A weekly varied diet?

[TaylorTortoise]

Hello,
What is a weekly varied diet I could stick to but mix up every now and then?
Does anyone know if spring mix one week is good for russian tortoises and then maybe switching the greens to dandelion weeds from a produce store? I also add cactus pads cut up on the lettuce... I wanted to my tort some zoo med flower topping for an additional variety.
Let me know what can be fed more than usual that is safe!

does anyone know if kale is safe?

 

[Tom]

Hello,
What is a weekly varied diet I could stick to but mix up every now and then?
Does anyone know if spring mix one week is good for russian tortoises and then maybe switching the greens to dandelion weeds from a produce store? I also add cactus pads cut up on the lettuce... I wanted to my tort some zoo med flower topping for an additional variety.
Let me know what can be fed more than usual that is safe!

does anyone know if kale is safe?

You are on the right track, but need to expand your thinking just a little more.

Best to use an assortment of broadleaf weeds, leaves and flowers from all around you. Learn to ID those, and try to add in some of the right ones. If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Spring mix is okay once in a while. Add in kale, arugula, turnip, mustard, dandelion and collard greens, cilantro, and more for variety. To the grocery store greens add in the flower topper, and you can also soak and mix in some ZeeMed Forest or Grassland chow too. I still like Mazri for this as well.

I don't know where Abington is, but if its in the USA, go to Will's site, @Kapidolo Farms , and get some of the many types of dried leaves he has to offer to mix in. He's got dried Moringa, Dead nettle, mulberry leaves, clover, echinacea, and soooo any more. These are a great and easy way to add fiber and variety to grocery store greens.

Realize that adding in new foods and making changes will take a long slow introduction process. Putting a new food on a tray and offering it to your tortoise will most likely result in the tortoise ignoring the food. Start all new things slowly by mixing in a tiny tiny bit of the new stuff with old favorites. Gradually, over a period of weeks or months, add more and more of the new stuff.

Don't just do one of these things. Try to do ALL of these things. This will give your tortoise the variety, fiber, and nutrients it needs.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Hello,
What is a weekly varied diet I could stick to but mix up every now and then?
Does anyone know if spring mix one week is good for russian tortoises and then maybe switching the greens to dandelion weeds from a produce store? I also add cactus pads cut up on the lettuce... I wanted to my tort some zoo med flower topping for an additional variety.
Let me know what can be fed more than usual that is safe!

does anyone know if kale is safe?

Sounds like you have a good handle on variety & mixing things up. You don’t have to have a large daily mix, but mixing things up & adding a variety of things is great. Spring mix, dandelion greens, dandelion blossoms, some other flowers like hibiscus. Yes, kale is safe, especially when mixed in with your large variety of greens.

Check out @Kapidolo Farms ”extras” that can be hydrated & mixed in as well.

- ✅ https://kapidolofarms.com/161-2/

good luck.

Ps - I see that Master Tom provided a very thorough response. ✅✅

 

[TaylorTortoise]

You are on the right track, but need to expand your thinking just a little more.

Best to use an assortment of broadleaf weeds, leaves and flowers from all around you. Learn to ID those, and try to add in some of the right ones. If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Spring mix is okay once in a while. Add in kale, arugula, turnip, mustard, dandelion and collard greens, cilantro, and more for variety. To the grocery store greens add in the flower topper, and you can also soak and mix in some ZeeMed Forest or Grassland chow too. I still like Mazri for this as well.

I don't know where Abington is, but if its in the USA, go to Will's site, @Kapidolo Farms , and get some of the many types of dried leaves he has to offer to mix in. He's got dried Moringa, Dead nettle, mulberry leaves, clover, echinacea, and soooo any more. These are a great and easy way to add fiber and variety to grocery store greens.

Realize that adding in new foods and making changes will take a long slow introduction process. Putting a new food on a tray and offering it to your tortoise will most likely result in the tortoise ignoring the food. Start all new things slowly by mixing in a tiny tiny bit of the new stuff with old favorites. Gradually, over a period of weeks or months, add more and more of the new stuff.

Don't just do one of these things. Try to do ALL of these things. This will give your tortoise the variety, fiber, and nutrients it needs.

Cilantro? Like the herb? They can have that ? 0___o

also, i have kale.. but kale isnt the best diet I saw or should only be fed in moderation.
i will look into the dried leaves, i was going to go to the pet store and just pick up some flower toppings by zoo med. my tortoise LOVES and waits for his food and wakes me up sometimes to let me know its time to eat xD he’s got an appetite for a tortoise.

