Manouria eating colocasia

[biglove4bigtorts]

Yvonne,
I read in your previous post that Manouria eat colocasia as a regular part of the diet in the wild. Can you provide me a link or source for that information? I am not skeptical, just want to research it, so I can make a decision about providing this as a part of the diet or consider a matter of happenstance that they consume it. I do know that its toxicity is bases on calcium oxalic crystals in its tissue, which is true of pothos, deffembachia, and other commonly considered toxic. I wonder if they have mechanisims to cope witht he the higher oxalic contents or even if eating the plant has a therapeutic affect on gut parasite erradication.

Thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't have it in writing anyplace. I was told by Chuck Shaffer (through my tortoise partner, William Espenshade) that they eat in the wild, colocasia and alocasia. I believe that Chuck had seen it in the wild on a trip to Malasia...but I'm old and my memory isn't to be relied upon.

 

[biglove4bigtorts]

come come now yvonne,
as the authority here on the forum regarding Manouria, you should know better...lol

I was just taking in everything I had available to me and I plan to include Alocasia as accents and shade in the mre tortoises pens, I don't think I will consider it as inclusion to thier dietary regime'. I think its ingestion occurs out of happenstance and it neither viatal nor benifical to the captive diet, although occasional ingestion is not harmful either.

Thanks all the same,
Drew

 

[Yvonne G]

Well then, you'll have to "protect" the plants pretty securely. The tortoises are very aggressive eaters and will eat the plant then dig up the bulb and eat it too.

Here ya' go...its page #13. http://www.kingsnake.com/ihs/28abstracts.pdf

 

[biglove4bigtorts]

Thank you for the link! Mmmm mmm mmm...leopard scat...makes my tummy rumble just thinking about it...yuk!

My tortoises will be small and the plants in the enclosure with them will be in pots and larger. I am going to use colocasia,bamboo,ornamental grasses,hardy fig,grape,mulberry,aloe, alocasia,purtulacca,marigold,hibiscus,nasturtium,pansy,plantain,dandelion,purselane,chickory,clover,pansy, and optunia as edible landscapeing and graze. I even looked into buying farmed, live escargot for them to snack on from time to time.

Alot of the time, the tortoises will be indoors, b/c of the weather here, so much of the enclosure plantings will be harvested and frozen for future consumption, when I have to rely on mostly grocery store graze. That factored in my decision to get this species...being forest dwellers, being indoors won't be such a deprivation to them as it would with sun-loving torts. I realize when they are larger, the enclosure will have to be alternated to allow graze to regrow/be replanted, b/c they will be capable of stripping a pen in a few days, but I have a nice sized yard...no worries.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you for the link! Mmmm mmm mmm...leopard scat...makes my tummy rumble just thinking about it...yuk!

You mustn't leave out the civet scat!

 

[biglove4bigtorts]

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/YNZfS3...en%20Thesis%20on%20Manouria%20emys%20emys.pdf


I borrowed this link from your yahoogroup Yvonne. It is VERY informative, discussinf exact species eaten, how much and how often they were consumed and what parts of the plant were consumed. There was also the speculation of parasite treatment, through cosumption of the alocasia. There is also evidence to suggest that animal matter is far less often consumed in Manouria emys, then with other forest torts, such as red foots, to the point of being negligible.
There were reports on nest temperatures, the fact that no drinking behavior was seen, but regular submersion was (what I got from skimming the articles), and lots more good information. It is a long read, but one can skim for what they are looking for and it is one of the more comprehensive works out there on Manouria.

Hope you take a good look at it and get as excited as me...lol
I plan to locate and feed some of the alocasia species mentioned, but only the leafy parts,as this seemed to be what they ate and probably what contains the smalles amount of calcium oxalate. The only fear is that another native part of the tortoises diet could be important in counteracting the negative effects of consuming the Alocasia. I chose to err on the side of caution and feed them in addition to a respected captive diet and limit the parts of the plant consumed. Maybe the calcium oxalate crystals are utilized and become a significant part of the tortoises calcium intake.....so many questions for an enthusiastic mind!!! LOL
Thanks for guiding me the yahoogroupd Yvonne.