Aphids/bugs outdoor enclosure

[Sparky]

Hello,

My outside enclosure for Teeny has been attacked by aphids! What can I do with them? If he eats them will he get ill or will they infest him? is there any way I can safely get rid of them/prevent them? He's not spent an enormous amount of time outside due to the awful weather but it's finally warming up and I don't want him to get sick! Any advice very gratefully recieved thanks Sarah

[lin]

Hi Sarah.

I don’t suppose a few aphids will bother Teeny if they are ingested but for your own peace of mind could you put something around them for a while as a barrier, or you could spray with soapy water and then rinse off.
I have found that aphids leave a plant in a short while and move on leaving the plant intact.

Nina will have other ideas when she comes on here.

Lin

[Nina]

Yes, aphids are a nuisance, but like Lin said, eating some won't hurt him.

If the plants are in your enclosure and you don't want to deal with soap residue on the ground after you spray them, a temporary tactic is to spray them hard (I put my finger over the end of the garden hose to make a strong spray that just knocks them off (they do come back though, but not necessarily straight away).

The other, rather icky, thing you can do is to just squash them with your fingers and then wash them off. They squash pretty easily, but it's not the most pleasant thing to do. What you can't do (obviously) is spray them with any insecticide, even if you wash it off afterwards, because some of it will have penetrated the skin of the plant and make it toxic for tortoises.

Nina

[Sparky]

Thanks both, I will give them a good spray when teeny goes back inside this evening and hopefully that will help!

As long as they won't really do him any harm I don't mind them I was more worried he would get sick!

Thanks as ever, for your help!

Sarah