Rose Hips Question

[Lunartwist]

So I know that rose hips are safe for torts to eat...which is great because we rose bushes growing wild all over our place and the hips are nice and ruby red now.

My question is, how do you prep them? Do you let the tortoise eat them whole or do you cut them up and de-seed them? The only reason I ask is that the seeds are kind of big (and nearly half the "bulb" is seeds), so I wanted to make sure if it was safe or not if they got swallowed.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

seeds are an appropriate form of roughage for a tortoise, but it is size dependent. Your list on your post indicates a juvenile redfoot and a hatchling EBT.

As a rule of thumb, maybe as many as ten seeds should be able to fit in the mouth of the tortoises to have a good idea they won't accumulate or block the intestines.

I made that rule of thumb up, it's based on what has worked in the past.

At least one reasonable interpretation of some species eating rocks is that they need some sort of item in their gut to help move food items along. This has been seen in tortoises that had eaten seedy plant parts, and then did not have access to them. The observation is good, the interpretation is just that, and interpretation.

I don't know how big rose hip seeds are, but this should give you some idea.