What is with...

[mariab1]

tortoises loving to eat dog poop?
I pick up my dogs poop asap - but if Ron wakes up and I haven't gotten it yet he goes straight to it like its gold!
Just wondering if anyone knows why it's so delicious to them.
-maria

 

[Seiryu]

tortoises loving to eat dog poop?
I pick up my dogs poop asap - but if Ron wakes up and I haven't gotten it yet he goes straight to it like its gold!
Just wondering if anyone knows why it's so delicious to them.
-maria

I'm not sure. They mainly eat poop to get the extra nutrition from it. He shouldn't even have the opportunity to eat your dogs poop though. From what i've read it's not good to let him eat it.

I'd figure out a way to keep the 2 in seperate areas of your yard / area.
Maybe block off a section for ron that the dog can't get to.

 

[Crazy1]

Hi, If you use heartworm meds for your dog it my carry a toxic substance ivermicin (SP?) This is deadly to torts and is carried in your dogs feces. But as far as eating dog or cat poo seems they just like the smell and taste. But definetely not good for them also can carry parisites and bacteria harmful to torts.

 

[Madkins007]

While it is disgusting to us, a lot of animals eat poo. Sometimes, it is a sign of stress, bad diets, etc. and is then called 'cacophagy'.

Sometimes, however, it is a natural behavior. Herbivore poo is full of undigested and partially digested nutrients, and the feces of a lot of low-level carnivores and omnivores is also decently nutritious.

Now, as you move up the predator ladder, the feces get less helpful, but usually rarer, so most animals do not seem to differenciate between the feces of cattle or big cats, even though the later is not as nutritious for them.

In the wild, Red-foots eat their own feces and that of other tortoises. They also eat most other droppings they can find. One report mentions that the Red-foots they observed at a lot of the feces of the local fox, which there is an omnivore.

I doubt that domestic dog poo is nutritious for our tortoises, but it certainly seems to attract them. Personally, I keep them away from it, but do not sweat it if they find a little once in a while.

 

[Crazy1]

As Madkin stated "In the wild torts of most species will eat other torts poo. Hatchlings get needed nutrients and gut flora they do not have by eating poo. But I personally feel unless you feed your dog organic foods and you know for certain they have not had ivermiacin given to them you are taking a big risk allowing your tort to eat even a little.
Why do they like it so much. Guess we just need to be a tort to understand.

 

[chelonologist]

In the wild, canid feces typically contain undigested bones leftover from the critters (usually small mammals) they eat. These leftover bones are a good source of calcium for animals (like tortoises) that crave this element because they have a tough time finding it in the foods they typically eat. So while we've removed bones from our dogs' diets, we can't remove our tortoises' instincts to eat canid 'poo.'

 

[Crazy1]

Thank you Micheal. Great explanation. Now it makes sense

 

[mariab1]

Very interesting - thanks for the responses.
I do keep Ron away from poo, but will be taking extra precaution!

 

[Hippiesicle]

My DT Zen has a liking for dog poop. I think shes just trying to go for protein, what with all the nitrogen in dog poop and all. THats how i started to get her eating plants. I rolled some up in some wet Mazuri and shaped them into dog poop looking things and she would just attack them.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Great trickery!