Only eating dandelions when outside

FomTarro

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Hello! With Spring arriving, our little horsfield tortoise has begun demanding outside time. Unfortunately, when we do take her outside, essentially all she does is beeline for dandelions, completely ignoring the bounty of other leafy weeds we have available for her. We've read that dandelions should only be fed in moderation, but she wants to do nothing besides eat them when she goes outside.

Other plants we have in abundance:
  • Ground elder
  • Bittercress
  • Lamb's lettuce
  • Thistle
  • Clover
  • normal grass
  • many, many other unidentified broad-leaf greens


How worried should we be? I don't see a way we can feasibly remove all the dandelions from our space, but she refuses to do anything else outside other than eat them.

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Lyn W

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Perhaps it's the colourful flowers he's attracted too - maybe break some off and mix them amongst the other goodies so that he can't avoid eating them.
Is he getting more variety when you feed him indoors? If so I don't think I would be too worried.
Mine tends to go for clover more than anything else when he's grazing outside, but he loves plantains and dandies too. This is the first year my tort has eaten the flowers he usually just goes straight for the leaves.
 

ZenHerper

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Dandelion flowers are full of nutrients and antioxidants. There really is no good reason to prevent your pet eating them. Animals use those compounds to help clear toxins and old gunk from the blood and metabolic organs after winter torpor.

Try a warm soak and offering a "proper" balanced meal first thing in the morning before letting her out to graze.

Spring flowers are temporary -- eating habits will return to a more balanced interest in a few weeks.
 

FomTarro

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I had read that dandelions were high in oxalates, which can cause internal issues in high quantities. The issue is that I don't really know what qualifies as "high". When she goes outside, she'll spend 40+ minutes doing nothing but eating dandelion flowers.

(source: https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/viewplants/?plant=5&c=6#.YInAi5BKiUk)

Yes, she eats other things when inside. In fact, she'll eat all of the leafy plants I listed when they are served to her indoors on a plate, but she will totally ignore them when outside.

I have to assume it's a color attraction thing, though she ignores other types of flowers (buttercups, unidentified purple groundcover flowers, etc).

If people think it's fine, then no need to further the discussion. Thanks all!
 

ZenHerper

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The oxalate content of dark greens concentrates as the year goes on and leaves mature (in part, this insures that grazing animals will not eat the plant to the root). Those rock-hard leaves lying on the ground after winter snow melts are pretty high. The full-grown leaves of summer are pretty high.

But the flowers and new spring/summer leaves are fine for any size tortoise who has Good Health and an Excellent Hydration status. If your tort is not a drinker, a daily soak will do. (You may see a weird pink or red tint to the urine and urates for dandelion-eating torts...totally fine.)
 

Krista S

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Hello! With Spring arriving, our little horsfield tortoise has begun demanding outside time. Unfortunately, when we do take her outside, essentially all she does is beeline for dandelions, completely ignoring the bounty of other leafy weeds we have available for her. We've read that dandelions should only be fed in moderation, but she wants to do nothing besides eat them when she goes outside.

Other plants we have in abundance:
  • Ground elder
  • Bittercress
  • Lamb's lettuce
  • Thistle
  • Clover
  • normal grass
  • many, many other unidentified broad-leaf greens


How worried should we be? I don't see a way we can feasibly remove all the dandelions from our space, but she refuses to do anything else outside other than eat them.

View attachment 324096
That is one of the cutest tortoise pics I’ve seen in awhile. She’s so cute!!
 

RosemaryDW

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Russians don’t eat grass, just to get that out of the way. I wouldn’t expect her to eat ground elder either, as it has a very strong smell.

In the wild, where your tortoise lived her earliest years, a plant in the dandelion family and several plants closely related to dandelions compromise a very large part of the diet, and I mean a large part, certain times of the year. When dandelions aren’t available they are focused on another, single plant.

I know we talk about variety variety variety around here and it is certainly important. But there is no reason to think that a wild tortoise wouldn’t go for a healthy food that tastes good and is readily available much of the time. Your tortoise is just doing what she is used to and she will not come to harm by doing so. As mentioned by another poster oxalates have not been show to be an issue. It’s another thing we talk about here all the time, oxalates, but the science just isn’t there to support risk; it’s out-of-date information.

The longer she’s with you the more often she will sample new things. Dandelions may always be a favorite but she’ll gain a taste for the other plants. She’s going to live for decades more so there is no rush. :)
 

FomTarro

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Thank you all for the information! She eats ground elder no problem when freshly picked and placed on a food slate, but only under those conditions.

Also, to be clear, we've had her for several years, but we haven't owned property for her to explore until this year, so watching her eat plants directly out of the ground is new to us!
 

RosemaryDW

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Also, to be clear, we've had her for several years, but we haven't owned property for her to explore until this year, so watching her eat plants directly out of the ground is new to us!
It’s totally different when they feed themselves, for sure.
 

Moi Hutton

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I’m so glad I came across this thread! I have an old Greek tortoise who lives outside (spends the night in the greenhouse) and all he is interested in is dandelions and geranium weeds in my lawn. He is ravenous at the moment post hibernation, soaks up the sun and stomps around for hours so he seems very healthy but as this is the first year we have had him (we inherited him last August) I’ve not experienced this obsession with dandelions! Sometimes his tongue will go dark but this clears after a soak. Oh and I’ve also introduced Aloe Vera but I don’t want to feed him too much as I read it causes loose stools. He also likes to be hand fed and eats a lot more if he’s fed by hand. Funny things!
I hope I’m looking after him well! He has a 70ft garden to roam and seems well but it’s always a worry!
 

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Maggie3fan

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I live in the Pacific Northwest...Dandelions should be the state flower in Oregon (lol)...I roam my neighborhood daily and collect large bags of the flower and the leaves, then dump the bounty in the tort pens. For about a month dandelions grow in abundance, and I collect them daily, and my tortoises eat them in great amounts. But once the dandelions are gone they go back to grazing on grasses and weeds. I think all those dandelions are good healthy food and they go back to a varied diet when the dandelions are gone...No worries...
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