# Carrots



## trophy427 (Nov 18, 2012)

Just a quick question I was just going through the fridge and wanted to give the torts a little treat in the morning. 
Would carrot be okay? 
Do torts even eat carrot? Or is it two hard? 
I have 4 hermann and two spur tigh.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Nov 18, 2012)

There are many ways to answer your question, all will have alternate opinions expressed.

Carrots are not a directly consumed thing by tortoises, if you mean the orange underground part. But carrots are indeed native to the parts of European inhabited by testudo species. So is it a 'natural' food. Not what you buy in the store, but it is based on a natural food for these tortoises, so store bought is OK. Would a tortoise eat a wild carrot, on the occasion that the root was exposed by some other animal, they probably would, but that is speculation. I do not recall hearing or reading of Testudo digging to expose carrot tap root.

But all tortoises are corophages, they eat the feces of whatever else is around eating and defecating. So they would no doubt eat a great deal of carrot tainted feces in the wild, as many animals can readily dig to the top of that tap root, and eat some, many do.

What are the values of carrot? <http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/2886> to see.

But there is another really great thing about some small portion of the diet being carrot, it has anti-helminth properties that kill and limit nematodes, naturally.

So some small amount of carrot is a good thing overall. How much? I would guess about as much as 1 to 3 % every third or fourth meal. Not much. This is how much, about, that is use.

Will


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## ascott (Nov 18, 2012)

....plus, they just love it  You can use the cheese grader to shred some over their greens and then mix it into the greens...


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## trophy427 (Nov 18, 2012)

Thanks for getting back I was just going to use it as a treat as I have a stray carrot in the fridge.


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## kanalomele (Nov 19, 2012)

I do the same with my Russians. Cheese grate up a carrot for them every once in awhile. Not a thing wrong with it in my opinion!


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## Jacqui (Nov 19, 2012)

If you allow them to try eating the carrot whole, it is a great item to help with keeping those beaks ground down.


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## ascott (Nov 19, 2012)

> I have a stray carrot in the fridge.




I have never seen one pass by let alone become a stray in my fridge.... lol....you are lucky...


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## Tom (Nov 20, 2012)

Little bit, mixed in, once in a while, is great.


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## Moozillion (Nov 20, 2012)

My Hermann's, Elsa, LOVES carrots! She will pick out all the carrot she can find and will leave her greens- which amazes me because she usually gobbles up her greens. Then of course she's extra hungry the next day because she skipped her greens, hoping for more carrots!


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## furandscales (Nov 20, 2012)

If your grate it or slice it its fine for a treat. Just not to often!


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## diaboliqueturtle (Nov 20, 2012)

Tom said:


> Little bit, mixed in, once in a while, is great.



Does the " once in awhile" only apply to Russian? I refused my vet's offer of a vitamin A shot in favor of adding carrot to my red foot's diet...


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## furandscales (Nov 20, 2012)

Not sure. I only own a russian tortoise and don't know much about other species of tortoises!


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## Tom (Nov 20, 2012)

diaboliqueturtle said:


> Tom said:
> 
> 
> > Little bit, mixed in, once in a while, is great.
> ...



I am not a redfoot keeper, but I'll share what general info I have gleaned from those who are. Two main problems with carrot for most tortoises. 1. Lack of fiber (in comparison to grass or some weeds). 2. High sugar content. Redfoot tortoises seem to fare well with more fruit in their diet, as well as some meat based protein, in contrast to most other species where we try to avoid fruit and meat based protein most of the time. Being that they are more amenable to low fiber sugary foods, I would speculate that a redfoot would be okay with more carrot, more often than... say a leopard tortotoise, for example. I am speaking about accepted generalities here. I know a few people will want to respond with some technicalities about sulcatas eating meat, or redfoots going meatless, but I think you get the point.

Also, I wholeheartedly agree with your decision to refuse the Vitamin A shot. I have seen many instances of vitamin A shots killing tortoises. I would find a new tortoise vet if I were you or at least be VERY careful about what services you accept or ask for from this one.


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## evlinLoutries (Nov 21, 2012)

I gave all my torts carrot sometimes, and theres nothing worried about..


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## Alan RF (Nov 21, 2012)

I give my red foot grated carrot about once a month and mix if with grated butternut squash. He prefers the squash minds!


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## diaboliqueturtle (Nov 21, 2012)

Tom said:


> I am not a redfoot keeper, but I'll share what general info I have gleaned from those who are. Two main problems with carrot for most tortoises. 1. Lack of fiber (in comparison to grass or some weeds). 2. High sugar content. Redfoot tortoises seem to fare well with more fruit in their diet, as well as some meat based protein, in contrast to most other species where we try to avoid fruit and meat based protein most of the time. Being that they are more amenable to low fiber sugary foods, I would speculate that a redfoot would be okay with more carrot, more often than... say a leopard tortotoise, for example. I am speaking about accepted generalities here. I know a few people will want to respond with some technicalities about sulcatas eating meat, or redfoots going meatless, but I think you get the point.
> 
> Also, I wholeheartedly agree with your decision to refuse the Vitamin A shot. I have seen many instances of vitamin A shots killing tortoises. I would find a new tortoise vet if I were you or at least be VERY careful about what services you accept or ask for from this one.



Ok great, thank you! I do give some to her everyday, as part of her salad (forest tortoise, Mazuri, leafy greens, carrot peels and the veggie of the week) but in terms of quantity, it does not amount to a whole lot, perhaps the equivalent of a 1/2 inch cube/day. I could do the carrot every other week if that's better for her. 

In the vet's defence, he did offer the vitamin A shot but he said I could correct it through diet as well. I knew the better option thanks to TFO


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