In thinking about plantings for my work-in-progress footed habitat, I am wondering how much of their native habitats can we realistically - safely - create.
The Vinkes and Vetters provide a great list of native plant species that footed tortoise eat fruit/flowers from in their 'diet' chapter in 'South American Tortoises', but I'm not sure if there are safety concerns with growing some of these species in confined spaces. Many of the trees and shrubs that produce the fruit that make up the native footed diet also produce a variety of interesting toxins found in the leaves or seeds of those same plants (whether these compounds are toxic to tortoises is another question that I don't think an answer exists for yet). While these tortoises are well known for swallowing and transporting seeds intact, I don't know if, in the confined space of a captive habitat, the same rules would apply.
Annona squamosa (sugar apples), for example, (which are eaten by footed tortoises in the wild and then later 'planted') would be easy to grow and get decent fruit yield from in an indoor habitat, but their seeds - if broken- are known to be fatally toxic to many insects and mammals. Like for pretty much everything, lethal dose evaluations aren't done on tortoises, so it might not be an issue at all if they were to decide to crunch the occasional seed... or maybe it would be? Annona spp., like many other plants the Vinkes and Vetters reference (ex. Trattinickia rhoifolia, Spondias mombin, Duguetia spp., Mauritia flexuosa, etc.) are known for medicinal properties, which means in some concentration they are likely to be toxic to mammals, but that doesn't mean much of anything in terms of their potential impact on a tortoise. Philodendron spp. provide fruit for wild footed tortoises but their leaves and stems are known to be fatally toxic to some mammals if ingested - does this really tell us anything useful for creating captive tortoise habitats?
If in their native range they encounter say, 10,000 different plant species, they may eat a mildly poisonous leaf or seed here-or-there, but with all their choices available, you likely wouldn't have to worry about the build-up of any one particular toxin in their system. In a captive habitat, where they encounter say (overly optimistic) 50 different species of plant, they are likely going to be nibbling the same things more frequently. Where a fallen leaf in the wild might not catch their attention, in a greenhouse enclosure, boredom might make that leaf more appealing.
Is it worth the 'risk' to include native food sources with potentially toxic parts in the tort habitat? Are there safety concerns in small, low diversity habitats that don't exist in more natural ecosystems?
The Vinkes and Vetters provide a great list of native plant species that footed tortoise eat fruit/flowers from in their 'diet' chapter in 'South American Tortoises', but I'm not sure if there are safety concerns with growing some of these species in confined spaces. Many of the trees and shrubs that produce the fruit that make up the native footed diet also produce a variety of interesting toxins found in the leaves or seeds of those same plants (whether these compounds are toxic to tortoises is another question that I don't think an answer exists for yet). While these tortoises are well known for swallowing and transporting seeds intact, I don't know if, in the confined space of a captive habitat, the same rules would apply.
Annona squamosa (sugar apples), for example, (which are eaten by footed tortoises in the wild and then later 'planted') would be easy to grow and get decent fruit yield from in an indoor habitat, but their seeds - if broken- are known to be fatally toxic to many insects and mammals. Like for pretty much everything, lethal dose evaluations aren't done on tortoises, so it might not be an issue at all if they were to decide to crunch the occasional seed... or maybe it would be? Annona spp., like many other plants the Vinkes and Vetters reference (ex. Trattinickia rhoifolia, Spondias mombin, Duguetia spp., Mauritia flexuosa, etc.) are known for medicinal properties, which means in some concentration they are likely to be toxic to mammals, but that doesn't mean much of anything in terms of their potential impact on a tortoise. Philodendron spp. provide fruit for wild footed tortoises but their leaves and stems are known to be fatally toxic to some mammals if ingested - does this really tell us anything useful for creating captive tortoise habitats?
If in their native range they encounter say, 10,000 different plant species, they may eat a mildly poisonous leaf or seed here-or-there, but with all their choices available, you likely wouldn't have to worry about the build-up of any one particular toxin in their system. In a captive habitat, where they encounter say (overly optimistic) 50 different species of plant, they are likely going to be nibbling the same things more frequently. Where a fallen leaf in the wild might not catch their attention, in a greenhouse enclosure, boredom might make that leaf more appealing.
Is it worth the 'risk' to include native food sources with potentially toxic parts in the tort habitat? Are there safety concerns in small, low diversity habitats that don't exist in more natural ecosystems?