I'm getting redfoots. Are any commercial diets recommended? I realise that I will need to feed my babies fresh food for the most part, however I like the idea of a "complete" commercial food, just to ensure I'm not inadvertently feeding them a deficient diet. I know you really can't believe what manufacturers say, so I thought I'd ask you all if there's anything you would recommend.
Also, I will be bringing back pellets for my new cockatiel (vet school is a fabulous opportunity to expand my zoo ) are these ok to give to the torts on occasion? the pellets I'm bringing back are Garden Goodness by Zupreem, they've got dried bell pepper, peas, tomatoes and apples as well as "nutritious nuggets" with no artificial colours, would it be ok to offer this to my little guys if I add a little warm water and make it into mash? I also have access to an organic hermit crab food store, she makes all her own food and has lots of tasty options, the foods are dehydrated and either ground or chopped finely (http://www.thehappyhermitcrab.com/) they're all fruits and veggies and even some seafoods and bugs (crickets, mealworms etc) as well as juice soaked cuttlebone.
Speaking of cuttlebone, will I need to bring down a calcium supplement, or can I just shave cuttle bone onto my tort's food? Is there a preferred method of giving calcium supplement?
Any other good food tips for a newbie?

The commercial foods are for the most part formulated for all tortoises, which is the same as a universal food for dogs, cats, and ferrets. The best diet for redfoots has to be formulated at home for their dietary needs. You feed different tortoises differently. A good diet can be found on http://www.redfoots.com. The basic diet is greens, fruits, and some protein. The things you listed could be used on a limited basis as treats. If you want you can put a cuttlebone in with your tort, it will knaw on it periodically.

I see you are in the Caribbean and an article on feeding RFs that references some native foods of these guys that we on the mainland have limited or no access to. http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/fe...foots.html

This post was last modified: 03-27-2008 04:30 AM by Itort.

oh wow, thanks for the resources. I was planning on giving them a little of whatever I eat every night, but I guess I'm going to have to make a feeding schedule for them. I'll have to see if I can find some of those "better" greens at the farmers market, since I rarely find anything but romaine lettuce in the store. I'll also have to figure out how to covertly steal hibiscus leaves/flowers from the trees in the tortoise enclosure at school

Where in the Caribbean will you be ? I think alot of the tropical fruits (with the exception of citrus) would be very welcome to the little guys. Truthfully, I'm jealous of your opportunity to get what is likely closer to their native diet then the rest of us.

I'm on the island of St. Kitts, unfortunately the tortoises here are not native, they were imported at some point in time from the mainland. However mangoes, papaya, pineapple and a lot of more exotic fruit like golden apple, star fruit, christophine (squash-type thing) and passion fruit grow here on the island. Unfortunately the apartment I'm living in next semester has no fruit trees But I know someone who does have fruit trees and the farmer's market has tons of neat produce. The people here say that there are "seasons" for things, but I think that really, each tree has its own season depending on when it was planted lol. There have been pineapple, papaya, plantain and oranges available every week since I got here in January. Mangoes seem to be available often too
Does anyone know if christophine aka chayote squash is safe for the torts?
What about cooked sweet potato or pumpkin? (I know raw sweet potato is bad for some types of animals like birds)
I know bananas aren't great, but what about plantain? Raw or cooked?
These are things, in addition to bell peppers, broccoli and cauliflower that I can find with certainty all the time

Well, being from the midwest I'm unfamiliar with a majority of the tropical fruits but I know papaya is fantastic for redfoots (I feed it whenever it's available), pineapple is good, mango is good and the christophine sounds real promising (fruit, leaves,and roots). I'd hesitant about the tropical plantain. The peppers,broccoli, and cauliflower wouldn't feed. Passionfruit is one the plants Pritchard speaks of as native food for RFs. I'd suggest researching the latin names Pritchard lists and crossing them to common names. I think you'll find you are in RF paradise.

ok will do! I have a whole week off coming in April (between semesters) so I can do a little research then I'm finishing off regular exams right now and then will be preparing for finals, so I won't have a heck of a lot of time to do research b/w now and then. I mostly wanted to know what I'll need to buy off island for them. By the sounds of it I won't need any off island foods

"complete" commercial food for tortoises are mostly soy = (

yes, I had noticed that too, which is why I asked. I know with other animal feeds (mammalian to be exact) soy is considered a high quality source of protein and if the whole seed is used and not the extrude then it's also a good source of fats. I wasn't sure whether tortoises handle plant protein the same way. In the nutrition course I'm in we were told that corn and soy were excellent sources of digestible energy/protein for domestic mammals (dog/cat/cow/horse) however I still feed my cats a mostly meat based kibble, because I have a hard time believing that an obligate carnivore that lacks a lot of the duodenal enzymes to process plants is able to optimally digest plants to get what they need from them. Being that tortoises are herbivore/omnivore (which is part of my attraction to them, no whole prey) I was wondering if they were better equipped to digest the plant based diets.