Avocados?

[IRTehDuckie]

Iv'e heard mannnyyy mixed reviews on avocados and if they are okay to feed them to your tort. I decided id try for myself, so i fed him half of one and he ate that up quick, then later that night he went to bed earlier than normal.

The next morning he was still laying in his house just poking his head out, and usually by this time he is running around all over, so i figured id give him some greens and let him go on with his day, see how he is the rest of the day.

Around dinner time, 7:30ish he was still acting funny, so i thought maybe it was from the avocado, so he didnt poop all day, and i thought id give him a good soak and when i did he pooped every bit of that avocado out, it looked the same coming out as it did going in, same texture and everything..

after he pooped (and he pooped a lot!) he was completely fine, his happy walking around exploring self again.

do the avocados make torts constipated? maybe i just fed him too much of it? he did have half of it and i thought it was a lot too.. but he didnt eat any of the peelings, just the mushy green stuff. but hes fine now, and he loved the avocado, i think maybe next time i just wont give him that much of it...

advice?

 

[LParkey]

I'm interested in this as well! My tort hasn't had a normal appetite in months, and I read on over of the threads somewhere on here that if they haven't eaten in a long while to stimulate their appetite with avocado. I fed her about a fourth of one this last Friday and wouldn't you know she's eaten EVERY day since!!!! Not as much as she should be eating, but at least she's eating daily!

 

[ascott]

The flesh part of the avocado is good to go as an occasional treat...the leaves should not be offered as food to your tortoise...

Also, here is just for your reference, this is a good food for a variety of minerals and vitamin K and C

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1843/2

 

[synspyder]

I've always been warned to stay away from feeding reptiles avocado, because they are toxic to birds, and the toxicity in reptiles was unknown.

Though I don't have experience with feeding tortoises avocado. I'm interested as well to know if it's safe.

 

[Baoh]

I have used it in a number of situations to good effect. Poor eaters. Laying females. Severely underweight animals. Also, as a treat.

 

[IRTehDuckie]

baoh, thank you for ur input!! i did only give it to him as a treat, and now that i know it will make him even hungrier it will be a very rare treat, haha my little guy eats enough as it is.

 

[redbeef]

I would avoid feeding the peel as well as avoid the leaves as Ascott recommended: although Mexican native avocados have an edible peel (for humans at least), Guatemalan ones do not...and Hass is a hybrid between these 2 groups. Hass is generally what you would find in the store as well, so I would avoid the peel.

Maybe feed a little less next time and mix w/other food?

 

[Baoh]

Even though gut motility slows in response to the fat in the meal, absorption efficiency has its limits. He probably just ate more in the sitting than he could use during gut transit.