good food ideas for Russian torts?

[jrmhwatkins]

any ideas for a good diet

 

[Cathie G]

any ideas for a good diet

I feed my little Russian dandelion greens, plantain, and as many wild untreated safe leaves and flowers as possible. You are at the right site for help...look in the topics on the care of Russians. Best wishes.

 

[Blackdog1714]

Plantain weeds only last a day when placed in my Russian’s enclosure. Hibiscus leaves and flowers, honeysuckle and old style mizuri

 

[jrmhwatkins]

Plantain weeds only last a day when placed in my Russian’s enclosure. Hibiscus leaves and flowers, honeysuckle and old style mizuri

thanks for the idea

 

[jrmhwatkins]

I feed my little Russian dandelion greens, plantain, and as many wild untreated safe leaves and flowers as possible. You are at the right site for help...look in the topics on the care of Russians. Best wishes.

thanks

 

[Cathie G]

thanks

You are so welcome...and Blackdog just gave me an idea with honeysuckle. My little Russian likes yellow dandelion flowers so I'm going to try honeysuckle... I guess we're both learning

 

[Blackdog1714]

I have some very old vines-over 50 years. The old growth they will eat the leaves and blooms- new growth that is still green and the vine gets ate too!

 

[Esc]

Our Russian loves the leaves of radish, cauliflower, kale, chard and broccoli plants; all of which we grow in our winter garden here in south Texas. He also eats store bought cole slaw mixes (without the dressing) and any organic mixed greens.

 

[RosemaryDW]

All of the items listed above are good.

My Russian loves everything! It’s always a good idea to look at the options unique to where you live. Portland is a big city with broad demographics; are any of the Asian or latino markets near you? Latino markets sell cactus (nopales) which is a great food. Asian markets carry all kinds of things, depending on the market; my Korean market has the most options.

I’m not sure about the farmers markets there, other than that there are a lot of them. If you’ve got one that caters to Asian or Indian populations they sell all kinds of things that are good for tortoises but that you and I might think of as weeds. For example: melon and squash leaves, which are super high in fiber. Mine likes bittermelon vines best, followed by Chayote (a kind of squash) vines. But I find a lot more things than that if I keep my eyes open.

 

[jsheffield]

In the summer, my Russian loves dandelion leaves and flowers, plantain leaves, hibiscus flowers, and just grazing his way around the outside enclosure I set up for him.



In the cold months, he mostly eats a spring mix my local market carries. I mitigate this with some rehydrated hibiscus flowers and wakame seaweed, along with a bit of pumpkin and butternut squash.

I sprinkle his food with a homemade vitamin power made from hibiscus flowers and wakame seaweed (both dried, then powdered in the blender).


All of my torts seem to love red-colored foods, so this powder does a good job at attracting their attention (although the pic above is less red than the powder actually looks) as well as hitting some nutritional bases that the spring mix may miss.

Jamie

 

[MichaelL]

Mine will literally run to me if I have hibiscus or any red food. I feed kale, florida pusley, weeds, ferns, romaine, roses, mulberry leaves, so many things to feed.