Tortoises diet
- Thread starter Precious
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Yes
But it shouldn't be offered very often
But it shouldn't be offered very often
Brussel sprouts and lettuce are not great tortoise foods. They can eat those things, and those items are not toxic, but those times don't meet your tortoises nutritional needs. What species have you got? We can offer some good suggestion once we know that.
Nice!
I typed this thread up for sulcatas, but hermanni aren't grass eaters, so skip the text and just scroll down to the food list. Its got all sorts of suggestions for good tortoise foods.
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...
tortoiseforum.org
Thank you so much
Nice!
I typed this thread up for sulcatas, but hermanni aren't grass eaters, so skip the text and just scroll down to the food list. Its got all sorts of suggestions for good tortoise foods.
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...
No problem!
Welcome to the forum. We are all here to talk tortoises, so all your questions are welcome.
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You can have tortoises thrive on grocery greens, sometimes it is all that you might have access to. It's more than picking a single type of lettuce and tossing some leaves in the enclosure for it to work.
Most zoos do not go out picking weeds and such, some do, some even have browse farms. Two zoos I worked at fed a majority of grocery greens.
here is a presentation I gave regarding this, along with other diet considerations.
Most zoos do not go out picking weeds and such, some do, some even have browse farms. Two zoos I worked at fed a majority of grocery greens.
here is a presentation I gave regarding this, along with other diet considerations.
iAmCentrochelys sulcata
Well-Known Member
Wouldn’t say lettuce is Bad right? I think it’s actully very beneficial and tortoises Love it.
Define "bad".
Define "beneficial". I don't think lettuce is beneficial. One could argue that it is high in water, which is beneficial, but water is also high in water, and water doesn't meet all their nutritional needs either. Lettuce can be beneficial if used as a delivery agent for other things that do deliver the needed nutrients, fiber, and variety, but on its own, no, I don't think it is beneficial, and I do think it is bad.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hagen Daas Dulce De Leche ice cream. It is sooooooo "good" in my opinion. Is it "bad"? This depends doesn't it? The ice cream doesn't meet my nutritional needs, but I like it. If I eat too much of it, to the exclusion of the foods that I should be eating instead, I could eventually get sick and die from it in an extreme case. Ice cream isn't toxic, but too much of it, while skipping the correct foods, will lead to malnutrition and eventually death.
Same with lettuce for tortoises. Its like the ice cream. It is lacking the fiber they need, is low in calcium, has a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, and doesn't carry the nutrients they need. A tortoise fed nothing but lettuce will eventually die. You might counter with something along the lines of: "I don't feed 'only' lettuce, and I feed other things along with it." To which I would answer: What percentage of the correct foods are you replacing with the "junk" food? Why not just feed the correct foods in the first place?
To recap:
1. Yes, I think lettuce is bad.
2. No, I don't think it is beneficial, unless we are adding amendments to it.
3. Whether or not tortoises "love" it is irrelevant.
iAmCentrochelys sulcata
Well-Known Member
I agree, BUT obviously you shouldn’t give lettuce as a staple... but I get your point.
Yvonne made a good point years ago about this: People of all different skill and experience levels read these threads. Someone with a lot of experience obviously knows that lettuce shouldn't be a staple.
However, a person new to the hobby might read the sentence: "Wouldn’t say lettuce is Bad right? I think it’s actully very beneficial and tortoises Love it.", and conclude that lettuce is an okay food source for their new baby. If they do too much too often... well... you know.
iAmCentrochelys sulcata
Well-Known Member
Again
we’ll just cause something is “beneficial” in some way doesn’t mean you should take it as a way to feed it every day I feed lettuce 2-3 time a week (green leaf) put yes I apologize. Also what’s your view on Grocery foods? If you mind responding
iAmCentrochelys sulcata
Well-Known Member
Wow, you did those... incredible so much information regarding your tortoises Diet. Do you have any more likes he way you care for them? Treat their injuries, ect. If you do do you mind putting them out here.
As I said, you may understand these concepts, but not everyone giving this thread a cursory read will.
In my opinion, grocery store foods should be avoided, unless there is no other choice. In the cases where grocery store foods must be used, they need to be amended to make up for the shortcomings we mentioned before. Will's dried products are an excellent way to do this, and I use and love his products myself. Just used some of Will's dried echinacea today. ZooMed Grassland tortoise pellets are another way to amend them. Mazuri can help too.
Here is my view on how they should be fed:
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...
tortoiseforum.org
