What is the appeal towards cat food??

pterry

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Hi all, I know for a fact that cat food is one heck of a big no no for herbivores, let alone slow growing tortoises... So why is it that they always seem so set on trying to eat it?

I often let my Sulcata out of his tortoise table to have a walk around the house, and one of the first things I have to do is go retrieve the cat bowl and place it high up out of reach. On the off cases that I forget, I often hear the suspicious clunk of his shell hitting the rim of the bowl, and have to dash in to save him from trying to choke on one of the pieces of food. It seems no matter where I put it, he follows that scent like a blood hound and often will sit with his nose to the carpet against where it was previous, as if he can will the food into existence...

He never has such an appeal to eat his actual food the same way he scours in search of the cat food. Does anyone actually know why it seems like such a desire for him to try and eat it?
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Tortoises are opportunistic feeders.
It's not uncommon for them to eat/want to eat many things that are not necessarily good for them. Even harmful.
It's one good example of why we do not recommend letting a tortoise roam around inside a house.
There are stories here on the forum of them eating many, many strange things. Some with tragic outcomes
 
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