Help! (feeding the Greek tortoise)

[Maddhippy]

Hi all,

I am new to the tortoise keeping game, I rescued two very young greek torts last week, I have set up a tort box for them, got calcium supplements, water dish etc.. just please can some one tell me what hibiscus looks like or a photo of some hibiscus? where do i find or buy some?? what other food is good? Mine have only just started eating after settling in, at the moment i am giving them small amounts of Kale and lettuce... any advice is much much needed...

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ, USA . Greeks Rule !

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hope the Picts help alittle . Have a great tort day !

 

[ascott]

Hi all,

I am new to the tortoise keeping game, I rescued two very young greek torts last week, I have set up a tort box for them, got calcium supplements, water dish etc.. just please can some one tell me what hibiscus looks like or a photo of some hibiscus? where do i find or buy some?? what other food is good? Mine have only just started eating after settling in, at the moment i am giving them small amounts of Kale and lettuce... any advice is much much needed...

http://www.epicurious.com/archive/seasonalcooking/farmtotable/visualguidesaladgreens

 

[Maddhippy]

wow thanks, Tesco will do for the weekend, need to find some weeds now.

 

[leigti]

wow thanks, Tesco will do for the weekend, need to find some weeds now.

You can also use Dandyline greens and the flowers if you can find them this time of year , turnip greens, collard greens, mustard greens, carrot tops, radish tops, endives, escarole, radicchio.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Hibiscus-

-they sell them at garden stores year round, but they only flower in the summer Torts LOVE leaves and flowers!
Try your local 'orgainc' store, they'll probably all the goodies like cactus and dandelions.
http://russiantortoise.net/edible_plants.htm
You can also buy seeds, very easy to grow!
http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes

 

[tglazie]

Also, if you have the space in a yard or garden, plant a mulberry tree, fruitless variety. Mulberry trees provide an abundant source of summer foods that most tortoises go nuts over. Their root systems can become somewhat unwieldy, but they more than make up for it with the edible foliage they produce. Also, flowering maple or Chinese lantern. Not all tortoises like the flowers these produce (I find this varies by personality; my largest male marginated and my Greek can't get enough of them, but my largest female marginated won't touch them; tortoise tastes vary), but if yours do, a chinese lantern in a greenhouse or coldframe will produce flowers even into the winter months. Also, grape leaves. Don't fertilize or excessively prune grape vines. They will grow up fence posts and trellises, producing little fruit but abundant leaves, which tortoises will take with gusto. Any of these can be found at an organic nursery. Don't get these at Wal Mart or Home Depot. They treat theirs with so many pesticides, any flowers produced by those plants can kill bees. Truly toxic stuff. If you have no choice, acquire the plants there, but don't let your tortoises touch them for a year. Honestly, organic nursery is the way to go. Waiting a year is a serious bummer.

You can also order seed mixes online from tortoisesupply.com or arizonatortoisecompound.com, as Yellow Turtle was saying. You can also search for milk thistle, mallow, dandelion, plantain, hawksbit, red clover, collard greens, and even Romaine lettuce seed at various online vendors, though always try to buy organic. Romaine gets a bad rep given that most folks are familiar with the grocery store variety. But Romaine is, to me, the perfect winter seed here in south Texas. I can plant it early, outside the tortoise enclosures, and by mid summer, it becomes this tall spiny thistle looking plant that flowers. To my human tastes, it is bitter, past the vegetative stage worthy of human consumption. But for my tortoises, it is a mature, edible plant loaded with nutrition. Same goes for the collards. Let it reach flowering stage, then feed it to your tortoise. And don't forget to plant the optunia cactus. Spineless prickly pear cactus is the best. Depending upon the variety, it grows in almost any condition. Shoot, I've bought nopalitos at the supermarket, planted them in the ground, and formed the basis of many a cactus tree. Give them time, but when they start to take off, they will provide fantastic tortoise food. Welcome to tortoise keeping. Now grab that hoe and shovel, because you just signed up to become a gardener.

T.G.

 

[Maddhippy]

HI all,

What strength UVB light should I be using?

 

[leigti]

What type of enclosure do you have? That will decide what kind of UVB you need. if you are using a power son mercury vapor bulb then the hundred watt or 160 W depends on how high above the tortoise you will have it. The hundred watt should be about 12 inches above your tortoises shell, the hundred and 60 W is for higher than that. if you are using the long fluorescent tubes I might suggest high output fixtures and tubes. But again it all depends on what type of set up you have. You might want to start a new thread with this topic and get some more specific answers.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Tell me that's not a lock of cheese in the picture.

 

[Maddhippy]

Heck no! it was a block of Swede as far as I know torts have never been into dairy. The swede was removed too.

 

[HLogic]

Heck no! it was a block of Swede as far as I know torts have never been into dairy. The swede was removed too.

They would probably like the greens from the swede (rutabaga) more so than the root.

 

[Gillian M]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ, USA . Greeks Rule ! View attachment 117464View attachment 117465View attachment 117466View attachment 117467View attachment 117468

Such food are exactly what a tort should eat, I do understand. However I think (i.e: I am not sure) that they are not available in Jordan, due to that fact that there is a dislike for animals/pets. Only recently people have begun to deal with dogs and cats, and these people make up probably a 5% of the population!

 

[skiperdee weenie]

if you buy fruit or leaves for tortoises from supermarkets make sure they are very organic. if possible grow your own or shop from an organic farm shop.

 

[Yvonne G]

if you buy fruit or leaves for tortoises from supermarkets make sure they are very organic. if possible grow your own or shop from an organic farm shop.

I buy regular produce for my tortoises. The 'organic' is always quite a bit more costly. I wash everything before I put it away in the fridge. Been feeding turtles and tortoises 'regular' produce for many, many years.