Eating Pothos

DJ Kirk

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My RF hatchling has lately taken to nibbling the pothos. This morning it chowed down and about 3 broad leaves were chewed right off the vine. He feeds everyday on a variety of greens and veggies offered. This hatchling is eating waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I have researched. What a pig! LOL
 

jsheffield

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My RF hatchling has lately taken to nibbling the pothos. This morning it chowed down and about 3 broad leaves were chewed right off the vine. He feeds everyday on a variety of greens and veggies offered. This hatchling is eating waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I have researched. What a pig! LOL

My redfoot loves pothos and eats it as quickly as I can plant it in his enclosure... I also use it as a food when I'm going to be away for a few days as it lasts better than many other greens.

Jamie
 

ZEROPILOT

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My RF and my Koi eat every single leaf they can reach.
I THINK, however, that it is best to make sure it only gets eaten every now and again.
Don't let them gorge themselves on it
 

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It seems to me that a few years ago another member warned me that it was dangerous if eaten in quantity.
I don't know if that is because of oxalate content or its actually mildly poisonous.
Hopefully someone else will chime in.
I no longer have it growing everywhere like I used to because of that post.
I just thought I needed to "parrot" that information. Just in case.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Pothos is fine for Redfoots. Mine eats it all the time.
 

Relic

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I just finished prepping the indoor enclosure for my yellowfoot for the winter months--fresh orchid bark and cypress mulch, new UVB bulb, etc.--and I put two pothos inside the enclosure that hide nearly 50% of the surface area. Last year he nibbled off the tender new leaves as they formed; this year I suppose he will do more damage (last year 4 1/2 inches long, this year closer to 6 1/2).
 

DJ Kirk

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Thanks everyone
Over the last few days he hasn't eaten any of the pothos
I guess it was just new and he wanted to eat something new
 

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I just finished prepping the indoor enclosure for my yellowfoot for the winter months--fresh orchid bark and cypress mulch, new UVB bulb, etc.--and I put two pothos inside the enclosure that hide nearly 50% of the surface area. Last year he nibbled off the tender new leaves as they formed; this year I suppose he will do more damage (last year 4 1/2 inches long, this year closer to 6 1/2).
Those plants live in water, without lighting, etc. They grow anywhere.
 

TammyJ

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What is pothos? A watercress type thing?
 

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It does not look like something that should be eaten! But there you go.
I've been racking my brain trying to remember the member that warned me that it was in the "Do not feed" family.
But by that time. Both my Redfoot group and Koi fishes had been eating it for years. Seemingly with NO ILL EFFECTS.
I still make it unavailable to them mostly. With them being so willing to eat anything at all, I haven't wanted to chance it. I still parrot that information as a precaution to others.
However, it seems entirely possible that that information was simply not true.
 

DJ Kirk

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Seems OK for my little guy. He's stopped eating it as I've decided to add more options everyday. The golden pothos I have in the enclosure is very similar in texture and shape to the weeping mulberry that I know is 100% safe.
 

jsheffield

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There's a lot of hearsay circulated in the tortoise keeping world as fact... the safety of various foodstuffs is one of the big topics.

Pothos and avocado are two of the big ones; questioning dogma about these will get you booted from lots of FB groups... it's the same with the use of coconut oil on shells.

Luckily, discussion and debate seems welcome, even encouraged on TFO, and that coupled with the longterm experience of many of the keepers here makes for a deeper sharing and learning of keeping tortoises.

I read a bunch of threads here, giving weight to the comments/experience of keepers with a long history on TFO, and with raising healthy tortoises... it was after this sort of deep dive that I decided feeding pothos to my redfoot makes sense.

Jamie
 

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Wait.
No AVOCADO either?
At this very moment my Redfoot are all eating Mazuri with bananas and a avocado mashed in it.
Including my little deformed one that is in isolation.
 

jsheffield

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Wait.
No AVOCADO either?
At this very moment my Redfoot are all eating Mazuri with bananas and a avocado mashed in it.
Including my little deformed one that is in isolation.

I've fed avocado to my redfoot numerous times with no negative effects and fully believe it's a safe feed because, like pothos, it's of South (or Central) American origin, so redfoots evolved eating it.

The reason given by people is generally related to the tortoise table and its reasoning:

"All parts of the Avocado are TOXIC to many animals, birds and pets: this includes the roots, leaves, bark, flower, pip/stone and fruit. The leaves contain persin, which is a fungicidal toxin and affects different animals with varying degrees from gastric upset, diarrhoea and vomiting, and has resulted in death in birds and rabbits. We have found Avocado on a list of plants that are dangerous for reptiles and amphibians, and it should therefore not be planted anywhere in or near the tortoise enclosure."

Avocado is purportedly dangerous to some animals, particularly the leaves and pits; someone found a list somewhere (sometime) that said it was dangerous for reptiles... this seems a weak reason to avoid the fruit for tortoises to me, and nobody has been able to provide a link to any research or data in support of the avoidance.

Jamie
 
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