Do they know what they can eat?

[Ozric Jonathan]

I'm interested in everyone's views on this question having noticed Gordon say that they know what's good for them in the garden.

My belief is that a tortoise has an instinctive knowledge of the plants that grow in it's region of origin. And along with that it can recognise relatives of food plants that grow in other regions. But faced with a plant that doesn't exist in its region of origin I think a tortoise has no idea if it's edible or not.

I think that if a tortoise comes across a plant which it's ancestors never had to deal with, it might eat it regardless of it being a good plant for it to eat.

What does everyone think?

[Kighill]

I think this is a good question although my thoughts are that without parental guidance which they do not get in the wild, tortoises must test food before eating and then avoid any plants which may cause harm, learning which are tasty as the go.
Evolution is a wonderful thing and they are still with us after a few million years of trying different foods.
However I would not like to test the theory.
I am very interested in what the experts say about this behaviour.

[vikki]

There certainly seem to have been cases of tortoises dying after eating the wrong things that are very toxic, and then there is the problem of potential exessive eating of things that can cause long term damage and i think alot of tortoises would certainly gorge on plants in this category. Also even with my two they certainly have very different likes and dislikes so what one would eat all day the other wont touch and visversa

[Gordon]

My theory is if they don't know what they are doing they would of died out a long time ago.
Now I'm not suggesting we feed known toxic plants to them but if it's in their pens they won't eat it also when I go foraging there will sometimes be something they don't like which they will sometimes taste and decide it's a no or sometimes just a sniff is enough. As for stuffing themselves on certain things they would only do this in the wild on food they like and would naturally come across.
That's my opinion anyway and I've not killed mine off yet.

[sandy]

I think adults have a good instinct of whats good or bad, but not so sure about smaller tortoises.
And of course it depends on how much they eat of said plants.
As I know a few tortoises have died through eating Lobelia.

[Alan1]

Originally Posted by Gordon

My theory is if they don't know what they are doing they would of died out a long time ago.
Now I'm not suggesting we feed known toxic plants to them but if it's in their pens they won't eat it also when I go foraging there will sometimes be something they don't like which they will sometimes taste and decide it's a no or sometimes just a sniff is enough. As for stuffing themselves on certain things they would only do this in the wild on food they like and would naturally come across.
That's my opinion anyway and I've not killed mine off yet.

I pretty much agree with this. I no longer haul up plants they don't eat unless it's plants known to be toxic to humans and horses etc like ragwort for example.
I have read about Horsfields actually eating toxic plants .. "Interestingly, steppe tortoises avoid feeding on grass species and feed mostly on plant species that are usually highly toxic to mammals" http://russiantortoise.org/diet_research.htm and some plants are toxic/more toxic/not toxic at different times of year. My torts have a bit of this and that rather than chomping on one plant. Small torts may not know so well what to eat and what not and may be more prone to death from toxic plants than large torts but who knows.

[wigwamman]

mine will have a go at most plants/weeds weather good or bad,herbs or plants with a strong aroma are given a very wide berth.
i offered a handful of dried weeds (from last year)the other day and they went down well although the smell was quite powerful.

[CherryBrandy]

my Horsfields tend to steer clear of any ivy even if in with the hand picked weeds which is reassuring, but some of my spur thigh will eat aquilega, granny bonnets which is apparently harmful but I have too many to control but others don't take notice. I didn't know about lobelia. I wonder if you would ever know if it was a food source that was fatal to them though ? One of my spur goes out of his way and leans right up to eat clematis leaves too - that plant never gets to the floor because of that. CB

[CherryBrandy]

oooh and I find my spur eating pigeon poop all the time its a chase round to try and remove it sometimes... she seems to love it but to what affect over the years? !
I know a bit off track but one of my tortoises which came to me was fed on bread, toast and sausage over the years, but did also roam the garden and when she came to me she passed away after a hibernation and I am sure that was because I introduced her to a proper eating diet and her stomach couldn't cope....not sure. CB

[Suze65]

Originally Posted by Gordon

My theory is if they don't know what they are doing they would of died out a long time ago.
Now I'm not suggesting we feed known toxic plants to them but if it's in their pens they won't eat it also when I go foraging there will sometimes be something they don't like which they will sometimes taste and decide it's a no or sometimes just a sniff is enough. As for stuffing themselves on certain things they would only do this in the wild on food they like and would naturally come across.
That's my opinion anyway and I've not killed mine off yet.

I tend to go along with this theory.