Contrary to what the above video states, all tortoises are not strictly herbivores. Forest Hingeback Tortoises routinely seek out live prey. I have seen Travancore Tortoises in my care walking about looking for slugs in their enclosures.I reckon it's just bad eyesight and possibly the scent of leaves or flowers - or not? Poor thing!
I have seen a couple different places that stated this same thing.I forget which issue it was in, but The Tortoise magazine, put out by the Turtle Conservancy had a long article on wild Aldabras that showed them eating/cannibalizing the flesh of other (dead) Aldabra tortoises. Take what you can get on an isolated island, I suppose.
Oh, yes.I came outside once and found my redfoot eating a dead bird. Don't think he caught it though I think it fell out of a nest.
I concur; my Russian sought out a slug a couple times in the garden. I pulled him away once, thinking he was going to eat it and that the protein was not necessary for his diet. ?♀️I've seen my Russians go after pillbugs and earthworms inside and crickets outside... of course I expect, and see, that behavior from my forest torts (a redfoot, an MEP, and a hingeback).
Jamie
I have read that carrion is a part of Redfoots diet. Maybe only dead meat?I concur; my Russian sought out a slug a couple times in the garden. I pulled him away once, thinking he was going to eat it and that the protein was not necessary for his diet. ?♀️
This article also made me wonder what all redfoots eat in the wild, in terms of protein.
They happily eat pinkie mice that have just been killed and are still warm. I am quite sure that they will eat anything that they can catch!I have read that carrion is a part of Redfoots diet. Maybe only dead meat?