Same story with mushrooms and kale… Small amounts once in a while are good.
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Same story with mushrooms and kale… Small amounts once in a while are good.
I'm sorry to tell you this, but you are going to need to take a deep breath and open your mind a bit here. There are not 3 or 4 greens that are going to keep your tortoise healthy long term, and there are no easy to get grocery store genes that will fill this role. In the wild these tortoises would eat many dozens of different plants and at different times of the year. The best strategy in captivity is to feed them a wide variety of broadleaf weeds. Typical grocery store foods lack the needed fiber and nutritional balance that your tortoise needs. You can start with dandelion greens, escarole, endive and spring mix as a base, but you will need to add fiber and variety to give your tortoise a good diet.
I am not a veggie eater, so initially, I too had never heard of most of the things on those lists. Owning a tortoise meant I had to learn new things. You will have to learn too. The best foods are not available at the grocery store, but can be found for free or grown in your yard. Here is a list of good foods to feed with some supplements at the bottom. This does not mean that you need to grow or find all of these. Its a starter list of some things that should be easy to find or grow. You can pick and choose the ones that make sense for you in your area. Mulberry leaves for example can be found in late spring, summer and early fall all over the USA. This is a great summer food to offer.
More on Diet:
Russian tortoises need broadleaf weeds. You will need to learn about the weeds near you and which ones are okay to feed or not. Pics can be posted here on the forum in the "Plant ID" section, or you can take samples to a local nursery. Look for dandelion, sow thistle, mallow, filaree, hawksbit, and many more. If you are not 100% sure that your source is free of pesticides and other chemicals, don't feed anything from there.
You can grow your own food too. Here is one of my favorites: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix
I also get lots of seeds here: http://www.groworganic.com
If you must use grocery store foods I like to favor spring mix, endive and escarole heavily. Also add in carrot tops, cilantro, mustard, turnip and collard greens, and lots of other leafy greens.
It is a good idea to add a product called "Salad Style" to grocery store greens to add some fiber: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/salad-style-food-topper/
This is a new food topper and I like it a lot so far: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/HerbalHay
You can also feed them grape, mulberry and hibiscus leaves, tender young spineless opuntia cactus pads, Mazuri tortoise chow and ZooMed Grassland tortoise food. Alternating and mixing up any of these foods will give your russian a good diet and meet its nutritional needs.
The list:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
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
Hope all this helps. Come back with any other questions you think of.
Thanks for the reply. No, he did not come from as petstore. And I know better than to trust petstore employees. With maybe a few exceptions. I do know employees who really know their stuff on some animals. But everything I have learned has been from the Internet and from here.
It's very hard to remember what is safe and what is not. So my goal with the 3 of 4 items was to go to the store with a goal than expand from there. We have about 100 weeds growing all I can name is clovers. We mainly have that one leaf lily pad looking clover(?). We also have an elephant ear problem, or those safe? My hibiscus tree is bare right now. I also have zoo med and mazuri tortoise food already. Lucky guesses with those two?
Right now I have zoo med food and spring mix in there and as far as I can tell he's not eating. I guess he's still stressed or maybe wants to hibernate. At least he was awake earlier.
I really think it's too cold but I'm going to wait for my gun to come in before I run out and buy more bulbs. Yea I know I shoulda had that ahead of time, my bad.
He'll be alright. He's got a good home.
I asked about the apples and carrots as we have always have those here. The rats' favorites. I read numerous places apples were the one fruit they could have. Same with carrots, never actually saw carrots as a no no.
Anyway hopefully all will go well.
It's very hard to remember what is safe and what is not. So my goal with the 3 of 4 items was to go to the store with a goal than expand from there. We have about 100 weeds growing all I can name is clovers. We mainly have that one leaf lily pad looking clover(?). We also have an elephant ear problem, or those safe? My hibiscus tree is bare right now. I also have zoo med and mazuri tortoise food already. Lucky guesses with those two?
Right now I have zoo med food and spring mix in there and as far as I can tell he's not eating. I guess he's still stressed or maybe wants to hibernate. At least he was awake earlier.
I really think it's too cold but I'm going to wait for my gun to come in before I run out and buy more bulbs. Yea I know I shoulda had that ahead of time, my bad.
He'll be alright. He's got a good home.
I asked about the apples and carrots as we have always have those here. The rats' favorites. I read numerous places apples were the one fruit they could have. Same with carrots, never actually saw carrots as a no no.
Anyway hopefully all will go well.
What type of UV bulb are you using?
Those are known to burn reptile eyes. That is very likely the main reason why your tortoise is not eating or moving around. It burns his eyes. I would shut it off right away and return it to the seller with an explanation. He will be fine with no UV for a few weeks while you figure out another source.
And don't let them tell you that the problem is "fixed". It isn't. They will tell you this this was an issue when these bulbs first came out, but they have since fixed the problem. They haven't. We see this constantly.
Why are they still on the market? Because people like you keep buying them with the best of intentions and at the recommendation of the person selling it.
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Let me save you a whole lot of time and frustration. From personal experience I have learned do not keep visiting various sites. Stay right here on this forum, read the care sheet for Russian tortoises at the top of the species specific section. All the conflicting information out there will just make you more frustrated than you already obviously are.
