How harmful are insecticides for tortoises?

[Potato_king]

Hello, i hope everyone is doing well
Today my mother told me that the garden where my tortoises are kept was sprayed by an insecticide of some sort. Im shocked and worried sick about my tortoises. I moved out so I can’t keep an eye on my tortoises anymore. My mom said she moved them to a different garden until the spray was finished.
My question is, how long dose it take for a tortoise to get affected by an insecticide? Also can they inhale it? Because i will go back to remove all the greens that I planted for them and throw it away after two days. I can’t go back now because of university. Also yes, i know how irresponsible what happened is. The government is the one who’s doing the spraying. our garden, our neighbors’ gardens were sprayed too. if i was there I would never let them come anywhere near my tortoises

 

[Maro2Bear]

Hard to say exactly since you don’t say (or know) the exact spray that was put down. Anyway to find out? I’m guessing since the Gov sprayed it, it might be close to impossible to find out.

Id remove them as soon as possible & give them thorough scrubbing.

Yes, they can inhale anything in the air.

good luck

 

[Potato_king]

Hard to say exactly since you don’t say (or know) the exact spray that was put down. Anyway to find out? I’m guessing since the Gov sprayed it, it might be close to impossible to find out.

Id remove them as soon as possible & give them thorough scrubbing.

Yes, they can inhale anything in the air.

good luck

Thank you very much for the feedback. At this point im completely helpless, its 1:07 Am here, and absolutely angry. My family decided to tell me hours after the spraying. Im sure they got exposed to it and probably inhaled large amounts of it. I only hope its not a very dangerous type.

 

[wellington]

Be sure the tortoises do not get put anywhere that was sprayed. You don't want them eating the sprayed stuff. Can't your family remove them?

 

[Lyn W]

If they could see there were animals/pets in the area surely they should have warned the owners before spraying?
I don't know how your local government departments are organised in Oman but do they have a website you can email to find out more?
I hope your torts are OK

 

[Cathie G]

Yes tell your parents to keep them out of the area. It kinda reads like they did move them and hopefully before it was sprayed. So sorry you are going through this. There is a plant that has qualities that can fight poison called echinacea. You can get capsules of powder here in the US probably worldwide which could be sprinkled on their food. It has many names like snake root, purple Coneflower also. It's safe for tortoises. This is only a suggestion. If an expert says different than don't.?

 

[Lyn W]

Yes tell your parents to keep them out of the area. It kinda reads like they did move them and hopefully before it was sprayed.

Yes you're right Cathie I think they were moved - thank goodness!
I suppose the torts aren't going to be able to go back there for a while.

 

[Cathie G]

Yes you're right Cathie I think they were moved - thank goodness!
I suppose the torts aren't going to be able to go back there for a while.

?Bee suggested I take echinacea to prevent COVID-19. It was so cute because I've been a long time fan of that herb anyway. I did get the virus but I lived despite all my health problems.

 

[Noelluene]

Most insecticides interfere with the ion channels that are responsible for neuron signal transmission. Normally, they should be applied in doses that only affect insects if used correctly. However, we don't know exactly what type and how much insecticide was used as well as the amount of time the tortoises were exposed to it. Not sure about tortoises but lizards can die quickly if they breathe in a lot fumes from the insecticide or consume food that is laced with it.

 

[Potato_king]

Be sure the tortoises do not get put anywhere that was sprayed. You don't want them eating the sprayed stuff. Can't your family remove them?

Thank you for the feedback!
Currently my tortoises are not in that area. My mom suggested that she would remove the plants but I told her not to because I didn’t want to bother her since the garden is too big

 

[Potato_king]

If they could see there were animals/pets in the area surely they should have warned the owners before spraying?
I don't know how your local government departments are organised in Oman but do they have a website you can email to find out more?
I hope your torts are OK

Thank you for the feedback Lyn, also thank you for the help in the past! My tortoises got much better and i managed to solve the food problem, but now this happened. I would say it’s my family’s fault. They’re the one who didn’t take the right action from the beginning. The people who were spraying were only doing their job. I will look up and see if the ministry of agriculture here put any information about the type of insecticide they’re using

 

[Potato_king]

