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Pothos is okay if he nibbles on the leaves right? i have one in his enclosure n he took a good chunk out of one of the leaves right before i could move it....
Pothos
- Thread starter daytripper
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Post pics of plant or the common and latin names at least and perhaps we can help.
Typically if it's nasty they'll spit it out.
Typically if it's nasty they'll spit it out.
Yeah, I've noticed with my RFT hatchling, if it doesnt' taste right, or if he doesn't want it, he's NOT going to eat it.
I know pothos plants are safe to put inside my crested gecko enclosures, but they don't eat plants.
My confusion lies with: I know there are things that are OK for them to eat (meaning, it won't harm them), but are they necessarily nutritious? Would I want my RFT filling up on plants and foods that are ok for him, but not necessarily the BEST for him, and then have him rejecting the good stuff because he's already overfed on the ok stuff?
Does that make sense?
I know pothos plants are safe to put inside my crested gecko enclosures, but they don't eat plants.
My confusion lies with: I know there are things that are OK for them to eat (meaning, it won't harm them), but are they necessarily nutritious? Would I want my RFT filling up on plants and foods that are ok for him, but not necessarily the BEST for him, and then have him rejecting the good stuff because he's already overfed on the ok stuff?
Does that make sense?
Pothos is on the poison plant list http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/plantsthatpoison.htm
Not all torts do not eat what is bad for them. I have seen and heard of torts ingesting things like deadly nightshade Pothos, and other plants that can make them ill or kill them. Please remove the pothos from your pen. there are so many other healthy plants you can put in its place. IMHO its just not worth the risk.
Not all torts do not eat what is bad for them. I have seen and heard of torts ingesting things like deadly nightshade Pothos, and other plants that can make them ill or kill them. Please remove the pothos from your pen. there are so many other healthy plants you can put in its place. IMHO its just not worth the risk.
I use this list all the time, and have them in my indoor enclosure. http://www.africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm
He really isn't interested in them except to sit under. They seem to be high in Oxalic acid, but are on the OK list on this site.
He really isn't interested in them except to sit under. They seem to be high in Oxalic acid, but are on the OK list on this site.
NOTHING LIKE CONTRADICTING "SOURCES" AND COMPARING DIFFERENT SPECIES.. OR IS THAT EVERY SPECIES?
They're at it again..
Terry K
They're at it again..
Terry K
Yes, like most things in the plant world and especially in the direction of safe tort food. Some plants can be on the safe list for one and not so safe for others. Pothos are extremly high in oxialic acid. And I have known of torts including a young star that ate it and got very ill. It did recover by why place it in that type of danger. My Greeks would eat sour grass if I let them. Which is also very high in oxalic acid.
Remember what Oxalic acid is;
Oxalic acid is corrosive to tissue. When ingested, oxalic acid removes calcium from the blood. Kidney damage can be expected as the calcium is removed from the blood in the form of calcium oxalate. The calcium oxalate then obstructs the kidney tubules. Oxalic Acid is Toxic! May cause burns, nausea, severe gastroenteritis and vomiting, shock and convulsions. May cause renal damage, as evidenced by bloody urine.
Now I am not saying this will happen. But I am saying it is a possiblility. And I personally will not put my torts at risk. I just don't think it is worth it.
Brown and Black Mountain torts can eat things that are toxic to other torts, does not make me want to feed these items to my Greeks. Definitely not.
Some plant that have higher degrees of oxalic Acid, or Glucosinolates/Goitrogens, Phytic Acid, purines, Tannins & Proteins when fed to a large tort such as a Sully or Leo may have little effect but when fed to a smaller tort like a russian or Greek may have a more drastic effect. And even http://www.africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm said feed foods high in these sparingly.
TerryO I am glad Pio has no interest in the Pothos you have in her pens. But other torts may. To each his own. Each keeper must decide if it is worth the risk. Terry (RedfootNERD) I am afraid this is one that we will have to agree to disagree upon.
Remember what Oxalic acid is;
Oxalic acid is corrosive to tissue. When ingested, oxalic acid removes calcium from the blood. Kidney damage can be expected as the calcium is removed from the blood in the form of calcium oxalate. The calcium oxalate then obstructs the kidney tubules. Oxalic Acid is Toxic! May cause burns, nausea, severe gastroenteritis and vomiting, shock and convulsions. May cause renal damage, as evidenced by bloody urine.
Now I am not saying this will happen. But I am saying it is a possiblility. And I personally will not put my torts at risk. I just don't think it is worth it.
Brown and Black Mountain torts can eat things that are toxic to other torts, does not make me want to feed these items to my Greeks. Definitely not.
Some plant that have higher degrees of oxalic Acid, or Glucosinolates/Goitrogens, Phytic Acid, purines, Tannins & Proteins when fed to a large tort such as a Sully or Leo may have little effect but when fed to a smaller tort like a russian or Greek may have a more drastic effect. And even http://www.africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm said feed foods high in these sparingly.
TerryO I am glad Pio has no interest in the Pothos you have in her pens. But other torts may. To each his own. Each keeper must decide if it is worth the risk. Terry (RedfootNERD) I am afraid this is one that we will have to agree to disagree upon.
