Worried....

[Chantel]

Dozer was out sunning and nibbling on grasses. I caught her tasting this and didn't know if it was safe, so I did a search to find out what it was, then checked it with the Tortoise Table website. This is what she ate!!!

http://www.itsnature.org/plant_life/vegetation-plants/spurge/

And it says the sap is highly toxic. I hope just a few nibbles of the leaves do not kill her. This stuff grows rampant in my California lawn! Needless to say I will be out pulling weeds tonight!

 

[wellington]

How all is well. Keep a close eye on her for a couple days.

 

[Chantel]

So far no signs of any irritation. It's her bed time, so she is trying to burrow in her substrate, so I pulled her out, and rinsed her off again, and checked her mucous membranes (eyes & nose). They look good right now.

 

[dmmj]

Monitir for odd behaviour. I would soak a little more, after 2 or 3 days, danger should be over. Hope it does not die? Kind of harsh me thinks

 

[Chantel]

Thank you, I will.

 

[Tom]

I have always read that spurge was fine to feed. We have a variety here that looks a little different than the one in that pic. Can you show us a pic of the one you have there? I could be wrong. Plants are not my strongest point...

@Yvonne G , Can you lend some expertise here? What's the word on spurge and is the California type okay to feed out?

 

[Chantel]

It looks a little different in the grassy area which gets more water. We were chasing the sun light (nearing 7pm). It is also cooler today (only a high of 90) So I was on the warm driveway, with a gravel area nearby. The grass was shady. Dozer had to nibble on the weeds. I took pics so I could check it. The surge in the rocks looks more dehydrated, but it has the same shape and color as the lawn spurge. I pulled a bunch tonight, and it does have a milk in the stems, but didn't see any in the leaves.

 

[Chantel]

It has reddish stem, with black spot in center of the leaves. It also looks to be developing flower buds

 

[Chantel]

Wish I had a pic of it in the lawn. It looks pale here, and you can't see the spots or flower buds.

 

[Yvonne G]

spurge is high in oxalates, however, it is quite common for wild desert tortoises to eat it.

 

[dmmj]

Safe then, just high in calcium binders. (whew)

 

[Chantel]

Yay. I would hope you are right @yvonne. She is still sleeping, so not totally sure.

 

[Chantel]

Well she had her soak, and her digestion seems normal... still eating and pooping well. So I am happy that she is fine. Just wish the tortoisetable.org didn't scare me to death!