# Mushrooms?



## Tracy Gould

I have seen some great pics of RF's eating mushrooms, they seem to love them and it got me wondering, I have a Hermann's can the eat them too or are they bad for them?


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## Yvonne G

No, they're not "bad" for a Hermann's tortoise. Its just that coming from the kind of environment a Hermanns does, he probably wouldn't come across them in nature and I doubt he'd like them.


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## Tracy Gould

emysemys said:


> No, they're not "bad" for a Hermann's tortoise. Its just that coming from the kind of environment a Hermanns does, he probably wouldn't come across them in nature and I doubt he'd like them.



Well yer RF's are from forest aren't they so they would come across a Mushroom, It was just a through as i am struggling at the moment with food, at the moment its different mixes of young lettuce as i am in UK and Weeds are yet to arrive again I have a few in pots in the house but the are not doing well its as though the do not like it in the house. I worry about the fact i am having to feed so much lettuce, I never thought I would say this, Come Back Weeds all is forgiven u can have all my garden lol

Thanks Yvonne.


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## Marty333

My pictures !


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## Tracy Gould

Marty333 said:


> My pictures !



Yep your Pics lol. Well i have seen them tucking in to Mushrooms before but your tort looked like it as enjoying them so much u could hear the tort saying yummy lol


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## Yvonne G

I really, really doubt that a Russian would come across a mushroom growing on the steppe. Your tortoise probably wouldn't like or eat them.


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## dmmj

Isn't that the way it is with weeds, if you want them they won't grow, but yet I bet if you wanted a nice green lawn with no weeds, they would be everywhere. I have about a dozen or so dandelions I grow in my yard in pots.


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## Tracy Gould

I have some weeds in the house they are not doing well though I have no problem with them growing in the garden its mainly Dandelion, Cat ears, Sow Thistle, thistle, nettles, clover and buddliea but i am hoping the plantain seeds i put out last autumn take along with the seeds from the pack i bought. It just this over wintering i am stuggling with i never thought i would be happy to see the weeds back lol


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## Sweetpea

Microtrumpet said:


> my russian actually loved the mushrooms go figure he is such an odd ball



HHmm, I'm gonna try it with my russian...never know!


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## Mao Senpai

I tried to give it to my greeks and leopards, and they made no attempt to even touch it. They look at it then go their way or trample over it like it's the substrate.


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## Madkins007

Wild mushrooms and fungi are a good source of vitamin D (well, technically, D2, D3's less powerful relation) and make a big part of many forest-ground-dwelling herbivore's diet. However, besides the D and a little fiber, they don't offer much nutrition.

In fact, store-bought 'shrooms don't even seem to offer the vitamin D, either.


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## Tracy Gould

Ok thanks Mark i don't think i will bother in that case, I would only buy from shops i would not want to pick the wrong type and poison Shelby


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## Angi

Is there a way to grow mushroom and KNOW they are not poison?


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## Jermosh

Mushrooms grow almost anywhere, to be honest I cannot think of a case where a tort would not come in contact with mushrooms or fungi. Now come in contact with a store bought mushroom is a differant story of course.


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## coastal

Mushrooms can also be useful in getting a picky eater to start eating again. They seem to be attracted to the smell of them.


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## Madkins007

If the tortoise will eat it, it is probably not poisonous to them. There is a really interesting story that the native Americans in the New York area considered the Box Turtle poisonous to eat- it turns out that they eat so many poison mushrooms that the flesh takes on the toxins without hurting the turtle at all.

If you go store-bought, they seem to especially like pretty much anything but the plain white ones.

I usually offer Portabellas to my Red-foots about once a week, and I found some vitamin D3 drops I add to the gills of the cap. You could probably add a small pinch of calcium as well since the mushroom taste would probably cover up the bitterness of the calcium powder.

One nice thing about feeding mushrooms is that they are a pretty 'clean' food- they don't go bad easily or make messes in the habitat. This lets you get a little creative and do things like put them in odd places to make the torts hunt for them.

Because they are low in rich nutrients, they also make a good 'downtime' food or light meal.


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## Jacqui

Angi said:


> Is there a way to grow mushroom and KNOW they are not poison?



Almost what I have always wondered, the growing part. How difficult is it to grow them? Thinking the "wild ones" which have more food value. Also is there a food value difference in the common store bought varieties like there is among the various greens?

BTW, mine actually do prefer those plain old white ones the most (but then my guys always seem to be a bit strange.  Like Mark also mentioned, I love being able to scatter the mushrooms around their enclosures for them to find more like they would in the wild. They are great for that because they hold up better/longer as far as not rotting then most food items, too.


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## Madkins007

Jacqui- there are some differences, but not a ton. Here is a list of some of them: http://www.elook.org/nutrition/vegetables/index7.html


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## ALDABRAMAN

I have seen our aldabras smell them but I have never seen one eat one.


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## millorpeter

A mushroom is the flesh, the fruiting body of a fungus of coal, which is generally produced above ground on the floor or in their food source.Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke.


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