Indian Star Tortoise Diet?

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curlykid

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Hi guys im new here, i would like to know what all you indian star keepers feed your torts. I've had trouble finding consistent info, and it's hard to find greens that have high calcium and fiber without having high oxalic acids. Thanks!
 

ISTortoiseLover

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Mazuri tortoise diet, VARIETY of veggies, Opuntia cactus (prickly pear), fruits (extremely rarely).
Just feed it a variety of the above, with plenty of sunlight (providing shelter as well) with water available and you can't go wrong there.
 

curlykid

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sounds good, i'll probably replace the mazuri with the new zoo med grassland diet, sounds better in fiber ratios. For veggies i'm thinking about a mix like this:
collard greens
radicchio
endive
green leaf lettuce
turnip greens
i might have a section of the enclosure with tons of planted grasses like bermuda, kikuyu, and some succulents like hen and chicks, sedum too.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi curlykid:

Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name and where you are?
 

curlykid

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Hey Corey and Yvonne my name's Nick, i currently live in Hampton Roads Virginia. I need to put it in my signature
 

tortoises101

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Hey Nick.

Star torts generally need a high fibre, low protein, and calcium rich diet. Half the diet should be grass/hay. Some good examples are buffalo grass, bermuda grass, fresh lawn grass, timothy hay, fescue, big bluestem, and wheatgrass.

The other half of the diet should be weeds, flowers, and greens. Feed them weeds such as dandelions, plantain (plantago), sowthistle, mallow, clover, hawk bits, cat's ears, trefoil, as well as mulberry and grape leaves. Flowers that are recommended are hibiscus, nasturtiums, and gazanias. In the winter when nothing is available, feed them Spring Mix.

Stars also enjoy a piece of fruit (VERY VERY rarely) and some succulents such as aloe and snake plants. Feed opuntia pads regularly as well.
 

curlykid

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Well, i should be getting the tort in the summer. We're moving to a house on a 1 acre plot so i'll probably be able to find some dandelions and plantain. a lot of those might be pretty hard to find though. How do you get your hands on most of the weeds and grasses you listed?
 

Yvonne G

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curlykid said:
Well, i should be getting the tort in the summer. We're moving to a house on a 1 acre plot so i'll probably be able to find some dandelions and plantain. a lot of those might be pretty hard to find though. How do you get your hands on most of the weeds and grasses you listed?

I shop online for the seeds, then sprinkle them over the tortoises' pastures.
 

tortoises101

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If you look up the weeds I listed you can go looking for them. Collect some seeds and plant them the way you plant annuals. Dandelion, plantain, hawkbits, cat's ears, sowthistle, and clover are notoriously common up here. You can buy some trefoil and mallow seeds online like what Yvonne said. Mulberry and grape trees can be grown and leaves can be collected. Don't worry about them freezing; I have a 20 year old grape tree and my old neighbour has a small mulberry tree. Both are thriving well and have bloomed with fruit every year.

Grass seeds can be bought online (check out grass4sale.com and others) and timothy hay can be bought at an animal barn or from a pet store. Aloe, snake plants, hibiscus, nasturtiums, and gazanias can all be found at a local plant nursery. You can also grow opuntia indoors (or outdoors if you want) in pots and feed your stars the tender pads, not the old and aged ones. Spring mix comes from any grocery store.
 

Gus

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Hi Tony

snake plants can it really being feed to star?
 

samstar

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Mazuri tortoise diet 6 days a week and salad spring mix once a week.
 

ruanda

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Chicorium intybus
Convolvulus arvensis
Vitis vinifera
Trifolium ...
Sonchus oleraceus
Brassica rapa
Hibiscus ...
Opuntia ficus indica
Chicorium endivia
Taraxacum officinalis
Nasturtium officinale


Very, very rarely fruits (mango mostly).
 
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