Good Foods for Omnivorous Torts

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Kirsten_Lenz

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All my literature says that Redfoot torts should be eating some animal protein like slugs, worms, snails, mealworms and millipedes as the bug section and cat or dog food as the other. What KIND of dog/cat food? Kibble or wet canned? Any ideas would be great! I tried taking Ellie outside in the summer to graze but she wasn't interested in the grass at all. She just wanted to walk around. I also tried to get her to eat Timothy Hay, another no go. Also tried Hibiscus flower blooms & still nothing. The only foods my tort will accept are these:

1.Pineapple
2.Strawberry
3.Canned Peach from Del Monte
4.Kiwi
5.Banana
6.Grape or Cherry Tomatoes (in moderation)
7.Watercress
8.Green Leaf Lettuce
9.Romaine Lettuce
10.Zoo-Med Forest Tortoise Diet (Canada's equivalent to Mazuri)
11.Zoo-Med Mango Chunk Treats

Any other ideas? Help! I've only had a tort for 2 years!

Kirsten && Ellie (Female Redfoot 5yrs old)
 

Yvonne G

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I'm baby sitting a couple of redfoot tortoises. I occasionally give them Purina Pro Plan - Weight Management dry cat food (moistened). The also get hard boiled chicken eggs once in a while including the shells. They absolutely LOVE Mazuri tortoise Diet.

In my opinion, your tortoise is getting too much fruit. Try offering her some escarole, endive, raddiccio, turnip greens. If she won't eat this, then cut them up a bit and toss them with a jar of fruit baby food to coat.
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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Redfoots may be more omnivorous that Testudos, sulcatas, leopard, or gopher tortoises, but they are still not as omnivorous as box turtles. Roughly half of a box turtle's diet consists of plants (including leafy greens, flowers, and fruits), and the other half of fungi and prey (mushrooms, snails, slugs, earthworms, insects, and the occasional carrion). Redfoots don't need that much meat. They should still be eating mostly leafy greens. They do go for flowers sometimes, and they like a little fruit and mushrooms in their diet. You can also supplement their diet with snails, slugs, insects, or chicken (cooked) about once a month. You can give them commercial tortoise food (Mazuri Tortoise Diet or ZooMed Forest Food), and you can also give them some commercial canned box turtle food.

So basically, they still eat most of the same things other tortoises eat, but just require a little bit of supplementation from fruits, mushrooms, and invertebrates. If redfoots don't get some animal matter in their diet, they can develop health problems, but if they get too much, they can become unhealthy, too. All they need is a little bit of meat, and they're fine. Snails are good because they provide both protein in their meat, and calcium in their shell. The only catch is we can't use snails from gardens sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. Snails can also be carriers of parasites, but that's not usually a problem in civilization. The main thing here is the chemical sprays. If you want, could set up a small aquarium and raise your own pond snails. When I had my redfoot tortoise, the prey I usually gave her was snails, and she loved them; she even used to eat the shells when they were empty. :)
 
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