You need to get rid of The coil bulb if that's what you have. Go get a mercury vapor bulb. Don't worry about night heat, your tortoise does not need it it's plenty warm in your house at night. It will take some time before your tortoise is comfortable with its new situation but it will get there. When I first got my Russian I would get her out of her hide in the morning and put her right next to her feet dish. Then I left her alone. You can also start the day by soaking your tortoise in lukewarm water. They might scratch around a lot but that's OK. Just keep an eye on it so it doesn't slip on its back in the water.
I don't know where you live but if there is a Walmart check out their produce section for packaged southern greens. I think it has mustard greens, turnup greens, and collard greens. These are all good for your tortoise. Endive and escarole are also very good. I give my Russian tortoise a carrot about two or three times a year. No fruit ever.
Hang in there, I know the conflicting information is irritating but just stay right here, keep asking questions, and you will find everything you need.
You need to get rid of The coil bulb if that's what you have. Go get a mercury vapor bulb. Don't worry about night heat, your tortoise does not need it it's plenty warm in your house at night. It will take some time before your tortoise is comfortable with its new situation but it will get there. When I first got my Russian I would get her out of her hide in the morning and put her right next to her feet dish. Then I left her alone. You can also start the day by soaking your tortoise in lukewarm water. They might scratch around a lot but that's OK. Just keep an eye on it so it doesn't slip on its back in the water.
I don't know where you live but if there is a Walmart check out their produce section for packaged southern greens. I think it has mustard greens, turnup greens, and collard greens. These are all good for your tortoise. Endive and escarole are also very good. I give my Russian tortoise a carrot about two or three times a year. No fruit ever.
Hang in there, I know the conflicting information is irritating but just stay right here, keep asking questions, and you will find everything you need.
Where did you hear it? Forget everything you've heard anywhere but here. Start over. The major key to the diet is variety. Variety overtime. You can feed one thing one week then another thing another week you don't have to feed 20 different things in one week. I started by just picking three or four good things and slowly branched out. Believe me, I'd never heard of half of them either and the people at the grocery store think I am eating very healthy
I can even get dandelion greens and cactus year around at my store. That's very handy in the winter when everything freezes around here. @Tom has made up a great list of foods that are safe for tortoises. I think it is listed in his care sheet at the top of the Russian tortoise section. I know there are 1000 care sheets out there and they all say something different but the ones here can be trusted.
Listen we are just trying to help. That's all. You don't have to take mine or anyone else's advice. I hope you do though because ultimately the one who will suffer will be your tortoise. What you can do is buy a cheap regular flood bulb for now. Until you can get him outdoors for some UV or get better lights like an MVB. Honestly your first step is to change that first.
Variety is the key. And both can be fed in moderation.
Anyway I thank you for ur help but I might be done with this site. I asked twice for enclosure help before I got him and no one ever mentioned compact florescent were bad. Or i would not have got the tortoise in winter. Someone mentioned another type for heat and uvb but it was $100 and that just is not happening. I'm not buying another light so either this is good or he goes by the window. I'm sure I'm going to get bashed for that so I rather leave than hear it. He's going outside in April and I don't have the money to keep spending for a temp home.
I feel sorry for your tortoise. Sounds like a tortoise may not be for you. The care sheet here on this site mentioned it all, it was your choice to read it and follow it or not. Amazon has mercury vapor bulbs for around $40 at times. Even if you pay 65 it will last you a year.
I'm sorry to hear that you aren't getting what you need here. It seems to me like you have been given all the right advice, but you don't seem to want to follow it. You must have your reasons, so I will just leave you be.
Window glass blocks UVB.
This is the best site for up to date information which is provided free of charge by experienced keepers all over the world who are passionate about the care of torts. The advice they give is not just opinion but their findings based on years and years of research and tried and tested methods. It would be very foolish to dismiss these voices of experience just because they do not say what you want hear.
When you were setting up your enclosure did you specifically ask about bulbs? If not then it may have been assumed that as you were sensible enough to be doing your research you may have already found some of the hundreds of posts about these dangerous bulbs. There are always exceptions to the rule but why would you take the wait and see approach and put your tort at risk by ignoring good advice? I hope common sense will prevail here and that you will continue to visit the forum to contribute and learn, for the sake of your tort.
My tort was already a few years old when I got him but I'm sure I have read that babies have to be kept indoors for the first year or two with only short supervised spells outside when it is warm enough in a predator safe enclosure (i.e. safe from birds as well as mammals)
With regards to food, in addition to Tom's list, www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is also a good guide for tort safe plants for food and enclosures.
When you were setting up your enclosure did you specifically ask about bulbs? If not then it may have been assumed that as you were sensible enough to be doing your research you may have already found some of the hundreds of posts about these dangerous bulbs. There are always exceptions to the rule but why would you take the wait and see approach and put your tort at risk by ignoring good advice? I hope common sense will prevail here and that you will continue to visit the forum to contribute and learn, for the sake of your tort.
My tort was already a few years old when I got him but I'm sure I have read that babies have to be kept indoors for the first year or two with only short supervised spells outside when it is warm enough in a predator safe enclosure (i.e. safe from birds as well as mammals)
With regards to food, in addition to Tom's list, www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is also a good guide for tort safe plants for food and enclosures.
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