Food diet

[Maggy]

I wanted your guys opinion on the current diet that my little Hermanns tortoise is eating! Currently he gets a mix of romaine lettuce, bok choy, collard greens and some green beans mixed in. Every so often I will find dandelion at the store which he will also get, what do you guys think?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Green beans are not good, far too high in protein, but the leaves are okay in small amounts a s part of a mixed diet.
If you can't pick broad leafed weeds in your area then have a look at :
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/nutrientanalysis.htm
the ones in bold are best.
A nice varied.

 

[Tom]

I wanted your guys opinion on the current diet that my little Hermanns tortoise is eating! Currently he gets a mix of romaine lettuce, bok choy, collard greens and some green beans mixed in. Every so often I will find dandelion at the store which he will also get, what do you guys think?

Grocery store foods are not great. Those things are okay to feed once in a while in small amounts mixed in, but those things are not ideal as staples on a regular basis.

Please go into your user profile and put in a location so we know where you are when giving advice.

Since I don't know where you are, I'll give the general advice to learn about your local weeds, and also to buy some seeds and grow your own. We will help you ID some of your weeds if you post pics, and every local nursery has a local "weed nerd" that will be able to help you ID the stuff in your area.

If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole heavily, but use lots of other things, like what you listed, for variety. Add carrot tops, cilantro, kale, turnip greens and more to your list.

In addition to the weeds, al to of common plants and tree leaves are good for them too. Here is a starter list of some good options:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

 

[Maggy]

Ok thank you so much for the information. I updated my profile and I live in Salt Lake City Utah and I have found it pretty difficult to find stores that have the weeds that you have listed so if anyone could help me out that would be great!!