Russian tort diet?

[TaylorTortoise]

Looking to see what new foods I can mix with my russians diet.
Does anyone know if cucumber, green,red,yellow bell peppers are fine?
i use spring mix, occasionally put carrots in there and few other mixtures that are safe. He also loves to eat the pansy plants I put in the enclosure with his diet!

 

[TechnoCheese]

Your tortoise should be eating mostly broadleaf weeds from outside, and very little grocery store food. Bell peppers and carrots are very high in sugar, so they can be used as rare treats. Cucumber is mostly water, and I would use it as part of a varied diet at most.

Definitely try to get some more fiber into his diet. If weeds from outside are not an option, try finding foods like dandelion, chicory, endive, escarole, radicchio, and arugula, along with cactus pads (nopales), and a high quality pellet diet like Zoo med’s grassland tortoise food or Mazuri. You can also grow your own weeds with seed mixes from tortoisesupply.com. Their broadleaf testudo mix is great.

 

[TaylorTortoise]

Your tortoise should be eating mostly broadleaf weeds from outside, and very little grocery store food. Bell peppers and carrots are very high in sugar, so they can be used as rare treats. Cucumber is mostly water, and I would use it as part of a varied diet at most.

Definitely try to get some more fiber into his diet. If weeds from outside are not an option, try finding foods like dandelion, chicory, endive, escarole, radicchio, and arugula, along with cactus pads (nopales), and a high quality pellet diet like Zoo med’s grassland tortoise food or Mazuri. You can also grow your own weeds with seed mixes from tortoisesupply.com. Their broadleaf testudo mix is great.

I just went for a walk today and fed my tort some dandelions and he ate the entire flower and the weed from the flower! But I saw on the tortoise app that you can only feed it in moderation

 

[TaylorTortoise]

How often do you recommend fiber in diet? What else is important that they get enough of?

 

[TechnoCheese]

I just went for a walk today and fed my tort some dandelions and he ate the entire flower and the weed from the flower! But I saw on the tortoise app that you can only feed it in moderation

It really only causes problems if it’s the main or only thing you feed, so as part of a varied diet, it’s generally fine

 

[TechnoCheese]

How often do you recommend fiber in diet? What else is important that they get enough of?

Fiber should be (and is, since every plant contains it) offered in every feeding. It’s that you need high amounts of it, which you can achieve by feeding mostly high fibered foods. Variety is key, and you should generally have a mix of food items every feeding.

 

[TaylorTortoise]

Fiber should be (and is, since every plant contains it) offered in every feeding. It’s that you need high amounts of it, which you can achieve by feeding mostly high fibered foods. Variety is key, and you should generally have a mix of food items every feeding.

What’s a good mix you think? Im still learning what’s good for him. I generally give him spring mix with calcium D3 sprinkled on top and then he will eat the plants in the enclosure in addition to the spring mix.

 

[TechnoCheese]

What’s a good mix you think? Im still learning what’s good for him. I generally give him spring mix with calcium D3 sprinkled on top and then he will eat the plants in the enclosure in addition to the spring mix.

There isn’t really a specific mix you should fe feeding, but as a general rule of thumb, I would say 60-70+% weeds, 20-30% grocery store foods, or high quality grocery store foods (endive, escarole, etc.) and a high quality pellet with other groccery store foods (mustard greens, turnip greens, etc) for variety. But again, there’s no need for a specific diet as long as you have a variety of high quality foods. Really just offer as many high fibered items as you can, and try not to rely on spring mix or anything with low amounts of fiber.