Cycloneboiz
New Member
Hey, new to tortoise forum, I have had my tortoise for a while mainly feeding lettuce carrots and alfalfa, any new recommendations(Russian tortoise, vegetarian)
Food
- Thread starter Cycloneboiz
- Start date
Hi,
Welcome to TFO!
This is a great place to learn about your Russian... there's an entire subforum devoted to them.
Jamie
Welcome to TFO!
This is a great place to learn about your Russian... there's an entire subforum devoted to them.
Jamie
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2017
- Messages
- 5,750
- Location (City and/or State)
- Low desert 50 mi SE of Palm Springs CA
Hi, and welcome!
Here is a link to help you out. I also pasted a list of tortoise foods...it's a loooong list.
tortoiseforum.org
Good foods for tortoises are "chicories," types of lettuce that are likely to be on the far side of the more common floppy green heads of lettuce most people buy. Anything labeled as simply "chicory" is good, as are radiccio, frisee, escarole, and endive; you might even find something labeled as dandelions. You may find a bag of "Spring" or "Spicy" mix that is good, just check the label to be sure it has some of the chicories I just mentioned. The leaves (just the leaves) of turnips and radishes are also good, as are carrot tops. Collards, mustard greens, bok choy, and other dark, leafy greens are okay as well. If you have any kind of Mexican/hispanic market near you, they will sell cactus, labeled "nopales." Cactus is a great food to rotate in the diet, as it is high in calcium. You don't need to feed all of these at one time, just make sure your tortoise is getting access to different types of food. As you get more experienced, you can find the better types of food listed on the care sheets. Here are a whole bunch of non-grocery store suggestions. Mulberry leaves Grape vine leaves Hibiscus leaves African hibiscus leaves Blue hibiscus leaves Rose of Sharon leaves Rose leaves Geraniums Gazanias Nasturtium Lavatera Pansies Petunias Hostas Honeysuckle Cape honeysuckle Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc... Young spineless opuntia cactus pads Weeds: There are soooooooo many... Dandelion Mallow Filaree Smooth Sow thistle Prickly Sow thistle Milk thistle Goat head weed Cats ear Nettles Trefoil Wild onion Wild mustard Wild Garlic Clovers Broadleaf plantain Narrow leaf plantain Chick weed Hawksbit Hensbit Hawksbeard Other good stuff: "Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html Homegrown alfalfa Mazuri Tortoise Chow ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food Ones that you can buy in every store: Arugula Lambs lettuce Chicory Kale Mustard greens Organic kohlrabi leafs Organic carrot leafs Organic radish leafs Dandelions Radiccio
Here is a link to help you out. I also pasted a list of tortoise foods...it's a loooong list.
Russian Tortoise Care Sheet
Russian tortoises have great personalities, are very hardy, tolerate a wide variety of enclosure parameters, stay small, and are generally a good "starter" tortoise in my opinion. Here is how I like to set them up: Indoor Enclosure type and size: Most people want to know the minimum size...
tortoiseforum.org
Good foods for tortoises are "chicories," types of lettuce that are likely to be on the far side of the more common floppy green heads of lettuce most people buy. Anything labeled as simply "chicory" is good, as are radiccio, frisee, escarole, and endive; you might even find something labeled as dandelions. You may find a bag of "Spring" or "Spicy" mix that is good, just check the label to be sure it has some of the chicories I just mentioned. The leaves (just the leaves) of turnips and radishes are also good, as are carrot tops. Collards, mustard greens, bok choy, and other dark, leafy greens are okay as well. If you have any kind of Mexican/hispanic market near you, they will sell cactus, labeled "nopales." Cactus is a great food to rotate in the diet, as it is high in calcium. You don't need to feed all of these at one time, just make sure your tortoise is getting access to different types of food. As you get more experienced, you can find the better types of food listed on the care sheets. Here are a whole bunch of non-grocery store suggestions. Mulberry leaves Grape vine leaves Hibiscus leaves African hibiscus leaves Blue hibiscus leaves Rose of Sharon leaves Rose leaves Geraniums Gazanias Nasturtium Lavatera Pansies Petunias Hostas Honeysuckle Cape honeysuckle Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc... Young spineless opuntia cactus pads Weeds: There are soooooooo many... Dandelion Mallow Filaree Smooth Sow thistle Prickly Sow thistle Milk thistle Goat head weed Cats ear Nettles Trefoil Wild onion Wild mustard Wild Garlic Clovers Broadleaf plantain Narrow leaf plantain Chick weed Hawksbit Hensbit Hawksbeard Other good stuff: "Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html Homegrown alfalfa Mazuri Tortoise Chow ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food Ones that you can buy in every store: Arugula Lambs lettuce Chicory Kale Mustard greens Organic kohlrabi leafs Organic carrot leafs Organic radish leafs Dandelions Radiccio
