Study shows some types of clover in hot climates produce cyanide

Jdaniel

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Was looking at various other sites to see what was safe (or not) to feed my box turtle and found this article.

 

Pastel Tortie

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Was looking at various other sites to see what was safe (or not) to feed my box turtle and found this article.

If you want to chase that one down, try contacting your local Cooperative Extension Service office and ask them if they've ever heard anything about it. Be prepared to email them the link to the article.
 

Lokkje

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@Lokkje Any thoughts from a microbiologist?
Polymorphism are common. The white clover polymorphism is easier to study as the sequencing is well understood.
Plants commonly use cyanide as a mechanism to protect themselves from herbivores.
The theory regarding plant suicide has been tested and somewhat debunked.
Herbivores have countermechanisms to detoxify the cyanide. One method is using rhodanese.
Good news, tortoises have rhodanese and can detoxify some of the cyanide.
If you’re bored and want to kill time:
Sadly not much to do with microbiology. Will might have been a better source. He’s much more knowledgeable than me about this stuff.
It was still fun. Cheers!
 

Pastel Tortie

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Polymorphism are common. The white clover polymorphism is easier to study as the sequencing is well understood.
Plants commonly use cyanide as a mechanism to protect themselves from herbivores.
The theory regarding plant suicide has been tested and somewhat debunked.
Herbivores have countermechanisms to detoxify the cyanide. One method is using rhodanese.
Good news, tortoises have rhodanese and can detoxify some of the cyanide.
If you’re bored and want to kill time:
Sadly not much to do with microbiology. Will might have been a better source. He’s much more knowledgeable than me about this stuff.
It was still fun. Cheers!
Thanks! :D
 

Jdaniel

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Polymorphism are common. The white clover polymorphism is easier to study as the sequencing is well understood.
Plants commonly use cyanide as a mechanism to protect themselves from herbivores.
The theory regarding plant suicide has been tested and somewhat debunked.
Herbivores have countermechanisms to detoxify the cyanide. One method is using rhodanese.
Good news, tortoises have rhodanese and can detoxify some of the cyanide.
If you’re bored and want to kill time:
Sadly not much to do with microbiology. Will might have been a better source. He’s much more knowledgeable than me about this stuff.
It was still fun. Cheers!
Okay, so it looks like I was worried about nothing, then.
Thanks.
 

Pastel Tortie

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Okay, so it looks like I was worried about nothing, then.
Thanks.
You have a Gulfie, too... From what I've heard and read, they tend to be more carnivorous than other subspecies of boxies. Still omnivorous, but less interested in vegetation than others. Your boxie may view clover as decoration and ignore it anyway. :D
 

Jdaniel

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You have a Gulfie, too... From what I've heard and read, they tend to be more carnivorous than other subspecies of boxies. Still omnivorous, but less interested in vegetation than others. Your boxie may view clover as decoration and ignore it anyway. :D
That's probably why he literally trampled through the salad I brought him to get to a snail, lol.

For anyone else keeping box trtles, what is one of thier favorite veggies or greens?
The only thing I have been able to get him to eat is rehydrated zoomed reptile veggie mix, and a few bites of cantaloupe.
EDIT: the only non meat food, that is, except pellets.
 

Pastel Tortie

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That's probably why he literally trampled through the salad I brought him to get to a snail, lol.

For anyone else keeping box trtles, what is one of thier favorite veggies or greens?
The only thing I have been able to get him to eat is rehydrated zoomed reptile veggie mix, and a few bites of cantaloupe.
EDIT: the only non meat food, that is, except pellets.
A good commercial turtle pellet (ideally a variety of them) is essential to make sure your Gulfie gets all the nutrients that he/she needs.

Junior (my young, 4" or so GCBT) will occasionally nibble (slightly) at leafy things I offer...but not that often, and certainly not reliably. Sometimes I will float pieces of edible greens in her turtle pool, and she loves it... Doing her impression of a frilly lettuce leaf, that is! She does show some interest in strawberry and banana, but even that depends on what mood she's in.
 

Jdaniel

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A good commercial turtle pellet (ideally a variety of them) is essential to make sure your Gulfie gets all the nutrients that he/she needs.

Junior (my young, 4" or so GCBT) will occasionally nibble (slightly) at leafy things I offer...but not that often, and certainly not reliably. Sometimes I will float pieces of edible greens in her turtle pool, and she loves it... Doing her impression of a frilly lettuce leaf, that is! She does show some interest in strawberry and banana, but even that depends on what mood she's in.
Thanks. I think of the two, strawberries are healthier.
I had been giving thrive brand box turtle pellets, with some water turtle food on occasion for extra prooen, and once a week a bit of egg yolk for extra vitamin a and d3.

I tried adding reptivite to his pellets, and he refused them the first time.

Hopefully, I can get him to eat it tomorrow.
 

Pastel Tortie

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Thanks. I think of the two, strawberries are healthier.
I had been giving thrive brand box turtle pellets, with some water turtle food on occasion for extra prooen, and once a week a bit of egg yolk for extra vitamin a and d3.

I tried adding reptivite to his pellets, and he refused them the first time.

Hopefully, I can get him to eat it tomorrow.
I got Junior to eat ReptoMin when she was a hatchling, and she has recently rediscovered that she likes them. Lesson learned there is not to underestimate their memories in the future.

Junior really likes the Omega One Cichlid Pellets (doesn't matter if it's color enhancing or not, but I'm seeing the color enhancing version in the purple container these days in stores). If I think she will be going in her turtle pool, I will float some of those in her water. She will also eat them dry or misted from her food dish, and they start out hard enough to possibly give her beak a workout.

Before we upgraded to a deeper, now (further upgraded) filtered pool, she had a large plant saucer, and I would leave her different foods floating in that. Earthworms survive fine in shallow water for a few hours, but I would eventually rescue them if she didn't eat them.
 

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