# Corn and olives



## laramie (Aug 10, 2011)

Does anyone know if corn and green olives (orany olives) are okay for torts?


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## ascott (Aug 10, 2011)

What type of tortoise? I know that an occasional corn on the cop as a treat is ok...I don't know about olives though????? 

LOL I meant corn on the coB not coP....ooopsss


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## laramie (Aug 10, 2011)

ascott said:


> What type of tortoise? I know that an occasional corn on the cop as a treat is ok...I don't know about olives though?????





Wilbur is a sulcata. what about corn nibblets?


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## ascott (Aug 10, 2011)

I would not feed them from the can (ick) however, if you thaw out frozen or better yet stand the corn and shuck the niblets off into a pile all should be good....but again, this should kinda be a treat type goodie  (in my opinion)

as a matter of fact, short story  this is the only thing that i could get my old man humphry to eat when i was trying to get him to crap out the sand impaction he had.....swear by them, if it were not for the niblets....I don't know that he would have "worked" it out, along with the 2-3 soaks every day  ok, done


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## laramie (Aug 10, 2011)

ascott said:


> I would not feed them from the can (ick) however, if you thaw out frozen or better yet stand the corn and shuck the niblets off into a pile all should be good....but again, this should kinda be a treat type goodie  (in my opinion)
> 
> as a matter of fact, short story  this is the only thing that i could get my old man humphry to eat when i was trying to get him to crap out the sand impaction he had.....swear by them, if it were not for the niblets....I don't know that he would have "worked" it out, along with the 2-3 soaks every day  ok, done




Thanks ascott


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## Madkins007 (Aug 10, 2011)

Corn on the cob or similar version of corn is a bit high in sugars for a regular food item but many torts seem to like it as a treat. When you offer it on the cob, they often chew on the cob for days.

Olives, on the other hand, are a little fatty and a little salty- both are OK in small amounts, and have little nutritional value otherwise. If I had some olive chunks in a leftover salad I was offering the torts, I would not bother to pick it out, but I would not use much of it. 

(My 'go to' site for nutritional data is http://www.elook.org)


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## GBtortoises (Aug 11, 2011)

I agree with Mark-corn is a high enough in sugars that it should not be a regular part of a tortoise's diet. It also has a very lopsided (to the bad side) calcium to phosphorus ratio. About all it has going for it as far as being beneficial for a tortoise is that in raw form it contains a pretty good amount of vitamin A. But not much else. 

I feed mine raw corn on the cob when it's in season around here because it's easy to obtain and usually free. For about a month they get it more often than at other times. The rest of the year they get very little to none.


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## laramie (Aug 11, 2011)

Thank You everyone for all your advice


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## ascott (Aug 11, 2011)

just a side note.....vitamin A is a great vitamin to the tortoise immune system...so little treat shots of it is always good


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## Madkins007 (Aug 11, 2011)

ascott said:


> just a side note.....vitamin A is a great vitamin to the tortoise immune system...so little treat shots of it is always good



There are a lot of nutrients that are lacking in a lot of grocery store foods- vitamins A and E, iron, etc. Offering a varied diet helps compensate, but the really annoying thing about nutrients is that nutrient X often blocks nutrient Y- like calcium blocks iron absorption- and they need iron.

It is often a good idea to offer a small amount of a food that is on the 'so-so' or even 'not great' list once in a while just to help ensure that the tortoises are getting the best range of nutrients.

(Sure, you can use vitamin supplements or high-quality pelleted foods too, but dietary approaches are generally better overall.)


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## Jacqui (Aug 11, 2011)

I too fed corn on the cob in season. My oldest Bells hingeback has that as a favorite food. Humanizing him I know, but I think he looks forward to his summertime treat of corn on the cob as I do to my fresh tomatoes.  Eating it off the cob, also is good for the beak.  As for the olives are you talking fresh?


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## laramie (Aug 11, 2011)

Jacqui said:


> As for the olives are you talking fresh?



I guess I am wondering about all kinds of olvies


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## Jacqui (Aug 11, 2011)

You'd want to be sure they were pitted, so the seed didn't get digested. I would go the natural one, if I were going to try it myself. Of course, I have only had processed ones. What do they taste like before being processed?


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## Tom (Aug 11, 2011)

Every once in a while I use those frozen mixed veggies, just for a convenient treat and easy meal. It has corn, carrot, peas and green beans. I would NOT feed any of these regularly, but once in a while (every 30-60 days) is fine in my opinion. Aren't olives pickled? I don't think a handful of those would hurt an adult sulcata, but I wouldn't feed any to a hatchling.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Aug 11, 2011)

We never feed corn or olives.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Aug 12, 2011)

There is a spectrum of digestibility that different turtles have evolved to exploit. From easiest to more difficult to digest, the spectrum goes like this:

*Meat > Fruit > Forbs > Grass*

Examples of turtle species that go along this spectrum are, respectively:

*Box turtles > Redfoot tortoises > Mediterranean tortoises > Sulcatas*

Notice that grains and olives are not on this spectrum. This is because grains are high in starch, and olives are oily. These fruits are more suitable for birds and mammals that are adapted to eating grains and fruits (like primates, including humans). However, the turtles that could handle them best on an occasional basis only would be more to the left on the spectrum - those at are omnivorous and frugivorous. Browsing and grazing tortoises would have a tougher time with those foods, so I would not give it to them.

Incidentally, this is a similar problem to what industrial agriculture has when feeding cattle. Cows, like sulcata tortoises, are adapted to eating mostly grass and some forbs. When agribusinesses feed them grain, they develop ruminal acidosis and infections that require antibiotic intervention. If you want to avoid analogous problems in your sulcata tortoise, stick to the grasses and forbs, and avoid the grains and fruits, especially corn and olives. A rare treat might be acceptable, but these foods don't really mimic anything they are adapted to eat anyway (except maybe the corn, since they might eat fruiting grasses sometimes), so I don't see any reason to feed them these items at all.


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