Russian Tortoise Diet?

[rachael81]

Hi,

I have a Russian Tortoise and can only get her to eat kale, spinach, and lettuce. I've tried many fruits and vegetables (apples, grapes, orange, etc) but am concerned she isn't getting enough nutrients. I bought some tortoise food from the pet store and rehydrated it but she won't touch that either. Any suggestions for what they like?

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Hi Rachael. Russian torts eat many green weeds. Ok, they should not have fruit or vegs. They can not process the sugers in them. Most lettuce has very little nutrients in them. They do eat dandelion, plantain, and other weeds. They can also have mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, escarole lettuce, radiccaro, cactis, and many other greens. We have a Russian tort section. Please go and read the sticky’s at the top of the page. The tortoise care sheet will give you more options. I just woke up and can’t think yet!

 

[RosemaryDW]

Hi Rachael!

Please do start with the care sheet Cheryl mentioned: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/. Diet is at the bottom of the sheet but read the entire thing, it’s super helpful. Also check out the beginner’s mistakes post: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/.

What your tortoise likes is not the same as what she needs. I like Doritos but they aren’t what my body needs. She absolutely should not be eating fruit, her body isn’t built to digest it and it will make her sick.

To introduce your tortoise to new, healthy foods you will need to incorporate a little bit of the good stuff into what she’s eating now. Chop it up into tiny pieces and mix it up with her other stuff so she can’t avoid it entirely. Over time you will increase the good stuff and decrease the not so good. You can try this with the rehydrated dry food as well, mush up a tiny bit and mix it in with the other foods.

Many tortoises are stubborn and take a long time to eat new foods. You may have to give her some tough love if she turns her nose up. Keep trying a little bit of the good stuff; no Doritos! She can go a long time without eating but won’t starve herself. Stay strong!

Here is a looong list of information on foods, most of it put together by very experienced members of this forum. It's a ton of reading, for now you will probably want to focus on the section about grocery store foods; I bolded the part that mentions spring mix, and the greens that go into it.

There is another great list for foods that was written for another type of tortoise but if you skip the first bit about grass, all the foods below it are great for your Russian: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/.

You may need to rely on grocery store foods for now. Good foods for tortoises are "chicories," types of lettuce that are likely to be on the far side of the more common floppy green heads of lettuce most people buy. Anything labeled as simply "chicory"is good, as are radiccio, frisee, escarole, and endive; you might even find something labeled as dandelions. You may find a bag of "Spring" or "Spicy" mix that is good, just check the label to be sure it has some of the chicories I just mentioned.

The leaves (just the leaves) of turnips and radishes are also good, as are carrot tops. Collards, mustard greens, bok choy, and other dark, leafy greens are okay as well. If you have any kind of Mexican/hispanic market near you, they will sell cactus, labeled "nopales."

You don't need to feed all of these at one time, just make sure your tortoise is getting access to different types of food. As you get more experienced, you can find the better types of food listed on the care sheets.

Here are a whole bunch of non-grocery store suggestions.

Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Nasturtium
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads


Weeds:

Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard