Red colored foods

[Parkerhunt]

My Russian tort really loves the color red, is there any safe foods I can give him that are brightish red?

 

[zovick]

My Russian tort really loves the color red, is there any safe foods I can give him that are brightish red?

Tomatoes are well-liked.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

My Russian tort really loves the color red, is there any safe foods I can give him that are brightish red?

Try hibiscus flowers, radicchio or red lettuce. Some mallow varietes have red (or close to) flowers. Abutilon flowers are fine (it's a close specie to mallow). On rare occasion prickly pear fruit (pads and flowers are better). Coleus and wandering jew leaves can be also fed from time to time (I would not feed them on purpose, but if they grow in the enclosure and he grazes them - it's okay). Some succulents like hens and chicks (echeveria) or aeonium may interest him. Check thetortoisetable.org.uk - there are more options there.

Don't overdo with tomatoes, they never see them in native habitat.

 

[wellington]

Yeah, tomatoes really shouldn't be fed.
Btw, most all tortoises go for the color red. Orange, bright yellow, white too.
Report on tomatoes below.

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

 

[wellington]

Tomatoes are well-liked.

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

 

[Tom]

My Russian tort really loves the color red, is there any safe foods I can give him that are brightish red?

How do you know this?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I have at least an observation about tortoises (In my case Redfoot) and the color red:

For several years a had a dozen or so hibiscus flowering plants. I had yellows, pinks, orange, red and white and a few variegated ones that were two toned.
I'd toss handful after handful of flowers and leaves into my pens daily and without exception, the tortoises would go right after the red flowers first.
Now, did they taste differently? I don't know.
I ended up removing all of the plants except the red ones.
Also, whenever I have had a sick tortoise that is recovering and has not eaten in a while, I've learned to offer red foods to get them eating again. Raw hamburger. Watermelon. Strawberry.
Possibly this is just ME preferring the red color. But it has never not worked.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

My Russian seems to have a preference for everything yellow. Overall anything other than green will get eaten first (except if it is cucumber) 😅

 

[zovick]

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

Browse and Search the Tortoise Table Plant Database

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

In case you have not seen my posts about the many and varied foods I fed to my tortoises from 1958 through 2019, I do not put any faith in info such as this and never have. I fed my tortoises LOADS of tomatoes (and many other supposedly forbidden food items) for 60+ years and never had a problem.

Many will disagree, but my philosophy on this subject is, and has always been, that if an item is bad for or toxic to tortoises, they simply won't eat it.

I believe my successes in breeding numerous species (many for the first time in captivity) prove that incessant worry about toxicity of food items is unnecessary.

 

[zolasmum]

My Russian tort really loves the color red, is there any safe foods I can give him that are brightish red?

Zola absolutely loves radicchio.
Angie

 

[zovick]

Zola absolutely loves radicchio.
AngieView attachment 374169

My tortoises also LOVED radicchio. It is very costly in the US, though, so they did not get to enjoy it very often.

 

[wellington]

My tortoises also LOVED radicchio. It is very costly in the US, though, so they did not get to enjoy it very often.

How bout it. The first time I went to buy it years ago, I couldn't believe how expensive it was.

 

[TammyJ]

Zovick's opinion (valid to you, Zovick!) that tortoises won't eat what is toxic to them, is interesting to me. I have seen a healthy juvenile Redfoot die very quickly after being fed (and enjoying) Poinciana flowers which someone thought were Hibiscus. Maybe it was because he ate too much, maybe because there was nothing else offered at the time, maybe because he was too young or too small. Who knows. I just would never feed anything that has been said to be toxic to them. Why take the chance?

 

[zolasmum]

I live in the UK,and radicchio is not very common here either - however, we are near the coast, and there are a lot of hotels and restaurants around - we managed to find a wholesale fruit and veg supplier who stocked it, and went with Zola to speak to him. As a result, we make quite a long journey into the depths of the countryside to his warehouse every few weeks, and get 4 or 5 radicchio - fresh from Italy - really cheaply - it keeps ok in the fridge well for several weeks. We don't like it much, but Zola tends to sort it out from his other food and eats it first every time !
Angie

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

My Russian also loves radicchio, I find it usually in salad mixes here, but rarely see whole heads being sold.

Also, I wouldn't trust a tortoise to eat whats good for them in a captive setting, far away from their native area.

 

[Parkerhunt]

How do you know this?

My mom always has red nails and he goes after her fingers all the time, never after mine though

 

[RosemaryDW]

My Russian goes after red first, for sure. The red flowers on my slippers get a regular sniff, as do any painted toenails.

We have a red rose growing against a fence such that the petals drop down into the yard. She haunts that wall. She gets offered roses every spring to make sure she works up an appetite once she wakes up. (She is a Russian and always has a good appetite lol. We're just anxious.) Ours isn't a fancy rose that requires much care: Ragged Robin; there are plenty of other old fashioned roses that would work.

It still has to be a plant she likes. A sage with red or hot pink flowers isn't going to get eaten.