Astramentha
New Member
This is a theoretical question, because I don't have a tortoise yet and I'm learning. I understand that one potential major source of food for your tortoise is by learning your local flora well, crossreferencing with The Tortoise Table for identification and what parts are edible, and giving them natural fresh food that way. The concern that rises up in my head when I read about this though, is what about the danger of things like parasites/bacteria/viruses etc? Is washing the leaves really enough to eliminate reasonable concerns?
Obviously this is what tortoises would eat in the wild, but wild tortoises surely die from those things anyways. And since it's also my understanding that parasites are one of the more likely health scares someone can face, that begs the question where the parasites are coming from, and I can't help but wonder whether gathering (pesticide free, properly identified) wild plants is a real source of danger.
Do parasites usually come from somewhere else than foraged food? Is there anything besides washing that I can do to clean plants before feeding? I'm looking for some kind of risk calibration, since I don't have the experience yet to know what I should be worrying about.
Obviously this is what tortoises would eat in the wild, but wild tortoises surely die from those things anyways. And since it's also my understanding that parasites are one of the more likely health scares someone can face, that begs the question where the parasites are coming from, and I can't help but wonder whether gathering (pesticide free, properly identified) wild plants is a real source of danger.
Do parasites usually come from somewhere else than foraged food? Is there anything besides washing that I can do to clean plants before feeding? I'm looking for some kind of risk calibration, since I don't have the experience yet to know what I should be worrying about.