# Romaine lettuce



## jstec (Feb 23, 2013)

I have a baby leopard tortoise I feed him a diet of mostly mixed grasses and a commercial grassland tortoise food I also give dark greens but I feed him romain lettuce twice a week bc he LOVES it. He come running over immediately and can't seem to eat enough. I know it's not hunger bc he eats the other things I give him the rest of the days. Does anyone else have a tortoise that prefers something it shouldn't have alot of?


----------



## wellington (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

My leopard loves Christmas cactus. Not the flower though, just the cactus pads. He also loves Rose of Sharon flower, but not the leaves.


----------



## jstec (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

We have one of those as a house plant maybe ill try giving him some tmr to see if he likes it!


----------



## RedfootsRule (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

Yeah, most torts love romaine lettuce...But its not very healthy, and shouldn't be relied heavily upon. As a treat, its fine.


----------



## MikeCow1 (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

Romaine really isn't that bad:
One cup of romaine lettuce has:

8.0 calories
0.58 gram protein
1.0 gram fiber
16 milligrams calcium
116 milligrams potassium
11.3 milligrams vitamin C
64 micrograms folate
48.2 micrograms vitamin K
1637 micrograms beta carotene
1,087 micrograms of lutein + zeaxanthin.


----------



## mainey34 (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*



MikeCow1 said:


> Romaine really isn't that bad:
> One cup of romaine lettuce has:
> 
> 8.0 calories
> ...



Agree, its not that bad. As long as they are eating a good diet I dont see a reason not to give some romaine..I feed it...


----------



## RedfootsRule (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*



MikeCow1 said:


> Romaine really isn't that bad:
> One cup of romaine lettuce has:
> 
> 8.0 calories
> ...



Is it bad? Of course not; its not UN-healthy. Its just not worth very much compared to other greens in nutrition. Its a "filler", in other words. Can it be fed? Of course it can. Just not something that should be over-relyed on, or much of a staple in the diet. Once a week or so as a treat, why not. But people tend to use it a lot because they notice how much their torts like it. (Not talking about the OP)


----------



## CtTortoiseMom (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

Redfootsrule and I got into a conversation re: romaine in another thread. I include it in the tort's diet's because of its high water content because I feel the tortoises are more dry and a little dehydrated in the winter. He agreed that it was high in water but suggested squash as an alternative because it also has a high water content but is more nutritious. So, just food for thought


----------



## RedfootsRule (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*



CtTortoiseMom said:


> Redfootsrule and I got into a conversation re: romaine in another thread. I include it in the tort's diet's because of its high water content because I feel the tortoises are more dry and a little dehydrated in the winter. He agreed that it was high in water but suggested squash as an alternative because it also has a high water content but is more nutritious. So, just food for thought



True, true. I guess you had success with it as a "hydrator" with Bob, right? So I suppose it has its uses.
Then again, "filler" might not matter...Jacqui mentioned it about mushrooms, that we don't always need to feed the highest-nutrition foods, and she may be right.
Really, my main reason for it is just because torts become addicted. I found with mine that when I offered it, they refused other foods and wanted only that. For that reason, I just excluded it. "Filler" might not really matter....


----------



## GeoTerraTestudo (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

Nothing wrong with romaine, as long as it's part of a varied diet.


----------



## Madkins007 (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

My take on this is a little different, and sort of matches everyone else's. Tortoises are programmed by nature to eat in two different ways- wander and nibble, or sit and gorge. They do not instinctively have much of a regulatory mechanism to help them eat right, and they don't need one- most of their territories are so skimpy on good food that they rarely get the chance to fill up on bad stuff.

So, one option you have is to feed your torts a healthy 'first meal' that is portion-controlled to avoid obesity, then offer something they can fill up on that has a decent load of water, fiber, nitrogen, etc. but is low on calories. Romaine or even Iceberg lettuce works nicely for this, although I usually use spring mix or other lettuces.


----------



## jstec (Feb 23, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

Little Hubert will continue to his twice a week mixed in snack


----------



## GBtortoises (Feb 24, 2013)

*RE: Romain letuce*

Romaine should not be fed exclusively or as a major component of a tortoises diet. No one food should be a major component of a tortoises diet on a regular basis. By feeding a good quality _constantly varied_ diet your tortoise will have the ability to consume a multitude of vitamins and minerals.

Romaine is beneficial as part of a good quality varied diet.


----------



## Mich (Feb 24, 2013)

jstec said:


> I have a baby leopard tortoise I feed him a diet of mostly mixed grasses and a commercial grassland tortoise food I also give dark greens but I feed him romain lettuce twice a week bc he LOVES it. He come running over immediately and can't seem to eat enough. I know it's not hunger bc he eats the other things I give him the rest of the days. Does anyone else have a tortoise that prefers something it shouldn't have alot of?



What type of grasses does he eat? My leopard (4yrs old) doesn't show any intrest in grasses, when outside she may chomp on dandelion or clover but never grass. Wish she would. I've put both fresh and dried grasses in her enclousre but still no interest.


----------



## mctlong (Feb 24, 2013)

Romaine got a bad rep because there was some bad information floating around saying tortoises can live solely off romaine lettuce. This, of course, is untrue, so tortoises fed a diet consisting of this one lettuce and nothing else were not thriving. This led people to conclude that romaine was bad. Romaine lettuce, however, is not _bad_. It is not toxic and it does provide _some_ nutrition. 

The key, as already pointed out, is variety. Romaine is fine, but only as part of varied diet. Any tortoise fed on any one food for an extended period of time will have nutritional deficiencies because there is no one food that provides 100% of a tort's dietary needs.

Back to the OP - my Russian's guilty pleasure is hibiscus flowers. He'd sit there and gorge himself all day if he could.


----------



## jstec (Feb 24, 2013)

I feed him Timothy hay and orchard grass that is a little softer I leave both his cage so whenever he wants he can hide under/in it or snack on it iv only seen him actually eating it about once a week though I know it's not normal for them to eat it this young but he seems to like it every once and awhile


----------

