortoises like flowers, some don't, but they are edible.

 

[hali]

sorry to sound daft - my mum and dad live in Cyprus and are thinking about getting some tortoises. dad was saying he had to fence off his row of hibiscus as they were poisonous for tortoises - is this not true?

 

[Missy]

Rose of Sharon is a type of Hibiscus and maybe thats what they have. I dont know if that kind is poisonous but the tropical Hibiscus is not. I have even seen it on salads so people can eat them too.

 

[DeanS]

ALL hibiscus is tortoise friendly...leaves and flowers.

 

[hali]

thank you - have just text him that info

 

[dmmj]

hibiscus is non toxic and most tortoises find them irrerisitible. Maynard the red foot loves them not a fan of the leaves though. rose of sharon is also non toxic but mine have not produced any flowers yet so I can't say if they like them or not.

 

[heyprettyrave]

okay, so now i have a question about the opuntia cactus, can i plant that in her enclosure? and also, I've already started feeding Ophelia some of the hibiscus and I havent planted yet, and I did get it from home depot. so im kinda unsure and scared ha because of the pesticide thing you were refering too, any imformation?

 

[Itort]

The opuntia can be planted right in the enclosure but I would suggest you protect the main plant (this is any plant with soft stem or low growth habit) with a tortoise proof barrier as the tort may trash the plant. You should repot or transplant any nursey plant for a few months till the pesticides are gone.

 

[Scooter]

Can someone post a picture of rose of sharon? I have hibiscus and I know the rose of sharon is a type of hibiscus but I can not find anything labeled at rose of sharon and am a little confused on the difference.

 

[Yvonne G]

Scroll down to post #12:

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-14564.html

 

[Scooter]

Thanks Yvonne!