sorry I was being sarcastic and rude!
I see you are trying to help and being honest about it.

I tot you where pulling my leg a little, with the oak leaf story.

Let me share what I think about this in a more polite way.
Oak leafs are the food of many insects witch in turn are food for many animals.

I am not saying what you read is wrong, but I am not saying its right either.

Working with animals have made me realise that everything is subjective, my observations and others observation are all subject of interpretation.

This applies to every body from the common keeper to the academic master, regardless of who makes the observation it doesn’t guaranty its validity.

Living organism like plants and bugs develop toxins to fight off predators, this in most cases is not fatal but repulsive, surely the bitter taste of a caterpillar will ensure its survival. You do understand that this equally applies to plants, this is why some plants are toxic part of the year and comestible the rest of the year.

What your researchers have failed to see in there (highly speculative) observation, is the very pour husbandry of the torts involved.
First a toxicology axmen should have been performed on the torts liver, then if positive and in correlation with oak leafs, then yes without a dough a confirmed diagnosis can be asserted.

However! This is where I am getting at.
Any biologist will tell you that animals feeding regularly on toxic plants become addictive, you see horn worms natural diet is deciduous forest leafs, they soon get hooked on particular species, but if near tomatoes or tobacco fields they will start feeding on them exclusively, studies have shown that such addicted insects will starve to death rather then go back to a normal diet.

The fellows with the torts did not understand how deficient there husbandry was, as they would have corrected the situation lone before it became a toxic problem, the torts regular diet should have been monitored.

Given a choice vegetarian reptiles feed on food they love, they avoid bitter tasting food or unfamiliar foods, this is why Iv been keeping uromastyx on a mixture of leaf sand and dirt for many years without problem, they have better options.

I don’t know if you understand what I am saying, if not don’t worry just do what feels alright to you.

Plants secret most of there toxins in late summer and fall, it’s a survival tactic, most insects will stop feeding on them at this time, but those that do become toxic, I stop feeding fields plankton this time of year.

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