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Hi, my tortoise Phoenix-Vern seems to have trouble eating green beans as they are too tough, some say they are good for him so is there any way I can make them easier for him to eat? :/
Green beans
- Thread starter bumblebee51
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Do you chop them up in small pieces?
Green beans are contains too much protein, you should not feed them to Pheonix-Vern 
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Coreyc,
No I don't but I'll do that, thanks
Lots of people say green beans are fine! It's annoying because people are telling me different and it's really confusing!
No I don't but I'll do that, thanks
Lots of people say green beans are fine! It's annoying because people are telling me different and it's really confusing!
here is my best advice for deciding on what to feed them, figure out if they would ever encounter it in the wild. I would say baring an accident where a truck of beans would overturn in the hermanns natural area they would never encounter them. Try to figure out what their natural food sources are and mimic them as best as possible. Fruits and vegetables are usually to high in fiber an sugars for a hermanns, A treat every so often won't hurt.
We do not feed green beans, not a food that they would encounter in the wild.
Like what dmmj said, anything that a tortoise would not eat in the wild can be considered something to chuck out of a captive tortoise's diet. Also, green beans have a really bad calhos ratio.
hos ratio.
bumblebee51 said:Coreyc,
No I don't but I'll do that, thanks
Lots of people say green beans are fine! It's annoying because people are telling me different and it's really confusing!
I feed my torts green beans (uncooked) 1-2X a month, and feel that is a safe interval (and they love 'em!), but not more often.
I agree with the mimic what they would eat in the wild...if you can't feed weeds as the primary diet, or want to supplement that, greens and dark leafy lettuces are the next best thing, plus a bit of edible flowers, and maybe some cactus/pumpkin/squash as a treat. I would not feed green beans. I know its tough to have conflicting advice, but I'd give some thought to it as well as do some research on your own. Sure, a little bit of anything won't hurt, but the way I see it, I don't like to feed foods that are just "ok"...I like to feed the more ideal foods, and I think there are still enough of them to go around for a varied diet. Spring mix, dandelion/turnip/mustard/collard/radish/watercress greens, etc.
I've been told that, in many parts of their range, European tortoises get into gardens and crop-feilds and eat all kinds of things growing there, including green beans...but only in places where there have ever been people... 
adding too the mimicing what the may encounter in the wild.if you do the research you may find things that are very similar to things that may not be obtainable in your area,for example they may not come accross grean beans but maybe something that has the same nutritional content in that case why not substitute the green beans,but you have too do the work too figure out what ya can and can't feed.
Bumblebee, I share your frustration sometimes and can understand. The thing is, there are lots of ways to handle every aspect of tortoise care, diet being just one. Each care sheet you find on the internet is just one person's opinion based on their experience and their successes or failures. Here on the forum you get LOTS of people's opinions all at once. Its up to each of us to decide whats best for us. The fact of the matter is: If you never feed green beans, you can raise a very healthy tortoise. On the other hand, you can also raise a very healthy tortoise if you DO feed them green beans once in a while.
I don't have any Hermann's tortoises (although I've got plans to get some), so I'm no Hermanns expert, but here are some of MY opinions on tortoises in general: For a couple of decades most tortoise people thought that protein caused pyramiding. We now know that protein has very little to do with it. Still the bias against any kind of protein persists. I, personally, think that a little occasional vegetable based protein is a good thing in tortoise diets. Some of the top pros in the industry think that the average tortoises diet out there is protein deficient. THey NEED some protein in their diet. Like anything it IS possible to use too much of a good thing.
While I'm at it, here's my thought on "mimicking" wild diets. I don't know how anyone could do this. I have African tortoises. I can buy African plants, but how do I know which African plants occur in the same area where the ancestors of MY tortoises came from. How do I know which ones they eat and in what proportions over the course of a year. I was in South Africa in the range of wild leopard tortoises and I didn't recognize any of the plants. It is possible to do, but it seems like you'd have to go to the natural range, take lots of pics, get ALL the plants ID'd, see which ones they eat over the course of a year or two and in what proportions, then try to even find all of them here at home, in the right balance, buy them all and plant them and THEN try to make sure that they don't eat too much of any of them in their relatively tiny (compared to the wild) enclosures. Of course, every few miles within their natural range, you are likely to find all sorts different plants. Quite possibly thousands of different species of plants. Seems pretty impossible to me. I DO try to plant some plants that I'm pretty sure occur in their natural range, but I just use that as a small, fun part of their varied, balanced diet. I find it much easier and more practical to just stick with things that work well in captivity, are practical, and have a long history of proven success.
I feed various legumes to all of my tort species occasionally. Its never caused me any problems. Peas, green beans, lima beans, garbonzo beans, kidney beans, etc... I only do this once in a while and mixed in with other stuff (like greens) on the days I do it.
Now here's a question for all the people who said to mimic your tortoises natural diet: What commonly available plants occur in the natural range of the Hermanns? Even though I can't possibly mimic the diet entirely, I do find it fun to try and grow and feed them SOME of the plants that occur within their natural range. I use it as PART of their varied diet, when I can figure these things out. Is there a website or a list somewhere that shows some the the plants that are good for this? Thanks in advance for any help.
I don't have any Hermann's tortoises (although I've got plans to get some), so I'm no Hermanns expert, but here are some of MY opinions on tortoises in general: For a couple of decades most tortoise people thought that protein caused pyramiding. We now know that protein has very little to do with it. Still the bias against any kind of protein persists. I, personally, think that a little occasional vegetable based protein is a good thing in tortoise diets. Some of the top pros in the industry think that the average tortoises diet out there is protein deficient. THey NEED some protein in their diet. Like anything it IS possible to use too much of a good thing.
