Catappa/Indian Almond leaves

[SarahChelonoidis]

I've seen them recommended for hermit crabs (to eat and 'play' in), but I was wondering if anyone knew of any safety concerns about adding Catappa leaves (the dried kind typically sold for aquariums) into a tortoise enclosure. They seemed like they might make a nice leaf litter, especially for the Asian forest tortoises. People claim they have anti microbial properties in the aquarium world, but that might just be a gimmick. I'm not sure how palatable they would be to tortoises, so edibility might be a non-issue. Has anyone thrown any into the enclosure of any species?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Here is what I'm talking about, in case anyone was curious http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N0ARRIA/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

I don't imagine they're any different than the ones sold for crabitats http://m.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=28797

I'm sort of of the mind that if they're safe for land hermit crabs they're probably safe for forest tortoises, but that might be faulty logic.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Most interesting question of the day!

Fodder: The foliage is used as a feed for silkworms and other animal feeds. in http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Terminalia_catappa.PDF looking at more data now. This was not listed in Feedipedia, so no proximate analysis yet for the leaves for feeding, as a substrate, I think you have no worries.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Thanks - I'll order some to use as leaf litter.