3 Food Options For Tortoise

A number of the leading manufacturers of reptile products also have lines of goods which are specifically for tortoise. Some of these well known brands include Exo Terra, Komodo and Zoo Med and many of them have developed food that is suitable to use as a balanced diet for your tortoise. But you will need to take into account that different species have different needs and some dry foods may contain too much protein for your tortoise and can cause them harm. Tortoise in their natural habitat like to browse and often will eat small amounts of food as they go along, their diet can be greatly varied and dependant on the time of year can vastly change.

As a general rule tortoises are often found where the soil is high in calcium and so you will need to ensure that if your tortoise is from one of these regions that they get the right level of calcium to encourage healthy development, you may even have to use a calcium supplement. The food options available vary, and you may find that your tortoise is more suited to one of the food options than another, these tortoise food choices include:-

1) Dry Food – Although this may not sound too appealing, there are a range of flavours available in the dry food options such as cucumber, banana and fruit & flower. These foods may not suit all tortoises though, so you would need to check if they will indeed be okay for yours, you may also need to dampen the food, in fact this is often recommended and you may also still need to supplement their diet with foods such as fresh dandelion leaves. You will find that these foods are high in nutrition and fibre and may also find that you are best to put a selection of different flavours of the food into your tortoise vivarium or table being as they are renowned for being grazers and quite often like to have a choice.

2) Weeds – Many tortoises love to eat weeds and owners often choose to pull up their own weeds from their gardens, however this can prove to be difficult if you don’t want to let your grass/weeds grow and can be near impossible during the colder months. A way around this would be to purchase a tortoise feed growing kit and basically grow your own. The kits aren’t expensive and include weed seeds, seed trays, compost, a propagator top and instructions to show you what you need to do. You can grow this yourself all year round and you will have the peace of mind that nothing is on the leaves that could cause harm to your tortoise. The seed mixes included are for those weeds that many tortoise breeds thrive on, they encourage slow growth and also contain essential nutrients, you can also purchase refill seed packs when you have used up your initial supply.

3) Fruits, Leafy Greens & Livefood – A number of tortoise species like to eat fruits and leafy greens, though often shop bought greens will not contain enough nutrients for your tortoise and so it is recommended that you use another food option such as weeds to make sure that they get all the goodness they need. Some tortoises like to graze on fruits too and tend to prefer mushy over ripe fruits rather than fresh. There are also some breeds that like to eat the occasional slug but as a general rule tortoise are herbivores and would not touch animal food in the wild.

Basically, when choosing your tortoise food you must take into account the species that you own and what they would naturally have eaten in the wild. For example if your tortoise originates from a arid region then you would not choose to feed them fruits as this is something that they would never have eaten and will not be used to digesting. It is vitally important to get their diet right as feeding the wrong diet can cause deficiencies, which can cause deformities and can sometimes even be fatal.

There are many people who will tell you that all tortoises can eat the same diet, sometimes even vets, but this is not the case at all and it is your responsibility to ensure that your tortoise receives the right food options and the right amount of calcium and vitamins for their species. Take into account the food sources that your tortoise would find in the wild, if they are from an area where they would find fallen fruits at certain times of the year, then mimic that. If they are from a dry arid region, then consider the types of grasses they would find and provide this in their diet. Ensure that your tortoise gets enough water, whether it is on their food or by letting them bathe in water a couple of times a week, but either way do your research. Tortoise can have a long lifespan and it is vital that they get the right start in life to ensure that their shells develop correctly and they are the healthiest and happiest they can be.

By: Andrea Gregson

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Andrea Gregson is a reptile advisor for leading online reptile supplies retailer Swell Reptiles. Swell Reptiles stock a wide range of supplies for tortoise, snakes and reptiles and these include tortoise lighting and tortoise heating