What should I feed my tortoise?

[Nate1224]

I recently got a 2 year old Hermann's tortoise and was wondering what their varied diet should consist of. I have been feeding it a mix of lettuce, kale, cucumber, zucchini and bok choy and just found out that bok choy and zucchini aren't good for my tortoise. What are some things I should feed my tortoise that I can get a the grocery store? I don't have that many options at the grocery store, they don't have mustard greens or dandelion greens or anything like that.

 

[Tom]

I recently got a 2 year old Hermann's tortoise and was wondering what their varied diet should consist of. I have been feeding it a mix of lettuce, kale, cucumber, zucchini and bok choy and just found out that bok choy and zucchini aren't good for my tortoise. What are some things I should feed my tortoise that I can get a the grocery store? I don't have that many options at the grocery store, they don't have mustard greens or dandelion greens or anything like that.

Grocery store foods are a last resort if you can't find better foods. All that and more is right here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Nate1224]

Grocery store foods are a last resort if you can't find better foods. All that and more is right here:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/t...temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/[/QUOTE]

Should I grow some collard, mustard and dandelion greens? What else should I add to his diet and should kale, lettuce and cucumber still be a part of his varied diet?

 

[Tom]

@Nate1224 The best foods are weeds, leaves, and flowers of the right types.

Every food you mentioned can be an okay part of a varied diet, but none of that is as good as the right weeds for your tortoise. All of this is explained in that care sheet I linked.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome,
As well as the caresheet, you may find www.thetortoisetable.org.uk useful.
It is great for IDing tort safe weeds.
It's based on UK plants but I'm sure you'll have some in common.
You can also buy seed packs for tortoise food online hopefully in NZ too.

 

[Nate1224]

@Nate1224 The best foods are weeds, leaves, and flowers of the right types.

Every food you mentioned can be an okay part of a varied diet, but none of that is as good as the right weeds for your tortoise. All of this is explained in that care sheet I linked.

 

[Nate1224]

Thanks for helping Tom, I live in New Zealand and the weather changes very quickly, I was wondering if I should build an outdoor enclosure and put him out on sunny days and bring him back to sleep inside?

 

[Tom]

Thanks for helping Tom, I live in New Zealand and the weather changes very quickly, I was wondering if I should build an outdoor enclosure and put him out on sunny days and bring him back to sleep inside?

Yes. That is ideal in my opinion. The best of both worlds. Outdoors in the sunshine grazing, exploring and exercising in a large safe enclosure when weather permits, and safely indoors with the correct temperatures ad conditions when the weather isn't cooperating.

 

[Nate1224]

Yes. That is ideal in my opinion. The best of both worlds. Outdoors in the sunshine grazing, exploring and exercising in a large safe enclosure when weather permits, and safely indoors with the correct temperatures ad conditions when the weather isn't cooperating.

Thank you so much! Just one more question, I’m looking into getting some fine grade orchid mulch for substrate, do I need to mix it with anything like top soil or is it fine on its own?

 

[SimonFly]

In europe you can get long fibered herb pellets designed for horses called pre alpin, that are great for the mediterranean species and others with the same diet needs. I couldn't find any NZ sources selling it, but there´s probably a similar product over there.

agrobs.de

100% hay substitute for horses ✓ Contains over 60 grasses with no molasses or lucerne ▷ Read more about Agrobs PreAlpin

www.agrobs.de