Food for a elongated tortoise

TiaAnaise2002

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Mar 2, 2022
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Hi I have a elongated tortoise and I’m from the uk I’m struggling with stuff I can feed him as I’ve tried feeding him a variety of food and he will only eat cucumber, lettuce, melon and mushrooms occasionally I’ve tried feeding him meal worms and wax worms and he loved them he seemed like he had a burst of energy when he had them…. I was hoping someone could suggest some things that are easy to get in the uk that I could feed him Thankyou.
 

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You should try introducing more greens into his diet. Such as escarole, endive, turnip greens, mustard greens, or dandelion greens. If he is not taking to the greens you should mix up what he won't eat with what he likes. If you thoroughly mix his food he will be less likely to pick out the good stuff and eventually he will get used to the taste of the greens and eat them by themselves.
On top of those greens I also feed mine human grade snail, sweet potatoes, blueberry, strawberry, blackberry, watermelon, papaya, banana apple, turtle diet on occasion, mazuri LS tortoise pellets, Zoomed Gourmet tortoise food, zucchini, shredded carrots.... And I'm sure I am leaving something out.
My schedule goes something like this: whatever is in season fruit-wise about once a week, some form of protein meal once month and a rotating selection of greens, veggies, or pellets the rest of the time.
 

wellington

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Fruit and protein should be fed once a week not daily.
More grasses and weeds for main diet.
 

mark1

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i kept them and fed them exactly as i kept redfoot tortoises

Indotestudo elongata (Blyth 1854) – Elongated Tortoise, Yellow-headed Tortoise, Yellow Tortoise
Flora Ihlow1 , Jeffrey E. Dawson2 ,Timo Hartmann1 , and Sitha Som

The Elongated Tortoise is an omnivorous generalist (Ihlow et al. 2012; Sriprateep et al. 2013) and its diet seems to vary according to availability by habitat and season (Ihlow et al. 2012). For example, numerous authors have remarked that I. elongata is highly frugivorous (Bourret 1941; Pritchard 1979; Das 1985; Tikader and Sharma 1985). However, Ihlow (pers. obs.) found fruits to be nearly unavailable and of little importance in the diet of tortoises in open dipterocarp forest in northern Cambodia. Van Dijk (1998) reported that I. elongata in western Thailand ate primarily herbaceous leaves, fruits, and mushrooms. In areas where Elongated Tortoises do consume a variety of fruits, they may play a role in the dispersal of plant seeds (van Dijk 1998). Based on the food preferences of captive animals, Biswas et al. (1978) suggested that the fallen flowers of Shorea robusta were eaten by wild tortoises. One scat from a wild I. elongata in Myanmar consisted primarily of grass (Platt et al. 2001). Plant species confirmed to be eaten by wild Elongated Tortoises include: Amaranthus lividus, Basella rubra, Chromolaena odorata, Coccinia grandis, Crytococcum accrescens, Cyanotis cristata, Cypreus spp., Dillenia spp., Ficus racemosa, Gomphrena celosioides, Ruellia tuberosa, Sida acuta, and Sida subcordata (van Dijk 1998; Sriprateep et al. 2013; Ihlow, pers. obs.). Statements from tortoise hunters in Myanmar suggest that additional plants consumed by I. elongata include: Allium spp., Dolichandrone spathacea, Millettia brandisiana, Markhamia stipulata, and Olax scandens (Platt et al. 2001). Fungi, particularly the fruiting bodies of mushrooms (e.g., Termitomyces, Russula), are
readily eaten when available (Thirakhupt and van Dijk 1995; Manthey and Grossmann 1997; van Dijk 1998; Platt et al. 2001; Ihlow et al. 2012). Indotestudo elongata also frequently consumes animal material and has been observed preying upon earthworms, slugs, and thin-shelled terrestrial snails (e.g., Quantula striata, Hemiplecta distincta; Nutaphand 1979; Manthey and Grossmann 1997; Ihlow et al. 2012; Sriprateep et al. 2013). Indotestudo elongata has also been documented to scavenge carrion, such as the carcass of a snake (Oligodon albocinctus; Som, pers. obs.; Fig. 9) and the heavily decomposed skull of a civet (Viverra cf. zibetha; Ihlow et al. 2012). The species will also eat the excrement of other animals (van Dijk 1998; Sriprateep et al. 2013). The remains of insects and crabs have been found in the feces of I. elongata (van Dijk 1998; Ihlow et al. 2012). Juveniles have been observed to feed on ants (Ihlow, pers. obs.). Van Dijk (1998) also found sand and soil in the feces of I. elongata; in some cases, the volume of soil seemed to indicate that the material had been intentionally ingested. Hunters in Myanmar noted that tortoises consume eggshells from the hatched nests of the Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus; Platt et al. 2001). Distinctive patterns of seasonal changes in body mass have been observed in Cambodia and Thailand (van Dijk 1998; Ihlow 2012), most likely due to seasonal availability of food and drinking water. Tortoises were found to increase in mass during the rainy season and slowly lose mass during the dry season.
 
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