Help! Is it safe for my sulcata to eat barrel cactus?

[Clawem]

Has anyone had a tortoise get sick and die from eating a plant they should not have? I am not talking about anything other than plants like stones or plastic etc. just plants. I am just curious. I have found plants that are not listed in my lawn and just to be sure have puled them out but it is also possible that there may have been things that could be harmful that I may not see. A few weeks ago I noticed mine munching away on something and it was a bunch of mushrooms that had sprouted up overnight. It looked like they ate quit a few of them luckily they did not get sick but they keep going to that area looking for more.

 

[ascott]

What you will want to remember is that tortoise are opportunist eaters....so in the wild they would come across something that is yummy (or not so yummy but beneficial) and will devour it....they will go on then about their business and then they will return to again devour any new growth of that item....they will graze in waves in light of what is in season...so they may consume one plant/food for weeks at a time until that item seasons out...then another will come into play--they will gorge on that item until the same happens, etc.

Mushrooms are SUPER YUMMY so if the tort has selected and achieved a good choice in a shroom...then SCORE...the tort will want to gorge ....just the way it works...

Research a simply phrase (find out what the plant/item is and google it) example; "dandelion nutritional value" and "dandelion toxicity"...these two phrases will offer a cornucopia of information, read all of the information---then you can come to a better decision on what you will offer or rip out...in my opinion, this is a helpful tool...