Hi chaps, please can someone clarify if poppies are poisonous for my Tort, she is a hermans and is nearly 3, i have booked her in at the vets tomorrow as i'm really worried about her, she hasnt poo'd for about 2 weeks and is quite lathergic, and she wont stay under her lamp to warm up, she goes out in teh garden regularly and i know she has eaten some poppy leaves, but didn't know they were harmfull, just read a post by someone who said they were....also worried as she will not settle under the lamp, it's about 30degrees, but she just wonders down to the cool end, i am bathing her every day and have been weighing her regulary since she came out of hib at end of Jan, her weight was good and increasing till mid July, when i started putting her out, any advise appreciated, many thanks

Debs   

Hi Debs

Some are and some aren't. The best site is the Tortoise Table for any queries on plants, have a look at their site.

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/search_7.asp?issearch=true
I hope all goes well with the vet, please let us know how you get on
Jane

Hi Jane,

Just to update you the vet was rerally nice and has two torts of his own, but he said he was not a specialist, but would have a look and see what he thought.

My main worry was not pooing and very sleepy, and with eating the poppies thought she might be poisoned, but she had a poo on the way to vets, and she has loads of baths so has no issues with urates, vet weighed by jacksons ratio and she was 3.9, not too sure what that means...,she weighed 510g, he tried to get blood sample but said amount he got was not enough, but he wormed her, and thought that she looked well, he thought the best course of action is just to keep a close eye on her, bathe her and try to increase her weight, keep her warm, which can be a problem as she wont baske under her lamp, always goes to cool end and sleeps a lot, she hasnt poo'd since though,last time was 2/9/11 so oif she hasnt done any more by next week, i think i will have to try to get her to a specialist, i m afraid she might have a blockage, the vet didn't scan or x-ray her as he said he thought she was stressed enough, and because she had pood earlier and he had wormed her, he thought she might be ok, so really upshot is just waiting, she is eating ok, but still sleepy and i'm still worried..lol , sorry for rambling, any offers of any advise always greatfully received

thanks

Debs 

Hi

Just thought I'd reply as the same thing happened to our male tortoise. We are relative newbees so it has been a big learning curve!

At the time, we didn't know that poppies should be off the menu. He seemed to love the leaves and made a beeline for them in the garden every time. After a while he became very lethargic and just holed up all day in his hide. He wasn't hot, infact wanted heat and would sit under his lamp and generally look miserable.

He didn't poo either but seemed to eat well enough. Then one day while bathing he produced a very red looking wee and we panicked and took him to a specialised vet.

The vet said that it could very well have been his diet but as a procaution he gave a shot of antibiotic as well. This was because this was the first year our tortoise had really been outside and  it was just in case he had picked something up.

We kept our tortoise inside and bathed him and gave him a relatively bland diet. It was at least 4-5 weeks before the little fella picked up and things returned to normal.

Now, whether our poppies were the good kind or not, he is not allowed anywhere near them. The experience has made me look closer to what plants we have got in our garden and we are in the process of getting rid of the 'not so tortoise friendly' ones.

Hope this helps and your tortoise recovers!

Thanks chaps, and yes Mrs B does seem to be on the mend... i have done the same, just feeding cos lettuce, dandilion leaves, tiny bit of fruit now and again, all with extra vitamin powder from the vet, has now had first poo in over 12 days but deffo seems to be getting better.

Thanks everyone