I am WAY confused on DIET!

[way2gfy]

So I have been reading some of the threads here and just want to be sure what I should feed my little one. I believe he is a Desert Tortoise. I am housing him indoors for now until he gets bigger or I can work something up in my back yard for him. I have 2 Zoo-med heating pads on one end of the tank as well as a Heat Lamp on top. It gets about 80-86 degrees on that end. The other end has the Flourescent light strip that is set to be on for 12hrs a day.

I have tried the following with him and if he liked them or not:
Mustard Greens - NO
Turnip Greens - NO
Alfalfa Sprouts - NO
Spinach (Fresh, not baby) - NO
Carrots (chunks and peels) - NO
Regular salad mix (with cabbage) - NO
Raw Brocoli - NO
Zucchini - NO
Apple - NO

A weed from my back yard - YES
I do not have many more of the weeds as we just did yard work. But I was think about putting one of the pulled ones in a planter to see if they will grow more. What do you think?

I have some snap dragons in my planter, should I try those.

What about tomato plant leaves?
I also bought some frozen brocoli, cucumbers, celery and brussel sprouts but haven't tried them.

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS PLEASE.

Thanks.

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[Yvonne G]

Your post sent up a red flag for me...if you don't know what you have ("I believe he's a desert tortoise") then you can't possibly know how to care for him properly. But then I saw the pictures, and yes, you DO have a desert tortoise. He looks to be about 5 or 6 years old. Can you ask the folks you got him from what he's used to eating? That would be the best bet.

Next, he IS big enough to go outside. I have three in an outdoor pen that are about half the size of yours.

All of my little ones that are outside graze on their own. About three times a week I pick some leaves off the grape vine and the mulberry tree for them. They act like this is a particularly good treat. The grazing days I see them pulling at the bermuda grass and clover in their pen.

If you don't have any natural items to feed him (mulberry leaves, hollyhock leaves and flowers, plantain, clover, grass, etc.) then next best thing is packaged Spring Mix from the grocery store. Most people pick out the spinach from the mixture, as spinach binds calcium and would be a detriment to babies if fed too often. Of all the things you listed, with the exception of turnip greens, and maybe mustard greens, he's telling you the truth. You shouldn't offer these things to a baby unless it about once a month.

What is the weed from your yard that he likes? But feeding only one type of food all the time, even if its a good food, is not a great idea either. The key to a healthy tortoise is variety. Buy a package of spring mix, then go out and find dandelion, fillaree, mulberry, grape leaf, etc and mix it all together. He's big enough that you shouldn't have to cut it up for him.

And soak him or give him a waterer. They dehydrate quite quickly.

Thanks for sharing your pictures with us. We LOVE to see other people's animals. AND:

to the forum!!

Yvonne

 

[Mochii]

Hello!
There are threads/sites that you can visit to see what you could feed your tortoise. I read that they wont starve themselves in general so if they don't eat what you feed him, then you give them only what they don't eat until they do.

http://africantortoise.com/diet.htm
this site tells you what you could feed your tortoise.

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5823.html
This is a thread that Robyn put together. It's a good guide to use when you're choosing your vegetables for tortoises. There are also other threads that are useful when you search around.

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-7981.html
This is where I read about giving them what they dont' eat until they do eat it because they won't starve themselves.

I dont think frozen food is good for them. And most of the stuff on your list is not something you shoudl give them everyday.

And they said no heating pad for tortoises. Does your tortoise have a UVA/UVB lamp? If he's indoor then he needs that too. And your warmer side needs to be in at 90s or at least close to it. They need the temperature to be that high in order to digest their food.

I'm sure others will add onto this as well. I'm new to this too Just sharing what I found out. But I think it's a good thing that he's eating mainly weed because that should make up most of their diet.

- M&M.

 

[spring pace]

So I have been reading some of the threads here and just want to be sure what I should feed my little one. I believe he is a Desert Tortoise. I am housing him indoors for now until he gets bigger or I can work something up in my back yard for him. I have 2 Zoo-med heating pads on one end of the tank as well as a Heat Lamp on top. It gets about 80-86 degrees on that end. The other end has the Flourescent light strip that is set to be on for 12hrs a day.

glass tanks are not suitable for torts, they contain the heat w/o air flow. heating pad really isnt necessary. concentrate all you lamps on one end of a tort table so theres a cooler end to get away from the heat if they need. dehydration is a big concern for smaller or young torts

