Tortoise food from the supermarket?

[Hayley1321]

Hi, i live in the UK and the weather is not great so what is the best food that i can feed my tortoise regular from the supermarket if i cant get weeds/plants?

 

[Jacqui]

What greens do you have in your store? All I can recall is Rocket.

 

[Spn785]

Try and find Organic greens. Kale, Endive, green leaf lettuc, red leaf lettuce, carrot greens, mustard greens, collard greens, radish greens (and other herbs), cilantro, and romaine lettuce can usually be found in grocery stores. You can check The Tortoise Table's plant database for if it is safe.

 

[mctlong]

Some of the better foods we see in the grocery stores around here include alfalfa and clover sprouts, prickley pear pads, dandolion greens, collard greens, bok choy, turnip greens, and wheat grass/cat grass. I'm not sure if any of these are available in the grocery stores near you, but they're good things to look out for. Hopefully forum members from the UK will chime in.

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Another option is to grow weeds and grasses in indoor pots -

 

[FLINTUS]

Florette crispy is highly reccomended here

 

[Hayley1321]

thanks! i will look out for these things i have been to my local shop and bought a bag of mixed greens (Lambs lettuce, rocket lettuce and spinach) it seems to love the spinach! also i have read that you shouldnt give a herman tortoise fruit every day but the pet shop told me to give him a different kind of fruit every day??

 

[Spn785]

You should not give a Hermanns tortoise fruit at all, but if you do, no more than once a week.

 

[Joanne]

I get the posh bags of salad from asda, as long as they don't have iceberg lettuce in them, you are golden! I've managed to pick some dandelion leaves from my neighbours garden today, so they are starting to come through

 

[jhongsen]

spinach? is it red spinach or green spinach? because in my supermarket they have these two kind , I'm a little bit confuse what should i pick

 

[Tom]

I would never feed fruit. They don't need it and its not good for them. Yes a little once in a while won't kill them, but its still not "good" for them.

Spinach should only be fed in small amounts once in a while. Its a good food in some ways, but its high in oxalates.

Favor endive and escarole heavily. These are best. You can also mix in some arugula too.

 

[Hayley1321]

thank you all for your advise i have been giving him mostly greens now and some dandilions and a small amount of veggies he loves the cucomber but im not sure what other veggies to give him other than cucomber everyday, any ideas? and also what veggies shouldnt i give to him for example, can i feed him potatoes, celery, bell pepper, onions? theses seem to me as dangerous to feed to him??

 

[ben2684]

I purchase seeds on eBay and grow them indoors in a sees tray, places in a sunny position these do very well and are ready for harvesting in a few weeks, check out shelled warriors on eBay, they do some brilliant mixes. They also have dried flowers for when its really dark and cold and not much is growing. If purchasing from a shop then any of the herby baby leaf salad mixes seem to go down well.. Chard lambs lettuce rocket and spinach type mixes are stocked by all the supermarkets... And florets do a good mix too. I am by no means an expert... In fact rather an amateur tort enthusiast but I'm sure fruit has too much sugar in it to be fed at all so I say away from it.. Terence has occasional treats like tomato (no seeds) and carrots but only small amounts. I've also been recommend a dry tortoise 'pellet' from the vet but need to research more before I start to feed it... Hope this helps

Ben

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And I forgot! Loads of dandelions starting to come up now, both flowers and leaves seem to go down very well with my little guy

 

[Spn785]

Don't give any of the veggies you mentioned, not even cucumber. Cucumber is mostly water and has no nutritional value, its the same with celery. Onions are poisonous, bell peppers have too much sugar, and potatoes have too much starch. Zucchini is okay, as is other squashes, but winter squashes and darker squashes are better. You can feed a radish every now and then if they like them, a bit of carrot, but that should be avoided because of sugar content. I honestly can't think of ANY veggies that should be fed on a regular basis, except certain lettuces (NOT iceberg).

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as far as pellets, mazuri is good, so is ZooMed grassland pellets. Plenty of places sell great seed mixes, and I believe some of them can ship to the UK.

 

[Hayley1321]

thanks he really loves cucumber though, would it be ok if i gave him just one thin slice a day just as a treat?

 

[Ansh]

Try curly kale, British fresh greens (large bags of this available at TESCO, Sainsbury, ASDA) and occasionally romaine lettuce and cucumber. The fresh greens (I've been told is rich in calcium) and my Stars really like it. Of course you must try picking dandelion greens when you get a chance...they'll be all over the place soon enough!!

 

[Hayley1321]

do they only eat the dandelion greens or do they eat the flower too?

 

[Ansh]

The flower too. The greens are the main source of nutrition though (I believe).

 

[Hayley1321]

Thanks he doesnt seem to enjoy the dandelion much unless he has already eaten the greens but if that is the main source of nutrition, then it doesnt really matter.

I am going to get two long plant pots and grow some weeds in one and flowers in the other, i am not an expert with plants though so any ideas what flowers are easiest to grow in the uk that tortoises like to eat??

 

[Ansh]

I'm sure there's a diet sheet for Hermann's on here somewhere. I don't really feed flowers that much apart from dandelion. I believe rose petals are also quite popular, although not sure whether this needs to be a regular part of his diet. My tortoises don't particularly like flowers anyway.

 

[ben2684]

Dandelion flowers go down well, and hibiscus with mine, other than that mostly greens. I Just try to offer a good variety-mix it up and give different things on different days. Keeps them guessing lol