Now, I'm pretty sure everyone with an outdoor enclosure doesn't crawl around on their hands and knees looking for a stem off a single plant deemed poisonous for tortoises. I planned on taking chunks of 'sod' from our nearby park full of weeds and various flowers. I cannot ID everything there. On the chance that a poisonous plant ends up in the enclosure - does the tortoise know better? I mean, they HAVE to stumble upon some poisonous plants in the wild. Is there an instinct there? Or is that where natural selection comes in?
Do tortoises know better?
- Thread starter shehick
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You know...I wouldn't be overly concerned. A well-fed animal is less likely to eat anything toxic than a starving animal (who will eat anything). The odds of you introducing a toxic plant is small...and you are being vigilant in case it happens.
I've been busy going through my shelf of plant books...and double checking on-line. There really aren't all that many highly toxic plants to begin with. Make yourself familiar with those that might be common in your area, and then just watch for them.
I've been busy going through my shelf of plant books...and double checking on-line. There really aren't all that many highly toxic plants to begin with. Make yourself familiar with those that might be common in your area, and then just watch for them.
That's the problem I'm having - making myself familiar with the toxic plants in my area. I live in a rural part of Alaska and every time I search "broad spikey leaf weed ID" on google, I get pictures of marijuana. It's legal here so that's most of what comes up. I am really struggling and getting extremely overwhelmed. I also don't want to only plant grasses and dandelions in there because I want him to have option. He will be offered some grocery store food and tortoise blocks on top of it but I really like the idea that he can eat what he wants when he wants all day and I just supplement the diet with greens and blocks that offer a little more nutrition.
in their native land with literally thousands and thousands and thousands of generations before them they probably know which plans to avoid. when they move to a new territory with no background I don't think they know which plants to avoid because they have no history with them.
If the tortoise is native to where you live, then my answer is yes, however, most of us have tortoises that come from other countries. They would know what to eat in their own country, but some of what we have growing here are not native or familiar to them. I don't worry overly about weeds in the tortoise yards.
Sorry David. Didn't see your post before I wrote mine.
no big deal the more people saying the same thing the better it is
If it helps...marijuana is edible...
I have no idea how a tortoise metabolizes it though...
Toxic plants - to my knowledge...don't taste good. That would defeat the purpose of them being toxic. The toxicity is to deter herbivory.
I have no idea how a tortoise metabolizes it though...
Toxic plants - to my knowledge...don't taste good. That would defeat the purpose of them being toxic. The toxicity is to deter herbivory.
Can you order plants from somewhere? You might have to grow them out first, if systemic pesticides are an issue, but after that they should be good to go.
but to be fair tortoises eat all types of stuff that they shouldn't and probably taste bad. Like Dorito bags, drywall, Mardi Gras beads, dirt, rocks & poopIf it helps...marijuana is edible...
I have no idea how a tortoise metabolizes it though...
Toxic plants - to my knowledge...don't taste good. That would defeat the purpose of them being toxic. The toxicity is to deter herbivory.
Once I get the more permanent enclosure set up I planned on growing seed mixes but I'm talking about food for now. I don't know of any nurseries that grow weeds willingly. Everyone here seems to be in favor of finding edibles outside and I have tons of options I just don't want to unknowingly kill my hatchling. I have about a week and a half before he gets here to get this figured out.
LOL...well yes...but that's still a little different.
My parents liked limburger cheese. Go figure. My husband likes scotch. Go figure.
I think there's a difference between palatability of non-toxic and toxic plants. However I'm not willing to go chew on some nightshade to find out.
Is there someone at a nature center or who specializes in edible plants who take you out on a walk to look for things?
No. They do not know better, and will sometimes (not always…) eat plants that they shouldn't.
There are times in some situations where a tortoises seems to know what not to eat. We've all seen this. Other times, they eat some plant that they shouldn't have and die.
Have you tried posting pics of your mystery weeds here? Yvonne is pretty good and we have other members that know quite a bit too.
Using stuff from a park is pretty risky. I wouldn't do it. Too much risk of poisoning. Any plant grown at a nursery will not be suitable for food for your tortoise for at least one year. Sod too.
Tom, I actually did post a pic collage of the plants I was looking to use in the enclosure asking if any looked poisonous (just to avoid having someone ID all of these plants) but I think there were too many for people to want to really answer or just didn't know. Someone told me 2 of them weren't poisonous but that was all I got. As far as the plants from the park, the park is three unmaintained baseball fields and a forest with a disc golf course in it. There are more weeds than plants so I really do feel comfortable with the fact that nobody is poisoning the fields or surrounding forest. We live 2.5 hours from the nearest walmart, this park is on the side of a mountain. Things are a little different here than they are in the continental US.
Have you seen www.thetortoisetable.org.uk That has a huge database of plants and tells you which are tort safe or not. It is easier if you some ideas of the plant names to start with, then you can try to see if the pictures match the plant you are checking.
Your collage of pictures was comprehensive, but hard to view.
Individual pictures of plants, a few at a time, are less likely to overwhelm people.
We can get more detail from a single picture
Individual pictures of plants, a few at a time, are less likely to overwhelm people.
We can get more detail from a single picture
No they don't. And that comes from someone whose tortoise lives in ther native country . My Hermann loves buttercup, he is crazy about it and would eat it everyday if he could. We had to remove it. Also, he wanted to taste some of mums lovely poisinous flowers. What is funny, I've read that in the wild they do eat buttercups but it makes a small part of their diet. Many things are different in the wild so play safe.
. My Hermann loves buttercup, he is crazy about it and would eat it everyday if he could. We had to remove it. Also, he wanted to taste some of mums lovely poisinous flowers. What is funny, I've read that in the wild they do eat buttercups but it makes a small part of their diet. Many things are different in the wild so play safe.Similar threads
