Help: they've eaten ragwort!

[SIMBER]

My Herman tortoises(2) have eaten Common Ragwort, or at least one of them has.
About 2 leaves at the most.
Will it be fatal?
Is there anything that can be done or is too late and any damage will already be done?
I've read that death in some animals can happen months later.

Help please.

 

[jorrow]

Simber I really have no idea, and I can see your sitting around here waiting for help. Im sure somone with some knowledge of this will come through soon to help you out....Try not to worry to much.... I'm going to search the web maybe I kind find something.

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Poisonous effects


Ragwort contains many different alkaloids, making it poisonous to animals. (EHC 80,section 9.1.4). Alkaloids which have been found in the plant confirmend by the WHO report EHC 80 are -- jacobine, jaconine, jacozine, otosenine, retrorsine, seneciphylline, senecionine, and senkirkine (pp322 Appendix II). Other alkaloids claimed to be present but from an undeclared source are acetylerucifoline, (Z)-erucifoline, (E)-erucifoline, 21-hydroxyintegerrimine, integerrimine, jacoline, riddelline, senecivernine, spartioidine, and usaramine.

Ragwort is of concern to people who keep horses and cattle. In areas of the world where ragwort is a native plant, such as Britain and continental Europe, documented cases of proven poisoning are rare. Horses do not normally eat fresh ragwort due to its bitter taste. It loses this taste when dried and can be come a danger in hay. The result, if sufficient quantity is consumed, can be irreversible cirrhosis of the liver. Signs that a horse has been poisoned include yellow mucus membranes, depression, and lack of coordination. Animals may also resort to the consumption of ragwort when there is shortage of food. In rare cases they can even become addicted to it. Sheep, in marked contrast, eat small quantities of the plant with relish. Sheep and goats suffer the same process of liver destruction but at a reduced rate to horses and pigs. They seem to profit slightly from eating it, according to some reports[who?] the alkaloids kill worms in the sheep's stomach.

The danger of Ragwort is that the toxin can have a cumulative effect. The alkaloid does not actually accumulate in the liver but a breakdown product can damage DNA and progressively kills cells. About 3-7% of the body weight is sometimes claimed as deadly for horses, but an example in the scientific literature exists of a horse surviving being fed over 20% of its body weight. The effect of low doses is lessened by the destruction of the original alkaloids by the action of bacteria in the digestive tract before they reach the bloodstream. There is no known antidote or cure to poisoning, but at examples are known from the scientific literature of horses making a full recovery once consumption has been stopped. [6][7]

Ragwort poses little risk to the livers of humans since, although it is theoretically poisonous to humans, it is distasteful and is not used as a food. The alkaloids can be absorbed in small quantities through the skin but studies have shown that the absorption is very much less than by ingestion. Also they are in the N-oxide form which only becomes toxic after conversion inside the digestive tract and they will be excreted harmlessly.

Some sensitive individuals can suffer from an allergic reaction because ragwort like many members of the compositae family contains sesquiterpine lactones which can cause compositae dermatitis. These are different from the Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids which are responsible for the toxic effects.

Honey collected over Ragwort has been found to contain small quantities of jacoline, jacobine, jacozine, senecionine, and seneciphylline, but the quantities have been judged as too minute to be of concern.[8].

This is all wikipedia said about the plant.

 

[SIMBER]

Cheers,
just search the net too, read something where someone wrote that their tortoise had a nibble on some ragwort and was fine.
just want to be sure.
Wondering if encouraging them to drink would help, to flush their system through?

 

[jorrow]

Nothing about torts so i dont know if it really helps at all

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Cheers,
just search the net too, read something where someone wrote that their tortoise had a nibble on some ragwort and was fine.
just want to be sure.
Wondering if encouraging them to drink would help, to flush their system through?

Thats what i was thinking also but im new to torts and didnt really want to suggest anything

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Are they acting sluggish or abnormal?

 

[Yvonne G]

Tortoises are usually much more tolerant of plant alkaloids than mammals are. I wouldn't worry too much if only a couple bites were taken. Most of what you read about plant toxins are geared towards mammals.

Yvonne

 

[SIMBER]

Thanks

They are both sleeping now but Bruce was having a good roam around his area just before and seemed fine and Vadah was having a soak in the pool.

Just panicked I guess.

 

[Laura]

Can you remove it from thier area? I dont know what type of weed that is..

 

[SIMBER]

Can you remove it from thier area? I dont know what type of weed that is..

yer, they won't be getting their claws on that again.