# "Best" diet for new owners, pellets or something else?



## RosemaryDW (Jul 7, 2016)

Recent threads on pellet diets have me questioning the little I know about tortoise diets. After a few months watching new owners struggle to make the best choices for their tortoises, I am wondering what is the "best" diet to recommend to people who live in difficult climates or with limited resources?

I read repeatedly about, and now recommend, weeds and safe plants as the best choice. But I have resources many members do not. I have access to a good climate with some open (pesticide free) areas, I have reasonable experience identifying plants, and perhaps most importantly, I have the time to track food down. Even if I didn't have those resources, I live in an area where buying safe foods is easy.

Growing safe foods, on the other hand, was not terribly easy for me. I have limited space and none of it has very good sun and shade. My efforts with testudo seed mix, good as it is, were not very successful. Finding weeds is actually easier for me than growing anything.

I'm not experienced with pellet foods and am never likely to be. Perhaps they are a better choice than I understand? For members who are brand new, who have limited resources, would It be better to recommend a pellet food? Overnight delivery doesn't go everywhere, but it does reach a lot of places! If there is a reasonably stable diet available in a short timeframe, maybe it should be the first recommendation? I'll never be the expert so many folks here are but I'd like to be the most knowledgeable member I can.


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## Tom (Jul 7, 2016)

Mazuri tortoise chow is a good supplement for a varied diet. Zoomed Grassland pellets are a good way to amend grocery store produce and make it better for tortoises. Neither are good as a sole food source.

Unfortunately, providing the right diet for our pets takes some effort. There is no easy, quickly bought solution. They need variety, the proper balance of nutrients, and high fiber. I think if a person wants an easy, quick solution to this "problem", then a tortoise might not be the right pet for them. There are lots of pets whose diet can be bought in a bag in a store. Tortoises are not one of those. I find it easy to buy, grow, or scrounge up the right foods, and I'm feeding out 2 or 3 five gallon buckets a day to my hungry herd. Feeding one tortoise should not be that much of a challenge. Pellets to the exclusion of other stuff, is not the solution.


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## BrianWI (Jul 9, 2016)

Tom said:


> Mazuri tortoise chow is a good supplement for a varied diet. Zoomed Grassland pellets are a good way to amend grocery store produce and make it better for tortoises. Neither are good as a sole food source.



I would bet they would do OK on it, like a dog on dry food. We all know there are better diets, we just don't want the hassle in some cases. I like some living foods in any diet.


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## RosemaryDW (Jul 10, 2016)

Tom said:


> I think if a person wants an easy, quick solution to this "problem", then a tortoise might not be the right pet for them.



I completely agree but many of our members have already gotten a tortoise before they figure this out. So what is the "best" advice to help them get their tortoise to a healthier diet? I'm definitely not suggesting anyone buy a bag of tortoise chow and leave it at that! But would it be better to suggest they start looking for new sources of food while they feed their tortoise a bag of kale? Or better to add those new foods to a pellet diet? I honestly don't know, it's why I'm asking. 



Tom said:


> I find it easy to buy, grow, or scrounge up the right foods, and I'm feeding out 2 or 3 five gallon buckets a day to my hungry herd. Feeding one tortoise should not be that much of a challenge.



You find it easy now but perhaps it was not so easy at the beginning? Like me, you have resources that some new members do not. You have available land to grow food; you are in what seems to be a somewhat rural area with some access to local, safe food; you've got years of experience identifying safe foods and managing animal diets. (You're handy, too!)

You are right, feeding one tortoise should not be that much of a challenge! But clearly for some members it is, at least at the beginning.


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## Tom (Jul 10, 2016)

RosemaryDW said:


> I completely agree but many of our members have already gotten a tortoise before they figure this out. So what is the "best" advice to help them get their tortoise to a healthier diet? I'm definitely not suggesting anyone buy a bag of tortoise chow and leave it at that! But would it be better to suggest they start looking for new sources of food while they feed their tortoise a bag of kale? Or better to add those new foods to a pellet diet? I honestly don't know, it's why I'm asking.
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I read you loud and clear. I re-read your posts here a couple of times, hoping a clear answer would jump out at me. It didn't. I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all answer for this one. All pellets isn't good, and all grocery store foods isn't good. I think each person is going to have to come up with their own solution. Pellets are a good way to add some variety and get things going in the right direction. Once a tortoise develops a taste for Mazuri, that can be a good "vehicle" for introducing all sorts of other new and better foods.

If grocery store produce must be the majority of the diet, endive, escarole and spring mix are good things to favor. Kale, collard mustard and turnip greens are good for variety. Carrot tops, celery tops, watercress and cilantro are all good to add in some variety. Some occasional grated squash or pumpkin or sliced bell pepper makes a nice treat. Grating and mixing in some cucumber will often get tortoises eating new stuff too. Opuntia pads can be found at most stores nowadays. For grass eating species, people can find sprouted grass at pet stores and grocery stores.

Mulberry trees and grapevines grow all over this country. Many of the best foods are easy to grow in pots. For large sulcatas you can't beat grass hay as a staple.

I hope these suggestions will give some helpful ideas.


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## Jodie (Jul 10, 2016)

Unfortunately there is not an answer we can give new people that is easy. Feeding tortoises requires a variery of foods.


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## BrianWI (Jul 11, 2016)

Jodie said:


> Unfortunately there is not an answer we can give new people that is easy. Feeding tortoises requires a variery of foods.



I would say one of the issues is that Mazuri is meant for "tortoises". It can't be ideal for all of them. Now, ZooMed Grassland might be closer for a sulcata. Mazuri L.S. may be, too. The closer the commercial diet is to ideal for a species, the more comfortable I would be in raising its relative percentage in the overall diet. But then again, we probably don't truly know what is ideal for each species. In those cases, variety usually better covers their needs.


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