# Feeding my indoor star tortoise



## gb328 (Sep 4, 2011)

Hey you all,

Im a newbie here and a newbie tortoise care taker. Just got myself a beautiful star tortoise from a friend has been with me for a week. He stays indoors 100% of the time and I keep the enclosure clean, dry and warm.

The problem is - he eats nothing except cucumbers !

Here are the things ive treid that he has rejected - grass from garden, coriander, carrots.

I live in India where stuff like dandelion greens, collard greens, endives etc are not availale. I dont have a personal lawn and can only pluck grass or buy greens from super market, organic though.

Is it OK to feed him these - 
cabbage ?
spinach ?
spring onion green ?
broccoli ?
methi or fenugreek leaves ?
radish - fruit or leaves ?
banana - fruit or leaves ?
red cabbage ?

Your advice is welcome !

Thanks


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## Jacqui (Sep 4, 2011)

gb328 said:


> Hey you all,
> 
> Im a newbie here and a newbie tortoise care taker. Just got myself a beautiful star tortoise from a friend has been with me for a week. He stays indoors 100% of the time and I keep the enclosure clean, dry and warm.
> 
> ...



I don't know the methi or fenugreek leaves, but if humans can eat them, I would say give them a try. Most of the above foods would not be ideal to feed all the time, but is okay as a part of a diet. Your going to need to get a list of these items and check to see what problems they are associated with and then try to balance the scale with other foods.

With the radish, it's the leaves not the radish bulb. Do you have turnip greens?

I hope somebody who is more familiar with your area and it's stores will come forward and tell you what they feed. I am just not much help, sorry.


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## gb328 (Sep 4, 2011)

thanks Jacqui for the suggestions, am trying the above and shall see if he likes anything.. turnip greens are seasonal and also usually come to the market without leaves, just bulbs.. also any advice on how many times should he be fed or can i just place the food in the his pan and forget about it and replace daily.. thanks again for the time !


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## Jacqui (Sep 4, 2011)

Especially now that your not getting him to eat, I would leave it in there, just keep it fresh. Forgot, the bananas, don't feed the fruit. Try to stick with the greens. What other greens do you get in? Greens meaning leaves, not just green ones. Can you order in things like Mazuri prepared tortoise food?

Another thought, what kind of flowers and house plants do you have? Only wanting ones with no fertilizer or chemicals added. This list can be trickier and more likely to find not so good plants, but also may find some good ones to feed. Might be wanting to grow some of your own plants.


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## gb328 (Sep 4, 2011)

those are basically all the greens available here really, am looking for hibiscus flowers and also the mazuri food you mentioned..hopefully i should be able to order online.. about growing indoors, nope, tried that, didnt work because of the whether here, also because of my schedule I don't have much time to look after the plants, barely manage with my birds and tortoise


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## Sky2Mina (Sep 4, 2011)

Hello again 
I'm also struggelling on the food-question, but I have more greens (lettuces) available than you.
Don't feed too much cabbage and spinach. And fruit should be given very rarely, as a treat. Maybe once a month. Less is good.

Do you have this plant in your country: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzyhbNnDqeTTYNL8XOlf1h7Gja77Ixi_OVlHW-WfLCy8OaZb29
According to Thai websites, it's edible. I gave it to mine and he liked it (mixed with other greens). If you can pluck grass, that would be good as well, as long as it's free of pesticides. There are more 'wild' plants you can feed, but I'm not sure which (and if they are available in your country). Still in the process of learning which natural foods are safe to feed, so if I know more, I'll let you know. 

If he doesn't like 'new' (good) food, just keep giving her until he is hungry enough to eat it.
Tortoise don't starve themselves.

Btw, if you find out what natural plants from india are safe to eat, please share. Maybe they are available in thailand as well.

Mina


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## gb328 (Sep 4, 2011)

hey Mina, thanks for the response. Yes will share new food items when I do find  thanks for the tips, knowing that he will not starve I have more courage to try new foods with him ! Unfortunately the plant you mentioned is not available here so Im exploring hibiscus today !


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## dmmj (Sep 5, 2011)

Do you like radishes? you could grow radishes and eat them and feed the tops to your tort.


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## Sky2Mina (Sep 5, 2011)

Hibiscus is great! I didn't have the chance to give it to mine yet (have to steal it from someones garden lol) but you should try if you get the chance.


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## gb328 (Sep 5, 2011)

thanks guys - radish is easily available here so will try getting the leaves home ! 
And yes, me also planning on stealing the hibiscus myself


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## coastal (Sep 8, 2011)

Do you have Mulberry trees around? Being from India you should, you can feed these as a staple green they are very healthy for them. Just chop them up!


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## Sky2Mina (Sep 9, 2011)

Ooh, by the way, the tree in the picture I showed you... I found out the name: Indian Mulberry (morinda citrifolia L.) - who knew!


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