I have tried the following with him and if he liked them or not:
Mustard Greens - NO, but are good for him
Turnip Greens - NO, but are good for him
Alfalfa Sprouts - NO and not good
Spinach (Fresh, not baby) - NO and not good
Carrots (chunks and peels) - NO sparingly, too much sugars
Regular salad mix (with cabbage) - NO, to the cabbage, but the greens are good
Raw Brocoli - NO and not good
Zucchini - NO, leaves only and not often
Apple - NO, only fruits are cactus apple, little watermelon, little strawberries, little pumpkin, but sparingly and when in seasonal growing

if you persist w/ the above list adding it to the foods hes used to eating, hell start eating better and have the varied diet that is necessary to a healthy tort

A weed from my back yard - YES
I do not have many more of the weeds as we just did yard work. But I was think about putting one of the pulled ones in a planter to see if they will grow more. What do you think?

if its dandelion, it will grow in a pot, but they have a short season so itll have to be replanted every year dandelions are hard to grow from seed

I have some snap dragons in my planter, should I try those.

check the desert tort feeding list, i dont know

What about tomato plant leaves? absolutely not, even if they like it


I also bought some frozen brocoli, cucumbers, celery and brussel sprouts but haven't tried them.

not good for them, too much sugar, stick w/ fresh foods please

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS PLEASE.

Thanks.



oh i forgot to welcome you, i so wanted to get this right for you. so welcome to the group, this is a pretty extraordinary one to be sure. so welcome, welcome, welcome, whats your name? whats the torts name? big smiles from galileo & spring

[/quote]

 

[Crazy1]

Way2gfy, welcome to the forum. Please do not feed snapdragon (explained in link later). Here is the link to a long, long list of foods your tort can eat. I compiled this list from several lists so that we would have a comprehensive list in one place so you wouldn't have to go shopping the internet to find foods suitable for desert dwelling torts. It's still a work in progress. http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5823.html
Your DT should also be starting to eat grasses at his/her age. As long as you do not have chemicals or pesticides on your lawn you can feed him lawn grass. If you do put chemicals on your lawn, Petco and Petsmart and many other pet places sell organic wheat grass in a small container, just snip off the tips and mix with other greens. You can get most started with spring mix as Yvonne has said.

Spring ace told you what not to feed but here are some of the whys.
Alfalfa sprouts: high levels of plant protein which can help cause pyramiding in torts
Spinach: has calcium binders so they make the calcium your tort needs unusable.
Carrots: High levels of sugars ok to feed occasionally
Cabbage: has GOITROGENIC compounds which can cause goiters in torts.
Raw broccoli: same as cabbage
Zucchini: I feed mine zucchini but not as a steady diet. Though if you grow it the leaves and flowers are good for them.
Apple: high level of sugar-seeds toxic- however I feed this to mine as an occasional treat.

We steer newbies away from these foods although they may be fed in small quantities especially to larger torts with little or no ill effects. Except for things on the Poison plant lists like snapdragon all parts, (the leaves of the rhubarb, tomato, potato, and eggplant are members of the nightshade family and could prove deadly). Baby’s Breath, Asiatic lilies, Daffodil, (apple, pear, plum, & peach seeds) can all be poison.

What Not to feed your tort: http://www.wonderland.com/~teddy/tortoise/tort_non_food.html
http://www.turtlestuff.com/avoidthese.html

You did not say, or I don’t remember how long you have had your DT. Sounds as his/her not eating in the house may be due more to him getting use to his new habitat. You may also need to look at the lights, heat and humidity for him to better tweak his habitat.
I know this is a lot to take in and more than what you asked for.
Here is another site that lists information on CA desert tortoise. http://www.tortoise.org/general/descare.html

There are controversies over foods and more than likely always will be. we do the best we can for our torts. Frozen foods are rarely given due to the content of peas and green beans and some have sugars or salts added. Fresh is always better if available they carry the nutiants your torts need. Think variety. You like to eat a variety of foods so does your tort. That does not mean it gets a new food item every day but mix it up, try some spring mix then the next trip to the store try escarole or endive, add a little grass or a rose flowrer. If your lawn has no chemicals put him on it and keep an eye on him and watch him eat. But while he is inside and depending on you feeding him follow the lists in the sites and he should do well.
You might also want to put a cuttle bone in his pen for added calcium he/she will nibble on it if they need it though it may take some time (at first they kinda smell fishy to a herbavor ).
I know this was long but I hoped it helped some.

 

[Yvonne G]

Mochii made a point that I had not thought of. If your tortoise is not warm enough it will not eat. If you are keeping it in the house without a light to warm itself up, it knows enough not to eat.

Yvonne

 

[Stazz]

Awww thanks for that idea Robyn....I'm going to buy some wheat grass from the pet store and just cuts top bits off for tallula, and wait till it grows a bit more to do it again. How fast does the grass grow? Sorry if Im hijacking this thread!

