Tortoise food and seed mix

[Paulastortoisejourney]

Hi guys!

I am from The Netherlands and I’m new to this community. Already read a lot of articles. I love it so far! Super helpful.

In a few weeks/months I’ll be getting myself my first Greek Hermann’s tortoise when everything is set up and ready.

I have some questions about the food I should give my future tortoise. I’d love to give it the most natural food possible (plants, flowers, weeds).

• Is it possible to buy seed mixes and grow the weeds/flowers this way?

• If planting seeds is acceptable, are ‘wildflower’ or ‘meadow flower’ seed mixes safe or good? Or do you recommend buying separate seed mixes like ‘red clover’, ‘white clover’, ‘dandelion’ etc.?

• How do you find enough weeds outside to be able to feed your tortoise a good amount every day? • Do you go hunt everyday or do you store the weeds in a freezer or somewhere else? How does it stay fresh when you go hunt for bulks/big amounts?

• At least there is a lot of grass here that I can feed my future tortoise. But of course I want to give him/her a great variety of foods. Are most weeds safe? And if I don’t know the name of the plant, flower or weeds, how do I check that it’s safe enough?

• Are supermarket (green) vegetables okay to feed my tortoise as well? Maybe as addition to the weeds?

• I’ve also heard about the Mazuri diet. They don’t have it in my country. Is it something I should concider buying? If yes, is there something similar in Europe or The Netherlands? Or is it not neccessary at all?

Okay, this was about it. I am so sorry if it were too many questions. I just want to be prepared and I know you guys will give me proper information.

I want to apologize if there is already an article with answers to most of my questions that I haven’t seen or read yet. Please link them in the comments.

I am open to any tips and tricks.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MichaelL]

Yes, it is okay to buy seeds and grow the weeds, that would be awesome for the tortoise. One flower/weed that my tortoises will NEVER resist is white clover, I try not to feed it too too much because it has high protein but they love that so much. A website I use to see if plants are safe or healthy is this one in the link. It's a great website.

https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/viewplants/a-z/?l=al#.XJ-NU5hKiUn

Supermarket greens are a great addition along with the weeds. I have a ton of plants, weeds, and flowers planted in their pen so they eat those as their main source. Whenever I feel like it, I go and give them some hibsicus, collards, romaine, supermarket greens or zucchini as an addition. I am not super strict on finding every single minuscule weed and identifying, but I do try to identify the main ones that are in most of the pen and it is definitely, definitely advised to try.

Mazuri is not necessary, but it can make a great addition to the tortoises diet. If you need a substitute when you can't get weeds, mazuri is awesome as well as supermarket greens. You don't need it though and tortoises will live perfectly fine without it, as long as they have enough good weeds/greens.

Good luck with your tortoise, hope I helped!!!

 

[Paulastortoisejourney]

Yes, it is okay to buy seeds and grow the weeds, that would be awesome for the tortoise. One flower/weed that my tortoises will NEVER resist is white clover, I try not to feed it too too much because it has high protein but they love that so much. A website I use to see if plants are safe or healthy is this one in the link. It's a great website.

https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/viewplants/a-z/?l=al#.XJ-NU5hKiUn

Supermarket greens are a great addition along with the weeds. I have a ton of plants, weeds, and flowers planted in their pen so they eat those as their main source. Whenever I feel like it, I go and give them some hibsicus, collards, romaine, supermarket greens or zucchini as an addition. I am not super strict on finding every single minuscule weed and identifying, but I do try to identify the main ones that are in most of the pen and it is definitely, definitely advised to try.

Mazuri is not necessary, but it can make a great addition to the tortoises diet. If you need a substitute when you can't get weeds, mazuri is awesome as well as supermarket greens. You don't need it though and tortoises will live perfectly fine without it, as long as they have enough good weeds/greens.

Good luck with your tortoise, hope I helped!!!

Thank you so much for your reply! I downloaded the tortoisetable app and it’s really helpful. Thanks alot!