# Horsefield Tortoise Diet



## emmahaddock25 (Jul 22, 2014)

Hi everyone  just a quick question! My horsefield tortoise is almost 2, I feed her leaves on a daily basis but wanted to vary her diet slightly. I heard that they are allowed fruit every so often so I sometimes give her a strawberry. Are they allowed to eat fruits such as raspberries and watermelon every now and then?


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## Elohi (Jul 22, 2014)

Hi there!
From my understanding, and I'm still learning, fruit should be very limited for Russians. An occasional treat, and not a regular part of their diet. 
I adopted two Russians recently so I am still learning about them myself. 



Elohi(Earth)


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## Tom (Jul 22, 2014)

I wouldn't feed them any fruit at all. Here are some ideas for variety:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds: 
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food


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## Elohi (Jul 22, 2014)

@Tom
I know Russians are not grass eaters but are there grasses they do eat? Not like turf grasses but pasture grasses? I'm looking to add more fiber and variety to my Russians diet. They are adults. This may be helpful to the OP as well. 


Elohi(Earth)


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## zenoandthetortoise (Jul 22, 2014)

For even my blatantly-non grass eaters (even Redfoots) I add finely chopped grasses such as wheat, Timothy and orchard grass to the 'salad', working from the premise that despite my best efforts, fiber content is likely below natural diet levels. No idea if it's needed, but I can't conceive of how it could hurt. Plus, it helps me sleep better


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Jul 23, 2014)

Yep, but not very often (high sugar content)


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## johnsonnboswell (Jul 24, 2014)

Don't feed fruit. Feed flowers.


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## tryme (Sep 7, 2014)

Nettles as in stinging nettles?!!


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