Help me make my tort's diet please!

[Mom of Zitouna]

Hi, everyone. I have a little tortoise, I think she is a Greek tortoise and she's probably a baby since she's tiny. She loves lettuce but many told me it's not enough for her.

So, I live in a third world country, and we don't have a lot of diverse vegetables available but if anyone could provide me pictures of what vegetables/ greens are good for tortoises I'd appreciate it (pictures so I could recognize them when buying them).

And since I go buy, those are all the vegetables I have at home, can you tell me which ones are good or bad for her?



In the garden of our home we mostly have those :



And we also can buy those :







Please help!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings.

Before we start recommending what foods, it might be best to first properly ID the type of tortoise (and rough age) of your little friend. If you can upload a few pictures of your tortoise & possibly the enclosure, it sure would help.

Cute little name Olive (Zitouna).

Happy torting


In the mean time, here‘s a great care/info guide on Greek torts. There’s a very very detailed section on what to feed.

➡️ https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/greek-tortoise-care-guide.174622/

 

[Lyn W]

Dark leafy greens are the best. Do you have weeds available?

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is based on UK weeds and vegetables plants etc but you may find some you have in common that you can check on there. If you know the names of the plants you have posted look them up.

The last picture is of aubergine or sometimes called egg plant and they are a 'do not feed'

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

Carrot leaves are OK, as are beetroot leaves, but carrots and tomatoes have too much sugar for regular feeding.

I think picture 4 is Fennel which I'm not sure about,. The TT says it has high sugar content so not a good food.

The weeds in your garden look like wild shamrock but again I'm not sure. My golden rule is if in doubt don't feed - better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Tom]

The Italian parsley on the left is okay once in a while, but not as a staple. Many tortoises won't eat it, but can be taught to eat it using the process I outlined previously of slow introduction in small amounts.

I wouldn't use the lettuce.

Some grated cucumber can be used to mix in with new greens that you want your tortoise to eat, but that also should not be a main daily food item.

The greens there are called Swiss chard. Those are okay once in a while, but not every day.

I believe the clover looking stuff is oxalis. That used to be a "do not feed", but we've been reconsidering that lately. I'd skip it for now. Does it make little yellow 2.5cm trumpet shaped flowers when it blooms?

The rest of those are not good tortoise foods. Some minced up green pepper or grated carrot once or twice a month won't hurt anything, but you need dark leafy greens. It would be best to stay out of the grocery store and use local weeds once you learn to identify which ones are good. Grocery store produce is not a great tortoise food and requires added amendments to increase calcium and fiber content. Weeds, leaves and flowers of the right types are packed with calcium and fiber.

Squash leaves from any squash plant are good. You can grow your own. Pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, butternut or spaghetti squash, etc... Look up collard greens, mustard or turnip greens, cilantro, arugula, curly endive (not Belgian), and escarole for better store bought greens. Some stores will also offer spineless opuntia pads and those are great tortoise food. Post pics of whatever greens your store does carry and we can try to ID them for you.

Take a walk around your neighborhood and get some pics of the weeds you see growing around you. You might have some good ones. Look up pics of dandelion, sow thistle, thistle, clover, mallow, broad leaf or narrow leaf plantain, bristly ox tongue, prickly lettuce, and soooooo many more. Post your pics here and we will help you ID them. These are the best tortoise foods there are, they are free, and we get a nice walk and some exercise going out to collect them.

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

Greetings.

Before we start recommending what foods, it might be best to first properly ID the type of tortoise (and rough age) of your little friend. If you can upload a few pictures of your tortoise & possibly the enclosure, it sure would help.

Cute little name Olive (Zitouna).

Happy torting


In the mean time, here‘s a great care/info guide on Greek torts. There’s a very very detailed section on what to feed.

➡️ https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/greek-tortoise-care-guide.174622/

Hi, friend!

Here's what my baby looks like :



I think this picture is best to tell her size :


I named her Zitouna (olive) cause her eyes look like two big dark olives ? I'm surprised someone here understands Arabic!




She doesn't have an enclosure, because I don't have the means to provide one unfortunately... I just let her roam around and when she falls asleep I carefully take her and put her in a cardboard box on which I installed a sheet and I take her far from the coldest spots in the house since we can't use the heating system much unfortunately.

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

Dark leafy greens are the best. Do you have weeds available?

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is based on UK weeds and vegetables plants etc but you may find some you have in common that you can check on there. If you know the names of the plants you have posted look them up.

The last picture is of aubergine or sometimes called egg plant and they are a 'do not feed'

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

Carrot leaves are OK, as are beetroot leaves, but carrots and tomatoes have too much sugar for regular feeding.

I think picture 4 is Fennel which I'm not sure about,. The TT says it has high sugar content so not a good food.

The weeds in your garden look like wild shamrock but again I'm not sure. My golden rule is if in doubt don't feed - better to be safe than sorry.

HI, thank you so much for the reply! I have weeds available yes, I'll have to check if they're okay to feed though...