 

[TaylorTortoise]

Cilantro? Like the herb? They can have that ? 0___o

also, i have kale.. but kale isnt the best diet I saw or should only be fed in moderation.
i will look into the dried leaves, i was going to go to the pet store and just pick up some flower toppings by zoo med. my tortoise LOVES and waits for his food and wakes me up sometimes to let me know its time to eat xD he’s got an appetite for a tortoise.

Can collard greens be a good diet to add with other toppings? As a main salad for them?

 

[Tom]

Can collard greens be a good diet to add with other toppings? As a main salad for them?

Kale by itself fed every day would NOT be a good diet. Kale fed once in a while along with lots and lots of other foods, is a great addition to the diet, as is cilantro, collard greens, and all the other foods mentioned. None of them are good all by themselves fed every day. You need a wide variety. The mix-ins add even more variety and fiber, and make for an excellent diet.

 

[RosemaryDW]

You can mix in any of the brassicas: mustard greens, collards, radish and turnip leaves, arugula, bok choy, kale, mizuna, tatsoi, as part of a varied diet. Not the primary diet, which should be more chicory (lettuce) based. Dandelions are chicories so that’s good. Look for other bitter chicories at your grocery store: radicchio, endive, frisee, escarole. They’ve got less sugar and a bit more fiber than the soft lettuces we usually eat. There will probably be a bit of these in your spring mix but the bag will be mostly soft lettuces.

If your grocery store sells the ReadyPac brand, look for Santa Barbara salad mix; it’s all bitter chicories.

You can offer cilantro, some tortoises eat it.

Once you are more comfortable with the basic diet, you can start to consider the weeds and wild foods around you but you’ve got time for that.

 

[Erisna]

I’m in the same boat as you, trying to mix up the diet for a Russian while depending mostly on grocery store greens (I live in a heavily landscaped area with very few weeds I trust not to have been fertilized/herbicided/pesticided/peed on by dogs etc.); it helps me personally to have a kind of routine, so this is what I’ve been trying. Every time I have to pick up tortoise food, I pick up a “staple” green and a “variety” green. The staple green is what everyone has been recommending: some type of chicory! Escarole, endive, etc. The variety green is something different every time from the selection that has been recommended here. This cycle it’s collard greens. I feed them both in about equal proportions, supplemented with calcium + D3 powder 1-2 times a week and zoomed grassland pellets daily for fiber. When it’s time to pick up food again I just pick a different variety green. This way she gets different greens on a regular basis but I don’t buy so much at a time that they start going bad or go insane trying to find space in my fridge for a bunch of bundles of greens. ?

As a disclaimer I’m very new to proper tortoise keeping, if anyone more experienced then me gives different advice follow them instead! I just know how much it helps me to have a kind of routine and thought I’d share it in case it helps anyone else.

 

[Tom]

I’m in the same boat as you, trying to mix up the diet for a Russian while depending mostly on grocery store greens (I live in a heavily landscaped area with very few weeds I trust not to have been fertilized/herbicided/pesticided/peed on by dogs etc.); it helps me personally to have a kind of routine, so this is what I’ve been trying. Every time I have to pick up tortoise food, I pick up a “staple” green and a “variety” green. The staple green is what everyone has been recommending: some type of chicory! Escarole, endive, etc. The variety green is something different every time from the selection that has been recommended here. This cycle it’s collard greens. I feed them both in about equal proportions, supplemented with calcium + D3 powder 1-2 times a week and zoomed grassland pellets daily for fiber. When it’s time to pick up food again I just pick a different variety green. This way she gets different greens on a regular basis but I don’t buy so much at a time that they start going bad or go insane trying to find space in my fridge for a bunch of bundles of greens. ?

As a disclaimer I’m very new to proper tortoise keeping, if anyone more experienced then me gives different advice follow them instead! I just know how much it helps me to have a kind of routine and thought I’d share it in case it helps anyone else.

I think your plan is near ideal for someone limited to grocery store greens for whatever reason, when all the elements are considered. I'd love to see some of Tortoisesupply.com's herbal hay, or a variety of the dried leaves from @Kapidolo Farms mixed in to add even more variety to your already decent base.

Hopefully, over time, you'll find or grow some broad leaf weeds, flowers and other good stuff to feed in a addition to the grocery store stuff with the mix-ins. Its a big world and there are good tortoise foods all over it.