Lavender?

[Destiny]

Can they have Lavender? I have it in her enclosure and it looks like she tried to eat some of it. It was up pretty high so I assumed like a dummy she wouldn't get it but it looks like she pulled it down.

She seems pretty happy in her outdoor enclosure and she even slept outside underneath one of her capped corners a couple nights ago. It was around 65 degrees that night. I also wonder?? The highest the humidity is outside gets up to only around 80%. Is that okay?

 

[Destiny]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

I looked at the edible plant lists in the "Food and Diet" section, but didn't see Lavender listed. I suppose you could google it to see if it's listed as poisonous to other animals and extrapolate from there.

At least she probably has fresh breath now.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

I honestly don't know - you can try this site. I keep lavender in several of my pens and no one ever bothers it. I have never seen them eat it - just sleep under it. Good luck.


http://www.tortoise.org/general/poisonp.html

 

[Kristina]

Lavender is edible. There are many kinds, and I believe that Sea Lavender is a main part of the Egyptian tortoise's diet in the wild.

Kristina

 

[kimber_lee_314]

This link says yes - they are edible.


http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm

 

[terryo]

Lavender is fine. It is on the list that I use too.

 

[elegans]

The animals are smarter than the books. They are not given a reference book in the wild and they figure it out just fine, or die. I have offered many torts stuff that I was sure that they would love; they ate one bite and spit it out, never to try it again. LOL Many of the books offered as reference material may not in fact apply to tortoises, as they can eat many things that other animals can't. The "rules" here are fairly wobbly at best in my mind. Keep an open mind. Best wishes Douglas

 

[Tom]

Douglas, in some captive situations tortoises and other animals WILL eat things they shouldn't. Even toxic things. I have to be pretty careful what blows into or sprouts up in my sulcata pens because they will eat just about anything. I'm sure some of the vets out there can tell us some stories about things they've had to surgically remove from animals.

Also, as far as "figuring it out", the plants that we have in our cities and yards don't necessarily occur in the wild where these exotic tortoises come from.

I do agree that keeping an open mind is a good idea, but I don't think we should allow access to toxic plants in a tortoise pen and assume they won't eat them.

 

[Destiny]

Thanks Everyone for your feedback!! I really rely on you all because I have found that alot of the stuff I read on the internet contradicts itself. It's so confusing, I find myself getting very dicouraged.

I read about everyone else's wonderful experiences with their torts and I feel like Eleanor is depressed?? She comes out and eats and drinks but doesn't spend too much time "out" in her enclosure. Stupid I know but I just want her to be happy. Maybe she needs a friend??

 

[elegans]

I have heard all kinds of people tell me that Avocados are not good or even toxic to tortoises and I can tell you for a "FACT" that they are not. I have multiple tortoise pens that are located under Avocado trees. They eat as many as they want when they fall into their pens. They also eat the leaves of the trees when they defoliate. My sulcattas look like they are leaf compactors! LOL So I will step outside of the box and say that in many cases people that wright books about what is and what is not OK are way off the mark. They may not have any practical knowledge of the ideas that they put forth. If I was wrong about this I would not be hatching out multiple different species of tortoises every year. Best wishes to all as I really do believe that this is an open subject matter. Douglas

 

[Tom]

I have heard all kinds of people tell me that Avocados are not good or even toxic to tortoises and I can tell you for a "FACT" that they are not. I have multiple tortoise pens that are located under Avocado trees. They eat as many as they want when they fall into their pens. They also eat the leaves of the trees when they defoliate. My sulcattas look like they are leaf compactors! LOL So I will step outside of the box and say that in many cases people that wright books about what is and what is not OK are way off the mark. They may not have any practical knowledge of the ideas that they put forth. If I was wrong about this I would not be hatching out multiple different species of tortoises every year. Best wishes to all as I really do believe that this is an open subject matter. Douglas

I agree with you. There is all sorts of misinformation out there. I've had a few eye opening conversations about protein, prepared foods, humidity and shell-rot resistance lately. A lot of the old tenants of tortoise keeping are being blown out of the water and a lot of people are very resistant to this new info.

On the avocados, I always thought that just the pits were toxic. Do your tortoises eat the pits too? I remember the reason to not feed avocado was that it was too high in protein. This is one of those old tortoise keeping myths. I'm just learning recently that they need more protein than we initially thought. Probably why you've had such good results with your seasonal avocado. How much protein and how often is sill a matter of debate.