Daily diet feed on romaine lettuce and bokchoy bad ??

Joined
Jul 8, 2021
Messages
125
Location (City and/or State)
Chennai
I own 4 beautiful geochelone elegans babies or juveniles... correct me what iam doing is right or wrong, if wrong please suggest to make it right.
So im feeding them hibiscus leaves and flowers, romaine lettuce, bokchoy as a daily diet routine food diet for them,.. occasionally i feed them ladies finger and string beans.

In India we dont have any good readymade food like mazuri. And also several many weeds and plants mentioned in google and some articles are not available in my location hence im using these above mentioned diet.

Any experts or researched or common keepers can help me to add any additional food diet which safe for my elegan babies.

Thanks in advance!

Hoping for many good possible suggestions as many as possible....
 

jaizei

Unknown Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
9,054
Location (City and/or State)
Earth
A good start is identifying the weeds that are local to you, and checking if they're non-toxic or edible. Generally, if its edible for humans, it should be safe for tortoises. Or if you're hesitant about doing this on your own, you could post pictures of your local weeds and someone on the forum might be able to ID them and advice you if they're safe.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I own 4 beautiful geochelone elegans babies or juveniles... correct me what iam doing is right or wrong, if wrong please suggest to make it right.
So im feeding them hibiscus leaves and flowers, romaine lettuce, bokchoy as a daily diet routine food diet for them,.. occasionally i feed them ladies finger and string beans.

In India we dont have any good readymade food like mazuri. And also several many weeds and plants mentioned in google and some articles are not available in my location hence im using these above mentioned diet.

Any experts or researched or common keepers can help me to add any additional food diet which safe for my elegan babies.

Thanks in advance!

Hoping for many good possible suggestions as many as possible....
More variety is necessary. The weeds recommended by jaizei are a great way to go, but also some freshly sprouted tender grass, other types of leaves and flowers, and even other grocery store greens. How about cilantro (coriander), arugula (aka "rocket" in the UK), collard or turnip greens, kale, Italian dandelion, any kind of squash leaf or bloom, mulberry or grape vine leaves, moringa tree leaves, spineless opuntia pads?
 

minimoo

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2021
Messages
17
Location (City and/or State)
Upstate NY (junction of VT/MA)
Have you tried contacting Mazuri directly to see if they have distributors near you? Mazuri is part of Purina Feeds, so perhaps you might be able to see if a retailer of Purina livestock foods, or maybe even pet foods can special order it for you?

Otherwise, Google says this place can get you Mazuri in India, but I have no idea if this website is legitimate:

Hope this helps!
 
Joined
Jul 8, 2021
Messages
125
Location (City and/or State)
Chennai
More variety is necessary. The weeds recommended by jaizei are a great way to go, but also some freshly sprouted tender grass, other types of leaves and flowers, and even other grocery store greens. How about cilantro (coriander), arugula (aka "rocket" in the UK), collard or turnip greens, kale, Italian dandelion, any kind of squash leaf or bloom, mulberry or grape vine leaves, moringa tree leaves, spineless opuntia pads?
Yeah i do give spineless cactus often, and grape leafs dont grow much here so very rare,.. i will try to convert those names in our language and ill check if it is available. And dandelion is very very rare in India almost none.
But main question is that im adding these rimaine lettuce and bokchoy in their daily diet is it okay?? And i do mix with hibiscus leaves and flowers and spinless cactus.
 
Joined
Jul 8, 2021
Messages
125
Location (City and/or State)
Chennai
More variety is necessary. The weeds recommended by jaizei are a great way to go, but also some freshly sprouted tender grass, other types of leaves and flowers, and even other grocery store greens. How about cilantro (coriander), arugula (aka "rocket" in the UK), collard or turnip greens, kale, Italian dandelion, any kind of squash leaf or bloom, mulberry or grape vine leaves, moringa tree leaves, i
 
Joined
Jul 8, 2021
Messages
125
Location (City and/or State)
Chennai
I was able to find out the leaves available in my country and i have mentioned below its benefits,
Moringa leaves,

arugula:
Tortoises can eat garden rocket, but it should only be given to them in moderation. When consumed in excess, garden rocket – also known as arugula or rucola – can increase the risk of developing kidney and bladder stones due to the goitrogens it contains.

Turnip greens:

Turnip Greens (the leaves of the Turnip plant) are also high in calcium and in iodine which lessens the goitrogen effect, making it acceptable to feed the leaves and flowers in moderation. Never feed the root of the Turnip to tortoises.

Kale:
Tortoises can eat kale, in fact, kale is a good source of calcium for all species of tortoises. The oxalic level in kale is not high enough to be toxic to tortoises. ... Vegetables, greens, and fruits are a good source of vitamins but should be fed sparingly since they lack minerals
 

SPILL

Active Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2018
Messages
149
Location (City and/or State)
Illinois
Moringa drumsticks, pumpkin leaves, gongura, amaranth greens, fenugreek greens (methi), and lemon grass are a few things that I pick up from an Indian market here in the States. They seem to especially enjoy the gongura and pumpkin.
 
Joined
Jul 8, 2021
Messages
125
Location (City and/or State)
Chennai
Moringa drumsticks, pumpkin leaves, gongura, amaranth greens, fenugreek greens (methi), and lemon grass are a few things that I pick up from an Indian market here in the States. They seem to especially enjoy the gongura and pumpkin.
Are you from India? I do see your state as illinois,.. thanks for that list with Indian local names... I will add these too for my stars...
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
But main question is that im adding these rimaine lettuce and bokchoy in their daily diet is it okay??
No. Not okay. More variety is necessary. Find other things, and/or amend those foods by adding dried leaves, soaked ZooMed pellets, soaked horse hay pellets, ZooMed flower topper, etc...
 

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
7,119
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
Can you post some pictures of your tortoises?
 

New Posts

Top