Beetroot is the red-ish one right? Is it safe to feed the vegetable itself?

The weeds you talked about lastly, I'm not sure, I fed her once and she ate some of them but she didn't like them.

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

The Italian parsley on the left is okay once in a while, but not as a staple. Many tortoises won't eat it, but can be taught to eat it using the process I outlined previously of slow introduction in small amounts.

I wouldn't use the lettuce.

Some grated cucumber can be used to mix in with new greens that you want your tortoise to eat, but that also should not be a main daily food item.

The greens there are called Swiss chard. Those are okay once in a while, but not every day.

I believe the clover looking stuff is oxalis. That used to be a "do not feed", but we've been reconsidering that lately. I'd skip it for now. Does it make little yellow 2.5cm trumpet shaped flowers when it blooms?

The rest of those are not good tortoise foods. Some minced up green pepper or grated carrot once or twice a month won't hurt anything, but you need dark leafy greens. It would be best to stay out of the grocery store and use local weeds once you learn to identify which ones are good. Grocery store produce is not a great tortoise food and requires added amendments to increase calcium and fiber content. Weeds, leaves and flowers of the right types are packed with calcium and fiber.

Squash leaves from any squash plant are good. You can grow your own. Pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, butternut or spaghetti squash, etc... Look up collard greens, mustard or turnip greens, cilantro, arugula, curly endive (not Belgian), and escarole for better store bought greens. Some stores will also offer spineless opuntia pads and those are great tortoise food. Post pics of whatever greens your store does carry and we can try to ID them for you.

Take a walk around your neighborhood and get some pics of the weeds you see growing around you. You might have some good ones. Look up pics of dandelion, sow thistle, thistle, clover, mallow, broad leaf or narrow leaf plantain, bristly ox tongue, prickly lettuce, and soooooo many more. Post your pics here and we will help you ID them. These are the best tortoise foods there are, they are free, and we get a nice walk and some exercise going out to collect them.

Thank you so so much, Tom! I'm taking every thing you wrote into consideration. As soon as possible, I'll go take a stroll and take pictures of all the weeds I find.

No, the clover looking stuff doesn't give flowers at all. We have tons of it here,but like really a lot, and it tramples over msot other weeds...

 

[TeamZissou]

Hi, friend!

Here's what my baby looks like :
View attachment 338282
View attachment 338285

I think this picture is best to tell her size :
View attachment 338283

I named her Zitouna (olive) cause her eyes look like two big dark olives ? I'm surprised someone here understands Arabic!

View attachment 338288
View attachment 338287

She doesn't have an enclosure, because I don't have the means to provide one unfortunately... I just let her roam around and when she falls asleep I carefully take her and put her in a cardboard box on which I installed a sheet and I take her far from the coldest spots in the house since we can't use the heating system much unfortunately.

Great looking tort! You've got a Testudo graeca graeca. Algiers is squarely within their range as well. We do not see many photos of baby T. g. graeca, so this is super cool.

I agree that the clover stuff looks like oxalis, which is not good to feed. Foraging in the neighborhood is a good idea, and learning to identify plants is one of the fun parts about owning a tort in my opinion.

https://sweetgreektorts.com/graeca

 

[Lyn W]

HI, thank you so much for the reply! I have weeds available yes, I'll have to check if they're okay to feed though...

Beetroot is the red-ish one right? Is it safe to feed the vegetable itself?

The weeds you talked about lastly, I'm not sure, I fed her once and she ate some of them but she didn't like them.

Only feed beetroot leaves - the tortoise table website will help you with which parts of a plant to feed.

I see you still haven't sorted out a safe enclosure. I know you don't have a lot of resources but it is very risky for her.

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

Great looking tort! You've got a Testudo graeca graeca. Algiers is squarely within their range as well. We do not see many photos of baby T. g. graeca, so this is super cool.

I agree that the clover stuff looks like oxalis, which is not good to feed. Foraging in the neighborhood is a good idea, and learning to identify plants is one of the fun parts about owning a tort in my opinion.

https://sweetgreektorts.com/graeca

View attachment 338289

Good to know! I will try looking around for things to feed her. Does she look like a baby to you?

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

Only feed beetroot leaves - the tortoise table website will help you with which parts of a plant to feed.

I see you still haven't sorted out a safe enclosure. I know you don't have a lot of resources but it is very risky for her.

I know but I truly can't do anything more... I really really wish I could, but I can't. The situation is already hard in the country economically, and we as a family are very modest, and as a person I don't have the means... I know a few friends who have tortoises too and none of them keep them in an enclosure because there's truly no facilities here...

 

[TeamZissou]

Good to know! I will try looking around for things to feed her. Does she look like a baby to you?

I would guess her age at anywhere from 3 months to a year. They grow at different rates depending on the conditions.

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

Guys, I made a survey with all the plants I could find in my neighborhood. I'll be soo thankful if you could check it and reply to it to help me see what's okay to feed Zitouna and what's not.

What can I feed my tortoise?

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

docs.google.com