what to feed a tortious

The Best Food For Tortoise

• Home grown foods are the healthiest option. Vegetables are an excellent food for your tortoise. ...
• Calcium powders. The proper amount of calcium is important for a healthy diet. ...
• Mushrooms. It is possible to give your tortoise any human food if you are careful. ...
• Cabbage. The ratio of calcium to phosphorus in a diet is 2:1:1. ...
• Prickly pear. ...

Full Answer

What foods a tortoise can and cannot eat?

What Tortoises Eat

• Fruits. Most fruits are good to eat, but there are some that aren’t good for tortoises due to the high amount of phosphorus or citric acid that they contain.
• Vegetables. Just like fruits, vegetables are great for tortoises, but there are some that contain a lot of phosphorus.
• Processed Food. Processed foods are bad for tortoises. ...
• Pellets. ...
• Plants. ...

How often should you feed a tortoise?

What about different species of tortoise, how Often and what should I feed them

• Baby Tortoises. Whilst we did cover this previously in the article, I’ll summarise the main points here. ...
• Sulcata Tortoises. ...
• Russian Tortoises. ...
• Desert Tortoises. ...
• Hermann Tortoises. ...
• Gopher Tortoises. ...
• Horsefield Tortoises. ...

How much should I Feed my tortoise?

What To Feed A Sulcata Tortoise [The Dos And Don’ts]

• Optimal Diet for A Sulcata Tortoise. The optimal diet for a Sulcata tortoise is a high fibrous and low protein one. ...
• The Importance Of Calcium In A Sulcata Tortoise’s Diet. Calcium is crucial for maintaining your tortoise’s good health. ...
• Finally. ...

What food does a tortoise need to survive?

• Rains allow tortoises to drink and void potassium, then switch to a diet of dry grasses to gain weight. ...
• Without rainwater to drink, tortoises need to get water and protein from plants with a high potassium excretion potential (PEP), to avoid buildup of too much potassium
• Oftedal suggests shortage of high PEP plants led to tortoise population crashes

What can tortoises eat list?

Food ListCollard, turnip, rape, and mustard greens.Kale, cabbage, kohl rabi, chard.Endive, Escarole, green-leaf, red-leaf lettuces.Red or curly lettuces.Arugula, rocket, 'corn salad', 'lamb's lettuce'Parsley, watercress.Carrot or radish tops.Sprouts.More items...

What tortoise can not eat?

Food tortoises can't eatDaffodil (narcissus pseudonarcissus)Azalea (Rhododendron species)Foxglove (Digitalis species)Avocado (Persea species)Buttercup (Ranunculus species)Auricula (Primula auricula)Bean sprouts (various)Citrus fruit (Citrus species)More items...•

How often should you feed a tortoise?

How much and how often should I feed my tortoise? As a general rule, you should offer an amount of food equivalent to the size of your tortoise's shell. They should be fed once a day, 5 days a week. The 2 starve days can be implemented at any time, in any order.

What human foods can tortoises eat?

Occasional Vegetables - Cucumber, Carrot, Broccoli, Cauliflower (and leaves), Parsnip, Fennel, Squash, Pumpkin. Fruit is the equivalent of junk food for a tortoise so should be given very occasionally and make up no more than 5% of their diet (strawberry, apple, pear, tomato, melon, plum, apricot).

Can my tortoise eat carrots?

Greens and vegetables: Vegetables should be about 10-15% of the diet. These can include: grated raw carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli, corn on the cob; greens such as collards, dandelions, escarole, romaine, kale.

Can a tortoise eat cucumber?

Cucumber can be offered to help with hydration, or prescribed medication can be hidden within it and offered to the tortoise as a tasty treat. The leaves and flowers of the Cucumber plant may be fed in small amounts to all species.

How often should I soak my tortoise?

Hatchling and young tortoises should be soaked daily decreasing this to every other day as they grow older. Older juvenile tortoises should be bathed 2-3 times a week and adult tortoises bathed weekly, but more frequently if kept indoors under heat lamps.

What can I feed my tortoise at home?

What Should I Feed My Pet Tortoise?Power Greens - Spring mixes, dark leafy greens and grasses/hay. ... Pellet Tortoise Food - Commercial/pellet food designed for these kinds of tortoises and is usually a great option.Fruits - These tortoises can eat fruits like berries, melon, kiwi and more.More items...

Do tortoises know their owners?