Petco and Petsmart and many other pet places sell organic wheat grass in a small container, just snip off the tips and mix with other greens. You can get most started with spring mix as Yvonne has said.

 

[Isa]

Awww thanks for that idea Robyn....I'm going to buy some wheat grass from the pet store and just cuts top bits off for tallula, and wait till it grows a bit more to do it again. How fast does the grass grow? Sorry if Im hijacking this thread!

Petco and Petsmart and many other pet places sell organic wheat grass in a small container, just snip off the tips and mix with other greens. You can get most started with spring mix as Yvonne has said.

I like the idea too

 

[Crazy1]

doesn't take long to grow. If you have a Wal-Mart near by you can go to the pet section and they have a tub that has wheat grass in it that you can grow. It takes longer but both are organic though wal-marts stuff doesn't seem to last too long cause it's grown in vermiculite.

 

[way2gfy]

Hey everyone. Thanks for all the replies and GREAT info. I will try to address everyone's questions here:

emysemys - I had a WAY bigger tortoise back in Jr High so I wasn't all that sure this one was a DT being he is much smaller. Just didn't want to put my foot in my mouth and just assume. I can not ask the people that had him. I was helping my mom clean out an abandoned property and he was in the closet. I do not want to put him in my backyard until I can set something up because my yard has Oleander bushes all around the perimeter. That and my Chihuahua is way too curious and I don't want "SQUIRT" to get hurt or flipped over. The weed was a dandelion. I do have a very shallow, heavy clay dish from a flower pot in with him for water. I have seen him sit in it a couple times and put his head in like I have on other posts. It is not to deep that he will drown. I do take him outside to walk the grass area and watch that he doesn't go to the O bushes.

mochii - Thanks for the links, I will check those out. The heating pads are on the outside of the glass tank just to warm the area. I have a heat lamp on the top at the same end as the pads and a light bar at the other end of the tank. His water dish is at the opposite end of the heat. The tank is about 5-6 feet in length so he is able to move to the other end and get way away from the heat. He was very sluggish when I found him. When I brought him home, being he was inside and cold, I knew he had to get warmed up so that is why I set him up in my (used to be Tegu Lizzards) tank. In the evening, he goes into his objects I gave him to sleep in and when I get up at 5:45am, he is cruising all around the tank.

spring pace - Thanks for the info on the foods. I talked about the pads above in response to mochii. My name is Dee and my daughter named him SQUIRT (Finding Nemo).

Crazy1 - Thanks for the link, I will check that out. Looking all over the internet is exhausting so I am glad I found this site. So much simplier. We found him last Wednesday, July 29th. See above on my reply I wrote to emysemys on how that came about. I do have roses (actual roses and not flowers from those stupid Oleader bushes) and I gave him one yesterday. Maybe pink is not his color, LOL. I do have plain cuttlebone that I give my birds so you think I should try one of those? Oh, Thanks for the wheatgrass idea. I will check that at Petsmart when I go this weekend.

Well everyone else, thanks for the info and now I will go read some more.

 

[purpod]

Hiya Dee & welcome to TFO!

Everyone has given you some great info here & the only thing I would question (as has been noted by a few) is the high temp's in his temporary home: I do not own a CA Desert Tort, but I would imagine that 86 is not hot enuf for him...

There are some who do not think Under Tank Heating pads are good, but I have used such pads, just and have found it beneficial, in that the tummy is warmed, allowing for the digestive process to be continuous... just my own humble opinion.

Oh, and one other thing: you might wish to use cinder blocks in your yard so that Squirt can cruise around: there are some here who've made sweeet set-up's in their yards using blocks. I think if you check in the enclosures section here, you'll find pics of such; they look great and can be planted with various edible goodies for Squirt

But it sounds like Yvonne & Robyn (As well as the others who've contributed) have given you some great ideas & links ~ I'd imagine Squirt will be chowing down soon!

So enjoy your new shelled family member & we hope to keep hearing from you on the progress you two are making.

Congrats and welcome!
Purpod & Pals

 

[Yvonne G]

What an awful thing! Can you imagine having to get out of your house, but leaving your tortoise in a box in the closet? Last thing I've ever done on a house move was take a walk-through to be sure I'm not forgetting anything. But to leave a live animal??? Just goes to show you that they didn't have much interest or feeling invested in the animal. I'm so, SO glad that you found him before he died.

Yvonne

 

[purpod]

So true, Yvonne, so true!

 

[way2gfy]

Hiya Dee & welcome to TFO!

Everyone has given you some great info here & the only thing I would question (as has been noted by a few) is the high temp's in his temporary home: I do not own a CA Desert Tort, but I would imagine that 86 is not hot enuf for him...

