The Tortoise Table

Opinions please! Do you think caffeine from used coffee grounds would be taken up by sedum and then get ingested by Jack? We have grown a big tub of sedum at our holiday bungalow on the island as we don’t have a private garden. My husband empties his coffee grounds into our tubs several times a week. He joked this afternoon when Jack was hobbling sedum at warp speed that the caffeine had got to him. Could it? Would it hurt him? Panicking now!

What an interesting question! I've had a little look, and coffee grounds retain varying amounts of caffeine, depending on conditions, but it can be considerable. I've used coffee grounds in the past as a mulch and a mild fertilizer in the garden, as they contain nitrogen. Some plants take up large amounts of nitrogen from the soil, and this can be harmful to tortoises, but I don't think that Sedum is one of them. I'll keep looking, but in the meantime, here's a little article warning about some of the benefits and dangers of using coffee grounds in the garden. https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/a-comm ... he-garden/
And here is another one https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden ... growth.htm

My first thoughts are that it is probably fine to dump the grounds on the sedum. The amounts of caffeine that the sedum would take up from coffee grounds is a fraction of the amount of caffeine that would have been in the coffee itself and so probably not harmful. Coffee grounds are also a bit acidic and produce tannins, but again Jack isn't eating the grounds themselves, just the sedum. And as Jack isn't going to be eating huge amounts of sedum, but just nibbling odd leaves, I think he will be fine. He was probably going for the sedum at full tilt and being hyper because tortoises do love sedum -- it's like he's on holiday and someone has just offered him a huge ice cream cone, so he's enthusiastic about it!

Are there weeds and other plants on the island that you could pick to mix with the sedum to give him some variety?

Nina

Thanks Nina, I’ll have a read of those. Yes we’ve got the usual dandelions, plantain, mallow, sow thistle etc but he can be picky if it’s too near the coast or after a storm - I guess they have higher salt levels. I was a bit stuck and only a tiny bit of dandelion around the house today hence a larger portion of sedum than usual.

I think he will be fine -- and don't worry too much about quantity, as most tortoises are fed far too much and grow too quickly. In the wild they live in areas where there are long periods with little food, because all the available plants have dried up or been eaten by other animals. As long as he is well hydrated and has a little food he will be fine. And enjoy your holiday!

Nina