While I'm at it, here's my thought on "mimicking" wild diets. I don't know how anyone could do this. I have African tortoises. I can buy African plants, but how do I know which African plants occur in the same area where the ancestors of MY tortoises came from. How do I know which ones they eat and in what proportions over the course of a year. I was in South Africa in the range of wild leopard tortoises and I didn't recognize any of the plants. It is possible to do, but it seems like you'd have to go to the natural range, take lots of pics, get ALL the plants ID'd, see which ones they eat over the course of a year or two and in what proportions, then try to even find all of them here at home, in the right balance, buy them all and plant them and THEN try to make sure that they don't eat too much of any of them in their relatively tiny (compared to the wild) enclosures. Of course, every few miles within their natural range, you are likely to find all sorts different plants. Quite possibly thousands of different species of plants. Seems pretty impossible to me. I DO try to plant some plants that I'm pretty sure occur in their natural range, but I just use that as a small, fun part of their varied, balanced diet. I find it much easier and more practical to just stick with things that work well in captivity, are practical, and have a long history of proven success.
I feed various legumes to all of my tort species occasionally. Its never caused me any problems. Peas, green beans, lima beans, garbonzo beans, kidney beans, etc... I only do this once in a while and mixed in with other stuff (like greens) on the days I do it.
Now here's a question for all the people who said to mimic your tortoises natural diet: What commonly available plants occur in the natural range of the Hermanns? Even though I can't possibly mimic the diet entirely, I do find it fun to try and grow and feed them SOME of the plants that occur within their natural range. I use it as PART of their varied diet, when I can figure these things out. Is there a website or a list somewhere that shows some the the plants that are good for this? Thanks in advance for any help.
Tom said:
Some EXCELLENT points, Tom!
As for what do Hermann's tortoises eat in their home range...all kinds of "weeds" and vegetables/greens (many of which were planted by humans)...tortoises are as common in European gardens as rabbits and rodents (if there's food and a way to get to it...), and if a tortoise has access to a patch of green beans, it'll eat as many as it can!
Another "foreign" plant that European tortoises love (in a big way) is prickly pear cactus (Opuntia, of various varieties) , which, while being origially native to the Americas, has been found, at least since the late 1800s, in the Mediterranean region of Northern Africa, where they grow all over the countryside, and southern Europe, especially on the island nation of Malta, where they grow all over the islands, and can be found in enormous numbers in parts of South Africa, where it was introduced from South America.
Seriously doubt any tort will turn it's nose up at ANYTHING edible...they're practcal like that!
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Thank you everyone, some great advice there , and Tom, good luck with getting your Hermanns tortoises!They're lovely
, and Tom, good luck with getting your Hermanns tortoises!They're lovely While I'm at it, here's my thought on "mimicking" wild diets. I don't know how anyone could do this. I have African tortoises. I can buy African plants, but how do I know which African plants occur in the same area where the ancestors of MY tortoises came from. How do I know which ones they eat and in what proportions over the course of a year. I was in South Africa in the range of wild leopard tortoises and I didn't recognize any of the plants. It is possible to do, but it seems like you'd have to go to the natural range, take lots of pics, get ALL the plants ID'd, see which ones they eat over the course of a year or two and in what proportions, then try to even find all of them here at home, in the right balance, buy them all and plant them and THEN try to make sure that they don't eat too much of any of them in their relatively tiny (compared to the wild) enclosures. Of course, every few miles within their natural range, you are likely to find all sorts different plants. Quite possibly thousands of different species of plants. Seems pretty impossible to me. I DO try to plant some plants that I'm pretty sure occur in their natural range, but I just use that as a small, fun part of their varied, balanced diet. I find it much easier and more practical to just stick with things that work well in captivity, are practical, and have a long history of proven success.
Read more: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Green-beans--24850#ixzz1HBPDse8wtom just too clarify when i say mimic i mean mimic the nutritional intake the tort may require which as i stated can be done by finding vegetation with similar qualities as the ones indigenos too the torts natural habitat in my opinion you would not want too feed a diet made up of things that the animal would never encounter on its own in its range
Read more: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Green-beans--24850#ixzz1HBPDse8wtom just too clarify when i say mimic i mean mimic the nutritional intake the tort may require which as i stated can be done by finding vegetation with similar qualities as the ones indigenos too the torts natural habitat in my opinion you would not want too feed a diet made up of things that the animal would never encounter on its own in its range
My comment was more general...its my opinion that for a Russian/Hermans/Greek/Sulcata for example, a variety of greens/weeds/lettuces for the majority of the diet more closely mimics their natural diet than veggies or commercial foods. The calorie content of for example greens vs. veggies is very different. I was using this as justification that I would not recommend green beans, or at least not as any sort of regular food item. The closer you get to their native diet the better, but no, I wouldn't think to go as far as to look up exactly what plants are native to their region of origin. Your call though.
tortoisenerd said:
Again, 90% of tortoises' native environment, these days (since perhaps 2-3 millenia prior to Christ), is cultivated lands (fields/gardens) and therefore, what we humans raise IS part of their natural diet, and has been for more than a few centuries.
Very little of any country is pristine wilderness, anymore, except for parts of the rain forests...
Kate, I totally agree with you and I try to do my possible to feed my Hermanns that way.
The thing I have against green beens it that it is high in protein and you already have some protein in the other greens you are feeding so why feed something with high protein when your tortoise do not need that much proteins. It is my opinion and of course you are the one making the choice
The thing I have against green beens it that it is high in protein and you already have some protein in the other greens you are feeding so why feed something with high protein when your tortoise do not need that much proteins. It is my opinion and of course you are the one making the choice
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