Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I just started giving my uromastyx bee pollen and he LOVES it... I was wondering if anyone has ever given bee pollen to a desert tort? I am not sure if it is safe for them.

Thanks,
Lisa
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Lisa

1 Mali Uro - Matilda
1 Leopard Tort - Herman
1 Shih Tzu - Jake

lisasmith@optonline.net
Monroe, NY

I've watched Desert tortoises, Chuckwallas and Desert iguanas feeding in the midsummer. All of these focused on the dried flowers when going from dried plant to dried plant. (makes me wonder)
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I wanted to maybe experiment and see if my leopard takes to it. If they are eating flowers, they are ingesting pollen... Can't be bad for them... Right???
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Lisa

1 Mali Uro - Matilda
1 Leopard Tort - Herman
1 Shih Tzu - Jake

lisasmith@optonline.net
Monroe, NY

.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Bee pollen is very high in protein, which isn't what you want your tortoise eating. True, they must ingest some pollen as part of their normal diet, but the quantities must be very tiny. If you want to try sprinkling a small amount over the food, that's probably fine, but a pinch is more than enough.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
0.0.1 Marginated Tortoise
plus my kids' herps:
0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

Watching my tortoises and having observer some others in the wild, they must consume a relatively huge amount in the spring time or when flower are available. The tortoises that are in the yard will vacuume the yard of any flowers that fall off this tree I have. They only eat the flowers before moving on to something else.
Then the tortoises in the wild (seen during the summer) would go from plant to plant and again only eat the dried flowers.
With these observations I would think that they ingest a good amount of pollen.
As to watching the protein that close, I don't think it is important if you are feeding a varied diet and avoid animal protein with a few exceptions.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Wonder how much pollen there is per flower? I mean, bees don't pick up that much pollen each time they visit a flower, do they--although I've never watched a bee enough to find that one out! You're probably right in that if tortoises are concentrating on eating flowers, they would naturally eat more pollen and therefore protein, but then it must all balance out, because they aren't eating flowers all the time. I would still say that pollen would be fine in moderation, but I wouldn't give them piles of it.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
0.0.1 Marginated Tortoise
1.0 3 Toed Box Turtle (rescued)
plus my kids' herps:
0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

I'd have to agree with what you said.
As to how much pollen a bee picks up... I've watched that to.
With the flowers at the end of full bloom the desert is buzzing with activity (sorry, the oppertunity rarely presents itself) and it is interesting to watch the bees in action. I've got some interesting pictures too. Did you know that honey bees burrow... I didn't until the other day. Sorry for the rambling it was just interesting but in the desert it is amazing how much life there is and it seems that many don't realize it.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I knew yellow jackets make underground nests, but didn't know about honeybees--although it makes sense in the desert! It would be nearly impossible to keep the babies alive if they weren't underground.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Hermann's Tortoise
0.0.1 Marginated Tortoise
1.0 3 Toed Box Turtle (rescued)
plus my kids' herps:
0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko