The Tortoise Table

Hey Tortoise table!

It's been a long while since I got on this forum. I'd like to ask some help with ID-ing this crawler plant with flowers, and if these are safe to feed to Sulcata Tortoises. Thanks for the help!

Renz

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Hi Renz,

Great to hear from you! Are you still in the Phillippines? Funnily enough I was going through some old emails the other day and came upon your photos of the Fringed Spider Flower from 2016!
I'm afraid I don't know off the top of my head what this plant is, but I will have a go and will also ask my colleague, Lin, and will get back to you as quickly as possible.

Nina

I think I might have found it. Could it be Rangoon Creeper (Quisqualis indica)? Here is a photo of it https://i1.wp.com/myphilippinelife.com/ ... reeper.jpg that I found by going through this site https://myphilippinelife.com/philippine ... n-flowers/ and I have read that it can be found in secondary forests of the Philippines, and I gather that on the first day the flower is white, on the second day it turns pink, and on the third day it turns red.

From what I can see, the seeds of the plant contain quisqualic acid, which if eaten can lead to the death of nerve cells. I have read elsewhere that it has some anthelmintic (worming) properties. As far as the leaves are concerned, I can see from this abstract https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... s_Indica_L that they contain tannins and saponins (although i don't know the quantities), but we usually warn people not to feed plants that are high in tannins and saponinss (reasons why are detailed on this page: https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/tor ... YdomGZ7m9s so I think I would not actively feed this plant (but if your sulcata accidentally nibble the odd flower or leaf then I don't think he will come to any harm.

Nina

Hello Nina

Thanks for the helpful info. Yes, I'm still in the Philippines. And yes, the tortoises sometimes nibble and seem to like the fallen leaves. But I'll try to avoid them having too much of it. Appreciate the help always!

Renz