The following is a suggested healthy diet for most tortoises kept in captivity. Please note that there isn’t one single diet that can be recommended for all tortoises. New keepers need to research into the natural habitat of your tortoise and make a conscious effort to provide a diet which is similar.
Over the years many keepers have told me of their tortoises’ favourite foods. It still horrifies me to hear of these so called animal lovers literally feeding their tortoises on what can only be described as “killer” food.
Never feed your tortoise a diet of the following:
- Chocolate
- Cake
- Biscuits
- Cheese
- Boiled Egg
- Jam Sandwiches
- Chips
- Ice Cream
- Bread
- Mushy Peas
All of the above have high contents of fat, sugar, protein and many other mineral which reacts with the body’s ability to consume the appropriate vitamins. Tortoises cant burn off the excess amount of fat, therefore liver failure, kidney failure and eventually premature death may occur.
When feeding your tortoise always provide a diet rich in calcium low in protein and high in fibre. Always supply a diet close to which it would find in its natural habitat.
The following food list should make up 90% of the daily diet. During winter months some of these foods are very scares and therefore we have to buy in supermarket produce instead. A tortoises’ daily food intake should comprise of at least 90% total weed/natural foods and 10% of supermarket salads and greens if necessary.
Below is a suggested healthy diet list:
- Wild Foods
- Dandelion
- Sow Thistle
- Plantains
- Clover Red and White
- Honey Suckle
- Bind Weeds
- Nettles
- Wild Clematis
- Robinia
- Chick Weed
- Grasses
- Romain Lettuce
- Water Cress
A number of these weeds can be purchased from The Tortoise Lady website and successfully grown in your garden.
|
|