Yes, both tortoises and turtles can learn to recognize their caretakers. This does take time, but turtles and tortoises are very smart. They will learn your scent, sounds, and behaviors. They will come to associate you with food and safety.

What is poisonous to tortoises?

Many common plants are toxic, and keepers must make sure that their herbivorous chelonians are kept away from them....Common NameBotanical NameToxicityAmaryllisAmaryllis belladonna2Asparagus FernAsparagus sprengerii2, 3Arrowhead VineSyngonium podophyllum1Avocado (leaves, seeds)Persea americana256 more rows

Do tortoises eat everyday?

Healthy tortoises do eat every day but can easily skip a meal or two. On the colder months they do not necessarily eat every day. When tortoises hibernate, they do not eat for weeks as their metabolism slows down significantly.

Can tortoises eat banana?

They do offer some health benefits, such as a boost of potassium, fiber, and antioxidants. You can feed bananas to a tortoise, and most will enjoy the flavor and texture. However, limit the amount you offer since they're rich in sugar and can overload your tortoise with minerals.

What is poisonous to tortoises?

Many common plants are toxic, and keepers must make sure that their herbivorous chelonians are kept away from them....Common NameBotanical NameToxicityAmaryllisAmaryllis belladonna2Asparagus FernAsparagus sprengerii2, 3Arrowhead VineSyngonium podophyllum1Avocado (leaves, seeds)Persea americana256 more rows

Can tortoises eat banana?

They do offer some health benefits, such as a boost of potassium, fiber, and antioxidants. You can feed bananas to a tortoise, and most will enjoy the flavor and texture. However, limit the amount you offer since they're rich in sugar and can overload your tortoise with minerals.

Why do tortoises not eat?

Temperature: One of the most common reasons for pet tortoises losing their appetite is that their surroundings are too cold. The trend today is to keep young hatchlings on open tortoise tables, rather than in enclosed vivariums where the ventilation is more restricted and the temperature is higher.

Can tortoises eat rice?

All legumes and grains are prohibited food for turtles such as beans, corn, rice, pea pods, lentils, chickpeas and others. They should not be offered to tortoises in any form.

What Tortoises Eat

Despite the fact that tortoises don’t usually eat meat there are quite a lot of different types of food that they can eat. So to make things simpler I will divide them into 5 categories:

What to Feed Your Tortoise

Now that we discussed what a tortoise should and shouldn’t eat, let’s quickly cover how much of each category it should eat.

How to Properly Feed Your Tortoise

Over the years I’ve read about countless methods of feeding tortoises. But out of all of them, two stood out the most, being the most used and the most efficient. And they are the 15 minutes method and the size of the head method.

Tortoise Feeding Schedule

The first thing that you have to take into consideration when thinking about how often you have to feed your tortoise, or when making a feeding schedule, is the age of the tortoise. Baby tortoises need a different amount of food than juveniles, and juveniles need a different amount of food than adult tortoises.

Final Thoughts

While tortoises can eat a lot of things, not all of them can be good for them.

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What Do Tortoises Eat in the Wild?

The first part of learning how to feed a tortoise is recognizing that tortoises are not all made equally. What one species can eat will be slightly different from another species and these little differences matter.

Your Tortoise Nutrition Requirements

Ok, so it’s a common question from people “how do I feed my tortoise” with so much information around it is to become confused. The biggest part of this is what we discussed above about different species and the fact there is no “perfect diet”. Is there even a perfect diet for humans?

Prepared Tortoise Diets

It is common to visit the local pet store and pick up a prepared cat or dog food. When I first started keeping tortoises there was no option available for prepared foods for my shelly friends. However, things have changed and you can now readily get prepared foods. Here are some of the best available:

Natural or Prepared Tortoise Diets?

Just Prepared Foods – People who trust all the claims by the food manufactures and are willing to pay the extra cost for the convenience the prepared food offers.

How Much to Feed Your Tortoise?

One of the tricky parts of getting your tortoise diet correct is knowing how much food your tortoise needs. While the food choice is relatively easy once you know the species. People often believe that a tortoise can self-regulate their food intake while a tortoise does a good job they can still be overfed.

Healthy Weight and Size

I like the BMR method and it will stand you in good stead with getting your tortoise diet nailed down. However, you need to make sure that your tortoise weight and size are correct.