There are some who do not think Under Tank Heating pads are good, but I have used such pads, just and have found it beneficial, in that the tummy is warmed, allowing for the digestive process to be continuous... just my own humble opinion.

Oh, and one other thing: you might wish to use cinder blocks in your yard so that Squirt can cruise around: there are some here who've made sweeet set-up's in their yards using blocks. I think if you check in the enclosures section here, you'll find pics of such; they look great and can be planted with various edible goodies for Squirt

But it sounds like Yvonne & Robyn (As well as the others who've contributed) have given you some great ideas & links ~ I'd imagine Squirt will be chowing down soon!

So enjoy your new shelled family member & we hope to keep hearing from you on the progress you two are making.

Congrats and welcome!
Purpod & Pals

Hi. Thanks for the welcome.

I saw some pics on the cinder block set-ups so I think I may try something like that soon.

Thanks and I will be checking alot of the other posts to get as much info as I can.

 

[way2gfy]

So I have been reading some of the threads here and just want to be sure what I should feed my little one. I believe he is a Desert Tortoise. I am housing him indoors for now until he gets bigger or I can work something up in my back yard for him. I have 2 Zoo-med heating pads on one end of the tank as well as a Heat Lamp on top. It gets about 80-86 degrees on that end. The other end has the Flourescent light strip that is set to be on for 12hrs a day.

I have tried the following with him and if he liked them or not:
Mustard Greens - NO
Turnip Greens - NO
Alfalfa Sprouts - NO
Spinach (Fresh, not baby) - NO
Carrots (chunks and peels) - NO
Regular salad mix (with cabbage) - NO
Raw Brocoli - NO
Zucchini - NO
Apple - NO

A weed from my back yard - YES
I do not have many more of the weeds as we just did yard work. But I was think about putting one of the pulled ones in a planter to see if they will grow more. What do you think?

I have some snap dragons in my planter, should I try those.

What about tomato plant leaves?
I also bought some frozen brocoli, cucumbers, celery and brussel sprouts but haven't tried them.

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS PLEASE.

Thanks.

Another question: I have some Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3 powder and was wondering if that was ok to give to my Desert Tortoise?

Here is the info I have on it:

Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3
Phosphorous - Free Ultrafine powder

Rep-Cal Ultrafine (fine grind) is an excellent source of calcium for all reptiles and amphibians. Scientifically formulated from 100% natural Oyster Shell phosphorous-free calcium carbonate with added Vitamin D3 to aid in the absorption of calcium.

Dosage: We ask that you mix Rep-Cal with our vitamin supplement Herptivite. If we premixed the products, the "beadlets" of beta carotene in Herptivite may possibly be damaged during manufacturing by the calcium in Rep-Cal. Mix with vegetables, fruits, and pastes approximately 1/2 tablespoon Rep-Cal with 1/2 tablespoon Herptivite per pound of food.
Before feeding insects:
1) Thoroughly mix a 1:1 ratio of Rep-Cal and Herptivite in a plastic bag.
2) Place insects in the bag.
3) Shake slowly until they are completely covered.
No other supplementation is required.

I got that info off their website.

Thanks.

 

[purpod]

Heya 2Goofy ~

Putting your greens in a plastic bag, adding a slight amount of the Calcium & then shaking it up to evenly coat the greens is a good idea: but no buglies ~ at least, I don't give my Leopards any buglies...

It's great that you are scouring for info ~ keep up the xllnt work!
Blessings, Purpod

 

[dmmj]

I did not see on this thread anywhere if we decided on what type if tort it is? just curious

 

[Stazz]

Lol if you read the 2nd post, by Yvonne, she stated that it is indeed a Desert Tortoise

 

[Mochii]

Oh yay Im glad to be helpful somehow

As for calcium, this is what I read "If your tort is getting UVB (from sunlight or a bulb), you should not need to supplement D3 with the calcium. The D3 is a fat soluble vitamin and too much can be toxic." Tortoisenerd (one of the members here) said that in this thread: http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5631.html?highlight=calcium+d3

As for Marley, I just give him pure calcium without the D3 because he is getting UVB bulb and I let him walk around in the sun from time to time. I heard that you can't overdose with calcium? But not hundred percent correct on that. But D3 you can overdose on and is harmful to the tortoise.

I usually just sprinkle some calcium on his vegetables/grasses/hay before I give him to him.

- M&M.

 

[Stazz]

Mochii you are absolutely correct about the D3, unless you really know what you're doing, your tort should get a calcium only supplement, as D3 can indeed be toxic if not given the proper dose. Well done, I'm impressed how much you're learning so fast! Knowledge is power
And thats perfect to sprinkle the calcium on his food, best way for him to eat it Even easier is to put the calcium supp in a salt shaker, so its very easy to sprinkle the correct amount onto his greens