Yes tell your parents to keep them out of the area. It kinda reads like they did move them and hopefully before it was sprayed. So sorry you are going through this. There is a plant that has qualities that can fight poison called echinacea. You can get capsules of powder here in the US probably worldwide which could be sprinkled on their food. It has many names like snake root, purple Coneflower also. It's safe for tortoises. This is only a suggestion. If an expert says different than don't.?

thank you for the feedback! Very much appreciated :”) I hope you’re doing well after Covid
I don’t think we have echinacea here. Even if we do I think it will be too late. I asked my mom today apparently my tortoises seems fine and they’re not showing any signs of poisoning yet

 

[Potato_king]

Most insecticides interfere with the ion channels that are responsible for neuron signal transmission. Normally, they should be applied in doses that only affect insects if used correctly. However, we don't know exactly what type and how much insecticide was used as well as the amount of time the tortoises were exposed to it. Not sure about tortoises but lizards can die quickly if they breathe in a lot fumes from the insecticide or consume food that is laced with it.

Thank you for the feedback! We are keeping a beehive and its still alive, so i hope if it wasn’t strong enough for the bees, it won’t affect my tortoises.

 

[TortoiseAwarness& Conserv]

Hello, i hope everyone is doing well
Today my mother told me that the garden where my tortoises are kept was sprayed by an insecticide of some sort. Im shocked and worried sick about my tortoises. I moved out so I can’t keep an eye on my tortoises anymore. My mom said she moved them to a different garden until the spray was finished.
My question is, how long dose it take for a tortoise to get affected by an insecticide? Also can they inhale it? Because i will go back to remove all the greens that I planted for them and throw it away after two days. I can’t go back now because of university. Also yes, i know how irresponsible what happened is. The government is the one who’s doing the spraying. our garden, our neighbors’ gardens were sprayed too. if i was there I would never let them come anywhere near my tortoises

Anything which kills a life is harmful for other lives too,.. but it depends on the matter which used and to whom it is used,.. if insects are dieing out of it , it is obvious that we humans get mild or severe harm from it vise versa tortoise in your case

 

[JMM]

Hello, i hope everyone is doing well
Today my mother told me that the garden where my tortoises are kept was sprayed by an insecticide of some sort. Im shocked and worried sick about my tortoises. I moved out so I can’t keep an eye on my tortoises anymore. My mom said she moved them to a different garden until the spray was finished.
My question is, how long dose it take for a tortoise to get affected by an insecticide? Also can they inhale it? Because i will go back to remove all the greens that I planted for them and throw it away after two days. I can’t go back now because of university. Also yes, i know how irresponsible what happened is. The government is the one who’s doing the spraying. our garden, our neighbors’ gardens were sprayed too. if i was there I would never let them come anywhere near my tortoises

So sorry this happened. It's good that your family moved the tortoises. I would also have them gently wash each tortoise using a gentle, unscented soap and rinse well as most insecticides can be absorbed through skin. Try to find out what the insecticide is as that will give you information about how long the insecticide will remain in the environment--some degrade in sunlight fairly rapidly, while others may remain long term. Toxicity is a function of exposure time, exposure dose and type of insecticide. Usually you will see signs of acute toxicity within several hours and almost certainly within less than 24 hours.

 

[Canadian Mojo]

Any idea what they were spraying for? If it was something like Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) for mosquitoes it's basically harmless to other organisms.

 

[Potato_king]

Any idea what they were spraying for? If it was something like Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) for mosquitoes it's basically harmless to other organisms.

They were spraying for a bug called Dubas. It affects date palms here.

It produces honey like substance that affects plants

 

[Yvonne G]

If this happened to my tortoise I'd quickly bring it in the house, fill the sink with warm water and get some baby shampoo. I'd take a soft brush and scrub the tortoise everywhere with the baby shampoo, rinse and repeat two or three times.

Tortoises absorb through their skin. You need to wash off all the poison from every part of the tortoise, in all the little cracks and crevices. Maybe even allow a soak after you're finished cleaning.

 

[ZenHerper]

...baby shampoo. ...

Which is safe for eyes.

Dawn brand dish washing soap might be better about dissolving away the petroleum base usually present in insecticides, but you have to use extreme caution around the eyes, nose, and mouth.