Are moldy weeds bad?

[MichaelL]

Hey everyone, so my tortoises are in brumation right now and I'm letting their outdoor enclosure fill with native winter/ spring weeds that have begun to grow around this time of year. They'll be able to feast/ live outside again when it warms up and is springtime. So the weeds are all edible types, and have been growing really well. However, this year our winter has been cooler and wetter with more occasional freezing nights along with wet and cold temps during the day. This has begun to cause some of the weeds to mold and die. I'll show you what I mean in the pics.

Is this bad for the tortoises to have exposure to? Will it negatively affect the tortoises if they graze on some moldy weeds? Thanks.

 

[zovick]

Hey everyone, so my tortoises are in brumation right now and I'm letting their outdoor enclosure fill with native winter/ spring weeds that have begun to grow around this time of year. They'll be able to feast/ live outside again when it warms up and is springtime. So the weeds are all edible types, and have been growing really well. However, this year our winter has been cooler and wetter with more occasional freezing nights along with wet and cold temps during the day. This has begun to cause some of the weeds to mold and die. I'll show you what I mean in the pics.

Is this bad for the tortoises to have exposure to? Will it negatively affect the tortoises if they graze on some moldy weeds? Thanks.
View attachment 316870View attachment 316871View attachment 316872View attachment 316873

Hello Mike,

I am sure you will get some differing opinions on this, but I doubt that that mold would be harmful to the tortoises. If it were in my yard, I would just turn the tortoises loose and let them eat whatever they wanted to eat. I never worried about my tortoises eating anything they wanted to eat, and I never tried to eradicate any weeds, mushrooms, etc. Over the years, I noticed that the tortoises ate certain things ravenously and never touched other items at all. This was especially true of mushrooms and other fungi-looking things. Some were apparently tasty to the tortoises and others were not. I never worried about it, just had faith that if the item was not good for the tortoises, they would not eat it.

Never had one die from something it ate.

 

[MichaelL]

Hello Mike,

I am sure you will get some differing opinions on this, but I doubt that that mold would be harmful to the tortoises. If it were in my yard, I would just turn the tortoises loose and let them eat whatever they wanted to eat. I never worried about my tortoises eating anything they wanted to eat, and I never tried to eradicate any weeds, mushrooms, etc. Over the years, I noticed that the tortoises ate certain things ravenously and never touched other items at all. This was especially true of mushrooms and other fungi-looking things. Some were apparently tasty to the tortoises and others were not. I never worried about it, just had faith that if the item was not good for the tortoises, they would not eat it.

Never had one die from something it ate.

Okay thanks a ton, glad to have someone else's reassuring view

 

[Maro2Bear]

I’m with Zovick, but I would still tend to remove those large white blotchy areas of that one plant in particular. Doesn’t quite look like a mold, but more of an infestation or blight or a fungus or something like powdery mildew. This could easily spread plant to plant and take over. I’m not saying what you have is definitely “powdery mildew” but it is possibly in that family of bad fungus-like growth. Might be fine for your tortoise to nibble with no harm, but the grass & weeds etc might get gobbled up by the “fungus”.

➡️➡️➡️ Powdery Mildew - https://www.almanac.com/pest/powdery-mildew

 

[zovick]

Hey everyone, so my tortoises are in brumation right now and I'm letting their outdoor enclosure fill with native winter/ spring weeds that have begun to grow around this time of year. They'll be able to feast/ live outside again when it warms up and is springtime. So the weeds are all edible types, and have been growing really well. However, this year our winter has been cooler and wetter with more occasional freezing nights along with wet and cold temps during the day. This has begun to cause some of the weeds to mold and die. I'll show you what I mean in the pics.

Is this bad for the tortoises to have exposure to? Will it negatively affect the tortoises if they graze on some moldy weeds? Thanks.
View attachment 316870View attachment 316871View attachment 316872View attachment 316873

Hi Mike,
Which of your tortoises are in brumation? Where are your Radiated Tortoises? They do not brumate or hibernate in my experience. Just curious.
BZ

 

[MichaelL]

I’m with Zovick, but I would still tend to remove those large white blotchy areas of that one plant in particular. Doesn’t quite look like a mold, but more of an infestation or blight or a fungus or something like powdery mildew. This could easily spread plant to plant and take over. I’m not saying what you have is definitely “powdery mildew” but it is possibly in that family of bad fungus-like growth. Might be fine for your tortoise to nibble with no harm, but the grass & weeds etc might get gobbled up by the “fungus”.

➡➡➡ Powdery Mildew - https://www.almanac.com/pest/powdery-mildew

Oh wow okay thanks, I really don't want it to take over

 

[MichaelL]

Hi Mike,
Which of your tortoises are in brumation? Where are your Radiated Tortoises? They do not brumate or hibernate in my experience. Just curious.
BZ

I just have three russian tortoises that are brumating.

 

[zovick]

I just have three russian tortoises that are brumating.

OK, sorry for any confusion. It may be that I had you confused with a fellow named Mike Lloret. Or is that you and you sold your Radiated Tortoise(s)?

 

[MichaelL]

OK, sorry for any confusion. It may be that I had you confused with a fellow named Mike Lloret. Or is that you and you sold your Radiated Tortoise(s)?

Haha no worries, and nope that's not me