Is Lavender Safe in My Outdoor Enclosure?

[Otheaked]

Hi everyone, I’m new here and excited to be part of this community! I recently set up an outdoor enclosure for my 3-year-old Hermann’s tortoise, Toby, and I’m trying to make sure everything is safe for him.

I have a small lavender bush growing near the enclosure, and I’ve read conflicting opinions on whether it’s safe for tortoises. Toby doesn’t seem interested in eating it, but I want to be sure there’s no risk if he nibbles on it or if the scent affects him in any way. Should I remove it, or is it safe to keep?

[Nina]

Hi Otheaked and welcome to The Tortoise Table!

It's absolutely fine to have a lavender bush growing near the enclosure, and in fact they can eat it in moderate amounts, but many tortoises won't find it to their liking because of the strong scent. Here is the entry for Lavender on our website:
https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... nt=218&c=4

Unfortunately we are currently having a few problems with access to our Forum and website, which means that sometimes if you try to access either of them you get an error message . If you refresh your screen a couple of times you can usually get through, but, it's frustrating and we are working on it and hope to be back to normal within 3 - 4 weeks. The problem only happens intermittently, and if it is something you want an answer to immediately you can always write to us on contact@thetortoisetable.org.uk .

It would be lovely to see a photo of our enclosure and your tortoise -- we never get tired of seeing photos of both!

Nina