Tortoise Supplements

Many are now taking supplements as modern diets lack what bodies need. Tortoise is no different; they need vital vitamins and minerals to keep them healthy. There are three main supplements that store-bought foods lack vitamin D, calcium, iron, and fiber.

List Of Vegetables Tortoises Can Eat

An ailing tortoise can not only slow down your progress, but it might also be the death of it. We have put together a list of vegetables that you can feed your tortoise.

List Of Vegetables To Avoid Altogether

Vegetables are an essential part of a tortoise diet. You need to feed them vegetables to be sure they are receiving enough fiber and vitamins for their bodies.

List Of Fruits Tortoises Can Eat

In the wild, a tortoise’s typical diet is made up primarily of leafy greens and grasses. Tortoises cannot survive purely on fruit and should never be fed anything but fruit.

List of Legumes and Grains Tortoises Can Or Cannot Eat

Legumes and grains cannot be often be found in the staple diets of pet tortoises. In fact, all legumes and grains are prohibited food for tortoises. Most reptiles have a hard time digesting or getting the nutrients from legumes, grains, etc. These foods are not suitable for them at all.

Tortoise Diets (Land Turtle Feeding)

Tortoises are popular pets. These gentle reptiles prefer vegetation and vegetables. As such, most of these are herbivores. In captivity, tortoise accepts a variety of dark leafy vegetables, grass, hay, and weed. Occasionally, you can feed them fruits.

Feeding Habits of the Sulcata Tortoise ( Geochelone sulcata)

The sulcata tortoise also known as the African Spurred Tortoise is one of the most popular tortoise species kept as pets. While these species are massive, growing up to almost 3 feet and weighing up to 100 pounds, pet sulcata tortoises are easy to care for.

Feeding Habits of the Russian Tortoise ( Agrionemys horsfieldii)

The Russian tortoise also is known as the steppe tortoise, Central Asian tortoise or the Afghan tortoise is species which makes excellent pets. The Russian tortoise is a small species with adults reaching lengths of 5 to 10 inches. As small tortoises, they don’t take up much space and are easy to care for.

Feeding Habits of the Red-Footed Tortoise ( Chelonoidis carbonaria)

The red-footed tortoise is a south American tortoise. These small tortoises ate popular pets all over the world. While the length of an average adult red-footed tortoise is 12 inches, they can grow to be over 16 inches. Their shells, limbs, and heads are covered in dark red spots which gives them their common name.

Feeding Habits of the Leopard tortoise ( Stigmochelys pardalis)

The leopard tortoise is a stunning marked tortoise endemic to Eastern and Southern Africa. These markings closely resemble that of a leopard’s fur, thus their common name. These markings fade as they age. Adult leopard proposes can reach lengths of 16 inches.

Commercial Diets And Nutrient Supplements

Supplementing your pet tortoises’ diet with commercially produced diets is one way to ensure they acquire all the needed nutrition. Several excellent commercial diets have already been mentioned.

What do tortoises eat?

It is tricky to understand a tortoise diet. If you were wondering about the difference between a turtle and a tortoise, it is not as simple as scientific categorization. They are both in the order of Testudines, meaning they are all technically turtles. The difference is to do with their morphology.

1. Legumes and grains

All legumes and grains are prohibited food for turtles such as beans, corn, rice, pea pods, lentils, chickpeas and others. They should not be offered to tortoises in any form. This means fresh legumes, dried grains, rice cakes and any other form.

2. Vegetables

Despite the necessities of feeding vegetables to your tortoise, there are some which you will need to avoid altogether. They are:

3. Fruit

Fruit is an important part of a tortoise's diet, but equally important is limiting the amount they eat. Ideally, fruit should only provide for about 10% of a tortoise's total food consumption. The reason is due to the high sugar content which can cause significant damage over prolonged periods.

4. Mushrooms

A plate of mushrooms or a risotto can be delicious for us, but it is ill-advised for tortoises. In fact, feeding mushrooms to your tortoise could be fatal. Not only do they find them very difficult to digest, but they have the possibility of being poisonous to the reptile.

5. Sugar

Under no circumstances should you give your tortoise food with high-sugar content. This not only minimizes the amount of fruit you can give them, but it can seriously damage their internal organs. You should provide any human food for them in general, but those with added sugar, preservatives or colors are particularly dangerous to their health.

