Urgent Care :: RES ate Golden Pothos

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Post Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:17 pm   RES ate Golden Pothos

I have a Golden Pothos near my tank, and a vine fell in the tank this morning while I was at work - when I got home for lunch I found a good chunk of it nibbled off.

A quick google search shows that it is "mild to moderately" toxic, and can cause "Clinical Signs: Oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting, difficulty swallowing"

Any thoughts on how to monitor/what to do to help my little guy? Right now he looks 100% fine, but I don't know when he ate it.
OtisDriftwood
 
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:01 pm   Re: RES ate Golden Pothos

Mine ate a good amount too. This was 3 weeks ago. I put it free floating in the tank, but the turtles quickly destroyed it. They're fine today. I think it's toxic to cats and dogs, but there isn't proof, that I'm aware of, of it being toxic to turtles. Still, I would err on the side of caution and not have pothos in any place where they can reach them.
rambologic
 
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:04 pm   Re: RES ate Golden Pothos

First please get the plant away from tank ! To people in the nursurey business it's called the "Devil Plant" toxic. For now observe well for any signs you see from that search. A good amount??? Was a bite or two ? Excessive quantities can be harmful for RES's it contains "oxalates" that why we don't feed spinach , broccoli , cabbage to a turtle it also has oxalates ! If only a little should be ok but I would have a turtle /Herp Vet's number near by just in case to save time. It affects the internal organs mostly , not eating due to the burning and vomiting are common signs.

You may want to check your house for other plants that are toxic to children or pets , will be surprised what you find.
litefoot
 
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:14 pm   Re: RES ate Golden Pothos

litefoot wrote:First please get the plant away from tank ! To people in the nursurey business it's called the "Devil Plant" toxic. For now observe well for any signs you see from that search. A good amount??? Was a bite or two ? Excessive quantities can be harmful for RES's it contains "oxalates" that why we don't feed spinach , broccoli , cabbage to a turtle it also has oxalates ! If only a little should be ok but I would have a turtle /Herp Vet's number near by just in case to save time. It affects the internal organs mostly , not eating due to the burning and vomiting are common signs.

You may want to check your house for other plants that are toxic to children or pets , will be surprised what you find.


Thanks litefoot, I was hoping you'd chime in, as I am aware you spent some time at a nursery of sorts? Good to know. Mine have been fine, eating and exhibiting no unusual behaviours.
rambologic
 
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:39 pm   Re: RES ate Golden Pothos

It's a Reptile Nature Center volunteered at for about 18 years few years back when I was younger just to learn a little because I love animals.

Most plant stores sell plants like that because you can't kill them. Another one that's bad for pets is a dieffenbachia the "DumbCane". Most turtles know better after one bite and leave it alone. Not really toxic to adult humans but people forget about there children and pets !
litefoot
 
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Post Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 6:41 pm   Re: RES ate Golden Pothos

Thanks for all of the info!

Update: the captain is doing fine, no signs of trouble. He's eating like any RES (like he's starving to death), and I have not noticed any of the listed symptoms.

After I posted, I did a little more digging online, and found zero mentions of aquatic turtles having adverse health effects from pothos. The only potential issue would be due to the oxalates, which can inhibit calcium absorption. So my entirely unscientific conclusion is that it's not okay to feed them pothos, but if they ingest some inadvertently, no cause for serious alarm.

My pothos will stay, I'll just be more careful to keep it from falling into the tank. It's growing in an aquaponics planter above the tank- water pumps in and drains out back to the tank. The planter is behind his ATBA, and has light diffuser underneath (not supporting it, just keeping the captain in the tank and away from wires/plants/the outside world). The plant has had explosive growth since I set it up, and I've been running the vines all over the wall and around the tank (it looks AMAZING), I just made the mistake of running one across the top of the ATBA and it fell in.

Again, thanks for the responses!
OtisDriftwood
 
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2017 8:30 am   Re: RES ate Golden Pothos

Yes , please be careful with the pothos ( devil's ivy ) . I have seen some people not as lucky as you were and lost their turtle. Not all turtles are as hardy as others.
Here's a good list of some plants that could be a problem and it's toxicity level : https://tortoise.org/general/poisonp.html

That begging like he's starving to death only get's better as they get older !
litefoot
 
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