i am really stressing out over what i am feeding my hermen. I put 2 - 3 pinches of carrots and cucumber in the food bowl and a few danilion leafs and a kale leaf in there dayily and spinkle a calcuim suppliment over it all, i vary it with differnet weeds some times and a tomato maybe once a week because she loves them, my tortoise seems happy and poops regular as far as i no, she also has a kuttle bone and fresh water avaible to her at all times, and i regulaly top up food and change the food to fresh suplies. But is this a healtly diet for her???

Also can ne one tell me why a ice burg lettuce is so bad for a tortoise, or for a once in a month treat is this fine? i havent give it to her but i am wondering.

ne1 ne avice i dont want to be posioning her?

Humans use iceburg lettuce in order to lose weight because there is hardly any nutrients in it. When you feed it to your tortoise, you are feeding him something that is not providing any calories, only water. Here's what Hermannicris says to feed in care sheet posted :

Feeding: Hermann’s tortoises require a diet rich in fiber and very low in protein. Commercial diets are usually safe for these animals but in moderation. When feeding hatchlings commercial tortoise foods pay close attention to growth because pyramiding can easily happen in young specimens. As stated before, allowing tortoises regular access to a variety of edible weeds, grasses and flowers induces natural grazing which in return promotes proper growth. Fruits should not be offered to these animals unless it is once in a blue moon. Romaine and red leaf lettuce are safe in smaller amounts while ice burg lettuce is not at all. A calcium supplement is recommended when feeding Hermann’s tortoises and these can easily be found in most pet stores world wide in the form of a powder. Cuttle bone commonly used for birds is a great source of calcium for these tortoises especially gravid females. The animals will simply gnaw at the brittle bone until they are satisfied. I feed my tortoises every other day and allow them to graze every day in the warmer months.

Ice burg lettuce is not poison it just has NO nutritional value. It’s better to give them a treat with some nutritional value than a treat that has none. Let’s look at it this way Humans use Ice Burg lettuce as a filler. You get a salad in a restaurant before your meal that is full of ice burg lettuce maybe a sprinkling of tomato for color, it helps fill you up, gives you crunch but that’s about all. You don’t get many calories let alone nutrition unless you drowned it in dressing and add other things like nuts or cheese to it. If you look at restaurant food; Salads that are made as a main meal the lettuce is usually healthier lettuces that have more nutrients like romaine, red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, tomatoes, fruits, or other stuff and often a mixture of these. The key is variety. In the wild the torts get to pick and choose. they eat a little of this and a little of that every day. Since I have been keeping torts I have really increased my diet of greens. And I find growing them when I can the best of both worlds. Rosiee, where are you located?

u live in the south west of england like i said i do vary the weeds i am feeding her but her diet is mainly dusted carrot ,cucumber, a kale leaf and a few danillion leafs.
thats good to know about the iceburg lettuce.

i meant i live in the south west

In the UK you will find plenty of edible weeds and plants all year around, at the moment weeds are up everywhere, in the winter i still manage to feed weeds occassionally top up with squash and Romaine

Hi Rosie
I always recommend this site for excellent diet for Mediterranean tortoises http://www.tortoises.net
Hope this helps
Sue