6. Dog food and cat food

Many people recommend supplementing a tortoise's diet with food for dogs and cats, particularly dry food. This is often the case with tortoise species like the red-footed tortoise as they need some protein in their diet. However, this is a mistake.

The Difference Between Turtle and Tortoise Diets

In the USA tortoises aren’t usually distinguished from aquatic turtles by name, with all shelled reptiles commonly identified with the blanket moniker ‘turtle’.

Subtropical and Mediterranean Tortoise Diet

The bulk of tortoise breeds fall into what I would call a ‘sub-tropical’ species bracket. Such species include:

Tropical Tortoise Diet

Tropical tortoises are a slightly different kettle of fish as far as diet goes. These species are native to tropical jungle regions in Africa and South America, as well as the arid grasslands of sub Saharan Africa.

Naturally Homegrown Foods are Best

Whilst shop bought vegetables can be nutritious enough as long as they’re washed, and ideally organic varieties (I’m not sure why some people argue otherwise), there’s no denying that home grown foods, or more specifically foods home grown by nature, are the healthiest option for tortoises.

Commercially Available Dry Food Products

There are specially prepared ‘dry’ tortoise foods available on the market which are a good way to add a bit of interest and variety to your tortoise diet.

Foods to Avoid Altogether

As you might expect, what constitutes food unsuitable for tortoises is a subject of great debate. Some people write off shop bought foods altogether because of the presence of pesticides. Personally I disagree with this, as long as suitable shop bought foods don’t form the bulk of your tortoise’s diet.

Supplements

Besides food and water the other important element of a tortoise’s diet is supplementation, or more specifically calcium supplementation. Calcium is an important ingredient in the ongoing growth and development of a healthy shell and skeleton.

Optimal Diet for A Sulcata Tortoise

The optimal diet for a Sulcata tortoise is a high fibrous and low protein one. Sulcata tortoises are herbivores as well as grazers, so their diet should be 80-85% hays, grasses, and weeds. The remaining 15-20% can be made of vegetables, occasional fruit treats, and pellet-type foods.

What Foods Should You Not Feed Your Sulcata Tortoise?

Seeing as Sulcata tortoises are herbivores, they shouldn’t be fed high-protein foods like dog and cat food. All grains should be avoided as well as human food and high quantities of pellet food.

How Much Should I Feed My Sulcata Tortoise?

How much you should feed your Sulcata tortoise depends on their age and activity level. The general guideline is to give them the same amount of food as the size of their shell.

How Often Do You Need To Feed Your Sulcata Tortoise?

There is no set frequency on when to feed your Sulcata tortoise. They can be fed daily or every other day. As long as they have daily access to grazing foods, you can use your best judgment on when to feed your pet.

Finally

Sulcata tortoises are loved for their dog-like personalities, which is why they are a popular choice for a tortoise pet.

How Often to Feed It

You can feed your tortoise once a day or twice a day. I would recommend twice a day of a good portion of mixed vegetables as mentioned above. The right measurement of food for your tortoise would depend on how big or small they are but usually a loose fist-size twice a day should be good.

Rock Food Plate

Having a rock food plate, I think is essential to have, as this keeps them from their food getting mixed with their bedding which if consumed can be dangerous for them. The food plate also has other benefits such as it is easy to keep clean and your tortoise knows this is a dedicated area where he can always find food.

Vitamins and Turtle Bones

Besides food, just like us humans, tortoises also need their regular dose of vitamins. Turtle bones are also good to have in your tortoise enclosure. They are a good source of calcium which is essential for your tortoise. Having one in their enclosure is also another way to help trim their beaks and avoid overgrown beaks.

Pellet Foods

There are a lot of tortoise pellet foods available in the market, but from my experience and based on my conversations with the vet, natural foods are always best for your tortoise.

Water Dish

Always have a low easy-to-access water dish in their enclosure. This may be used by your tortoise to drink from or to defecate. Ensure you change this every day.

Give Them Weekly Baths

Once a week you can soak your tortoise in warm water. This is good for them in so many ways as it is a way for them to remoisten their skin, absorb the water in the cloaca and just to cool off. You could use a toothbrush and lightly scrub their shell to scrub off any dirt.

Check for Shell Buildup

Tortoises breathe through their shells, so always ensure there is no build-up of oil or dirt that can block their oxygen transfer. There is no need to oil your tortoise, however, if you notice that their shell may be cracking or peeling off – you could gently wipe them down with a little coconut oil.