LOL torts only eat what is good for them? the are more like people then we think in that regards, I know of sulc's that have eaten plastic bags before, I don't think they taste good myself but it does not mean that they can eat them. IMHO if it is considered dangerous for a tort dont place it in there, but with conlficting sources now we are at an impasse. to be safe myself I would just remove them . my 2 cents.
I do agree with you Robyn. Pio is outside for the summer now and there are no Pothos out there. When he is inside he gets fed on a schedule, so he is only interested in his food. Inside he has pansies and little rose of Sharon, which he does pick on, but never the pothos for some reason.
Hey Robyn! What does this mean? Terry (RedfootNERD) I am afraid this is one that we will have to agree to disagree upon.
I simply commented that different sources ( sites ) have different advice! There's nothing there to disagree on.
TerryO's site was for African's and you were talking about Greeks and Emys.
I think daytripper is talking about a redfoot.. so I'll address that.. and it does tie in with what TerryO said.
If/when redfoots are hungry enough they will eat something that they would otherwise pass up if they had a choice of something they normally like and eat!
Example: After my outside enclosure was completely 'stripped' of the clover and dandelions that had grown thick this spring before taking them outside for the summer.. I am now picking leaves from my grapevines and they are eating them! They wouldn't eat grape leaves if they had dandelions available.
So my Q? to daytripper is.. what are you feeding yours - be totally honest.. because he probably wouldn't like Pothos otherwise.
NERD
I simply commented that different sources ( sites ) have different advice! There's nothing there to disagree on.
TerryO's site was for African's and you were talking about Greeks and Emys.
I think daytripper is talking about a redfoot.. so I'll address that.. and it does tie in with what TerryO said.
If/when redfoots are hungry enough they will eat something that they would otherwise pass up if they had a choice of something they normally like and eat!
Example: After my outside enclosure was completely 'stripped' of the clover and dandelions that had grown thick this spring before taking them outside for the summer.. I am now picking leaves from my grapevines and they are eating them! They wouldn't eat grape leaves if they had dandelions available.
So my Q? to daytripper is.. what are you feeding yours - be totally honest.. because he probably wouldn't like Pothos otherwise.
NERD
There are plants that are toxic to some animals but not to others. That said we should remember that the subject of tortoise relationship to plants is at best incomplete. The digestive system and the ways it deals with toxins, i.e box turtles and toxic mushrooms, is just beginning to be studied. My manouria will happily dine on alocasia and colocasia all daylong but I wouldn't dare give it to my redfoots or hingebacks. It is a question of a plant native to the habitat of the animal. Pothos is native to SE Asia not South America, the Meditterean, or Africa. I feel that the lists of safe foods, though based on mammals and birds, is the best guide to go by. Until a field researcher publishs a paper saying this or that tort eats pothos as part of native diet, I wouldn't feel safe including it in habitat and then only for that tort.
Redfoot NERD said:
Itort said:
Terry, I was agreeing with you. It was something you and I would have to agree to disagree with others on. geeze
I simply meant some people will continue to utilize Contradicting "sources" and "comparing different species". Some people feel if it is on a list that any tort can consume it, regardless of the species (especially new tort keepers). And that is simply not true. My point was just what Larry so eloquently stated in his last post. Unfortunately comparing and looking at contradicting "sources" seem to come with the territory of Tort care.
It's that darn Apples an Oranges theory again.
I love these discussions, because they are so informative and really interesting... ...One last thing ....Tom, from TurtleTimes has so many different plants in his backyard boxie enclosures, and lots of them are on the "bad list". He says that none of his guys ever bothers with them. Also my old boxie, who was at least 60 + years and lived in my yard since ....well, I don't remember when he didn't live with us....(he was my first boxie) well, we had an ivy patch towards the back of the yard and he always slept under there when it was hot out, and I know that most ivy isn't good for them...also there was lots of rhododendron, and azaleas and he never went hear them. I think that if a tortoise or boxie, is in a small enclosure and us fed something that isn't good for him, eventually if he is hungry he might eat it, but if he has a larger place he will choose what he can eat. Just my 2 cents.
Chewbecca said:
Actually, the digestive tract of the Red-foot is DESIGNED to get all of the nutrition possible out of low-nutrition foods. It is one reason wild Red-foots usually grow more slowly than captive ones which are fed richer foods.
If you have a well-planted and varied pen, this is not really a concern- but like Terry K. said, a lot of the time these guys will mow down all of the 'good stuff' quickly. One of the nice things about big pens is you can fence off part of it to let it keep growing while the torts attack other parts.
.......
As for tortoises and 'bad' plants: I have a THEORY that Red-foots are more capable of detecting 'bad' plants than some other species since they encounter the widest variety of plants in the wild. They may have hundreds of species in their territory, while grassland tortoises generally only a few dozen. Grasslanders can easily learn all of the safe plants, while forest species need a way to test unfamiliar plants.
I try not to test this theory however- there are a lot of reports of tortoises of all species eating bad things.
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