Contaminated Grass?

[JoshyP]

Hi all. This might sound like a silly question, but when it comes to our tort, we'd rather be safe then sorry!

Context:
We had a pond in our garden that stunk like rotten eggs (nothing lives in there, so it's been neglected. The water even turned bright pink!), so we decided to get rid of it. Unfortunately, we didn't think about it and emptied the pond water into the hole where the pond was. Surrounding the pond is a section of grass that our tort has access to.

Question:
Should we corner off this section of grass to stop our tort from grazing on it because of the pond water that will be absorbed into the grass roots or are we overthinking this? If so, how long should we corner this section of grass off for?

Any help or input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[COmtnLady]

Happy Birthday


Like yourself, I would rather be safe than sorry. I don't have any idea if the water was so contaminated that it is dangerous, or that it will be absorbed by the grass it was poured onto. But it would probably be a good idea to at least block it off for a year or more, just in case.

A bright pink tortoise is not a healthy tortoise... I vote to block that area off.

Is there any chance there can be run-off or drainage that can get to other areas of the grass?

Let's see what some of the other members think.



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[JoshyP]

Happy Birthday

Thank you so much!

Like yourself, I would rather be safe than sorry. I don't have any idea if the water was so contaminated that it is dangerous, or that it will be absorbed by the grass it was poured onto. But it would probably be a good idea to at least block it off for a year or more, just in case.

A bright pink tortoise is not a healthy tortoise... I vote to block that area off.

Exactly, although I'd be interested to see a bright pink tort as long as it was healthy for them to be that way! Glad to hear that you agree though and that I'm not being crazy or over cautious.

Is there any chance there can be run-off or drainage that can get to other areas of the grass?

There shouldn't be. The water was poured into the hole where the pond was, as opposed to on top of the grass. There is more grass around it, but a path runs in-between, so I guess it depends on if it would spread through the dirt and then potentially contaminate those bits of grass as well. Hopefully some other members will share their thoughts too and can go from there. For now though, he won't be going near that area of grass!

Thanks for the reply, it's much appreciated.