Mushrooms!!!!

Ben02

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I found loads of mushrooms sprouting in my 5 year oldfemale Greek/Tunisian tortoises outdoor enclosure (that’s a lot to say at once:D)They may be toxic. Is there anyway to prevent them or do I have to manually pluck them out?

Thanks

Ben
 

SweetGreekTorts

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I've experienced the same in one of my baby Russian Tortoise enclosures. Every few days a new one pops up. I have been manually pulling them out, and I'm seeing less and less growing.
 

ZEROPILOT

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I have these little, white, spindly looking mushrooms that pop up in my pens every morning during the rainy season (and its here)
I no longer try to remove them because I'd have to get up at 5 am everyday...And I'd surely miss some of them anyway on my knees with a flashlight. Searching 400 sf.
It seems like they die the moment the sun comes out. And they usually only grow in the areas that are covered in broken down mulch. Not in the grassy areas or in areas of fresh mulch.
If they are toxic, it must be a very mild toxicity because it's been years. Maybe a decade. And my Redfoot eat the heck out of them.
Hopefully we're talking about the same mushrooms and you'll have the same good results.
All mushrooms are not good mushrooms.
To be safe....And if it's feasible. I would still remove ALL myshrooms.
 

Ciri

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I lost a desert tortoise to a poisonous mushroom a few years ago. You are wise to be cautious. What I learned is that to keep mushrooms from showing up, it's important to clear dead plant debris from the ground. When a mushroom does show up, use a trowel dedicated to only mushroom removal as it will pick up spores. Store it in a bag separately from other gardening tools. Dig out the entire root of the mushroom to avoid it from coming back. I put a piece of plastic wrap over the mushroom as I dig it out to prevent the spores from spreading. I put the mushroom and plastic wrap in a plastic bag, seal it closed and toss it.

After removing the mushroom, you can use salt in that spot repeatedly to reduce the risk that they will come back. If you can remove the tortoise from the area for at least several weeks/months, you can use organic sulfur to change the soil pH. It should be mixed thoroughly into the soil, so that tortoises cannot come into contact with it directly. I've gotten it online from Arbico Organics.

If you think a tortoise might have eaten a poisonous mushroom, it will need to be treated by a vet within hours. The more toxic it is, the more critical that treatment is done right away. If you hear a strange, louder than normal gurgling sound, or if your tortoise stops walking around and becomes lethargic, that could be a clue. Mine ate only a small bite of a toxic mushroom, and it killed him within a few days.

This is information from about five years ago, but at that time the treatment I recall was pumping their stomach to remove the mushroom, and then putting activated charcoal into their stomach.
 

Ben02

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I lost a desert tortoise to a poisonous mushroom a few years ago. You are wise to be cautious. What I learned is that to keep mushrooms from showing up, it's important to clear dead plant debris from the ground. When a mushroom does show up, use a trowel dedicated to only mushroom removal as it will pick up spores. Store it in a bag separately from other gardening tools. Dig out the entire root of the mushroom to avoid it from coming back. I put a piece of plastic wrap over the mushroom as I dig it out to prevent the spores from spreading. I put the mushroom and plastic wrap in a plastic bag, seal it closed and toss it.

After removing the mushroom, you can use salt in that spot repeatedly to reduce the risk that they will come back. If you can remove the tortoise from the area for at least several weeks/months, you can use organic sulfur to change the soil pH. It should be mixed thoroughly into the soil, so that tortoises cannot come into contact with it directly. I've gotten it online from Arbico Organics.

If you think a tortoise might have eaten a poisonous mushroom, it will need to be treated by a vet within hours. The more toxic it is, the more critical that treatment is done right away. If you hear a strange, louder than normal gurgling sound, or if your tortoise stops walking around and becomes lethargic, that could be a clue. Mine ate only a small bite of a toxic mushroom, and it killed him within a few days.

This is information from about five years ago, but at that time the treatment I recall was pumping their stomach to remove the mushroom, and then putting activated charcoal into their stomach.
Thank you for all the info, and I’m sorry to hear about your DT. I’m going to dig up all the soil in the enclosure tomorrow and dig out mushrooms and surrounding dirt. The enclosure is under quarantine as to prevent any harm to my tortoise.
 

Ray--Opo

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I lost a desert tortoise to a poisonous mushroom a few years ago. You are wise to be cautious. What I learned is that to keep mushrooms from showing up, it's important to clear dead plant debris from the ground. When a mushroom does show up, use a trowel dedicated to only mushroom removal as it will pick up spores. Store it in a bag separately from other gardening tools. Dig out the entire root of the mushroom to avoid it from coming back. I put a piece of plastic wrap over the mushroom as I dig it out to prevent the spores from spreading. I put the mushroom and plastic wrap in a plastic bag, seal it closed and toss it.

After removing the mushroom, you can use salt in that spot repeatedly to reduce the risk that they will come back. If you can remove the tortoise from the area for at least several weeks/months, you can use organic sulfur to change the soil pH. It should be mixed thoroughly into the soil, so that tortoises cannot come into contact with it directly. I've gotten it online from Arbico Organics.

If you think a tortoise might have eaten a poisonous mushroom, it will need to be treated by a vet within hours. The more toxic it is, the more critical that treatment is done right away. If you hear a strange, louder than normal gurgling sound, or if your tortoise stops walking around and becomes lethargic, that could be a clue. Mine ate only a small bite of a toxic mushroom, and it killed him within a few days.

This is information from about five years ago, but at that time the treatment I recall was pumping their stomach to remove the mushroom, and then putting activated charcoal into their stomach.
To change the pH you can also use baking soda. Did it on a patch of crabgrass worked great.
 
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