Russian tort ate a poisonous plant. HELP!

[fgately]

My newly aquired Russian female, just gobbled down a whole unopened flower pod from a small batch of calla lilies my wife planted in the yard. They were given to us in a flower arrangement, and are very pretty. After reading about them I find out they are toxic, and possibly fatal!

What can I do? Anyone have experiance with a tort eating a toxic plant, especially calla lilies?

Worried sick,

Frank

 

[Laura]

Is the entire plant bad or just parts? can you find that out? some times its just the bulb or leaves...

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Frank:

Welcome to the forum!

The whole plant is toxic, however, its Calcium oxalate crystals. I think tortoises can handle that better than mammals. I wouldn't worry too much about it. The symptoms for humans are, "...severe burning sensation and swelling of lips, tongue, and throat; stomach pain and diarrhea possible. "

Just keep you eye on him. It wouldn't hurt to give him soaks a couple times a day for a few days to encourage him to pass the lilies through his system a little faster.

 

[fgately]

You peeps are great! She seems a bit lethargic but so do my other two. It was just over 100 today so they are kind of vegetating. Zuzu just ate most of an unopened flower pod. She seemed to really be enjoying it too! Nice and crunchy. I will check on her in the morning. I really love these little torts. I planted everything in my yard to be tort edible, except of course the calla lilies. My other female LOVES gazanias. She reaches up, grabs a flower with her mouth, pulls it down so she can step on it, and then she chows down. Very cute.

Anyway, thanks for the input. I'll check on her and let you know in the am.

Frank

 

[dmmj]

welcome, if you think they like gazanias, try hibiscus flowers, it is like tortoiese crack. I would do what the others suggest and just keep an eye on your russian.

 

[Missy]

How about some pictures of your torts

 

[spikethebest]

yes pictures of the tortoises and the plants please. thank you!

 

[fgately]

thanks for all of the feedback. Zuzu is doing just fine. It was VERY hot today, so I decided to soak all three of them in my tub for about 30 minutes. I imagine I wont have to do this in the future because I keep them outside and always have a big shallow bowl of clean water available to them. I was just thinking that a couple of weeks ago they were sitting in an aquarium that had a relatively consistent temp. Now they are outside and it is 110! I soaked them just to be sure they were hydrated while they adjust to their new home.

The hibiscus thing is true. I left three big beautiful flowers out for them. All three dissapeared! The little torts looked so cute with bright yellow pollen on their mouths. I planted three hibiscus bushes today!

I will get some pics up soon.

Frank

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Russian tort names are Boris, Daisy, and Zuzu by the way. Daisy is a small little girl but is eating all the time! She has a particular love for zuccini flowers and gazania flowers. Zuzu means insect in Greek. (My wife is of Greek heritage).

 

[Kristina]

tortoiese crack.

*giggle*

Russians can handle high temps, as long as the have some shade and somewhere to dig down a bit. Is the entire pen open to the sun, or are there shady areas? Do they tend to hide at the base of plants, etc., when it is really hot?

I recently made some big caves for my Redfoots because I was concerned about them over heating. I used cinder blocks and huge patio stones, and it stays nice and cool inside. Perhaps you could try something similar.

I also run the sprinkler for a bit during the hottest part of the day. The almost always drink out of the puddles that form on the ground, and usually urinate at the same time. It simulates how they would drink in the wild, during a rainfall, and works very well to keep them hydrated, even better than soaks in my opinion.

Your little tort should be fine if the only poisonous compound was oxalates, but I would make sure to remove that plant to a part of the yard where they have no access to it.

 

[fgately]

Their pen is my entire backyard! Probably between 3,000 to 4,000 square feet of torty paradise. Yes, they do dig down an inch or two and hide under the plants during the hot time of the day. I picked Russians because they stay smaller (I have a friend who has a colony of sulcatas, one being about 140 pounds, love them, but no way!), and are tough as nails. I know they can handle any temps we have here in SoCal, it's just that going from 75 to 80 degrees in an aquarium, to 110 in a backyard, might be hard on them, so I soaked the little suckers. Russians are the only tort I have by the way. I agree that a dose of the backyard sprinkler is better than a soak.

I'm going to do a couple of caves today for them. My torts really like to come over to the concrete areas for the night, so I'll make the caves there.

I built a nice hide/hibernation box for them out of 3/4 in plywood, and put it in a spot that will not get wet when it rains. They go in voluntarily sometimes. I want them to hibernate in it for the winter. How do I do this? Letting them burrow in my yard is probably not a good idea because of the way my yard is designed. Any burrow they dig more than likely flood. Don't think they will drown, but it WILL get muddy and wet, and stay that way for the season.

---

Whoever runs this website, thank you so much! I love it. And thank you to those who answer the questions. Ok, on to my next question...

Because my torts are free roaming in my yard, I have a question about supplements. They have free access to lots of natural sunlight, a big yard of fescue grass, a few weeds, optunia, aloe, gazanias, nasturtiums, hybiscus, geraniums, and even a peach tree that drops an occasional fruit. How much do I really need to supplement? This has to be way more than they would get for food in their native habitat. I can see how I would need to leave out some cuttle bone for the females just to make sure they have access to extra calcium. Do I really need to give them herp vitamins?

Just wondering.

Frank

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Oh, I also forgot the four large zuccini plants they like to snack on. For those of you who haven't tried to grow these for our tort buddies, do it. They love the flowers, the zuccinis, and the crunchy stems, They also all love to hide under the large shady leaves. I would suggest you get them started in a pot before putting them in the ground though. The torts really like them, so a baby plant would more than likely get munched before it had a chance to grow.

 

[Nay]

Welcome Frank,
This is why I love to come here and just read all the new posts/ I ,like many others here, are constantly trying so hard to plant up our enclosures, I never thought of zucchini, yes it's probably listed but a fast growing plant that they can eat the whole thing!!What a great idea, never thought of it.
Thank you
Na

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I grow pumpkin plants, zucchini plants and banana squash plants for Bob, he LOVES the blooms and the leaves. He eats all the blooms so I never get any fruit. The plants are Bob's to eat as he wishes. Your Russians don't need to hibernate you know. I don't hibernate mine. Welcome to the show BTW

 

[fgately]

How do you NOT hibernate them? In our area, San Dimas CA, the winters get down to the low 40s, and once in a great while will dip into the freezing range in the evening. We also get winter days where it is nice and warm, like low 70s. Will they come out if we get a few warmer days?

Such interesting critters.

Frank

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With the zucchini, let it get started in a pot, seriously! The love to crunch away on the stems, flowers, and the squash itself. If you let the plant get a little bigger before you transplant, it will grow faster than my three little torts can eat! So, you get some zucchinis to eat, they get to eat, and it's really great shade. the plants look really nice too.

 

[Kristina]

I don't think you realize who Bob is, lol. He would eat the whole thing whether it was started elsewhere or not Bob is Maggie's 80 pound Sulcata

As for not hibernating, you just bring them indoors for the winter.