why does my tortoise prefer colorful plants/flowers?

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May 29, 2016
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my rescue gopher tortoise i had for awhile but he prefers colorful things. one time tried to eat a cheeto! so i did a test when he tryed to eat a bright purple tag to our roku remote by putting a pink stylus pen infront of him... he tried to eat it! when im typing this he just tryed to eat my purple watch...o_O
 

JoesMum

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Tortoises have outstanding color vision.

Brightly coloured foods, especially red, orange and yellow, are frequently sweet and tasty.

Torts like sweet and tasty even when it's not good for their health (eg Testudo, Sulcata, Leopards)

Unfortunately they are not all that intelligent and don't always stop to work out if a brightly coloured item is edible. I have seem mine try to eat red circles printed on a newspaper!
 

Gillian M

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It is well-known that torts are attracted to bright colours.;)

Please post pics of your tort and his/her enclosure, and read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread as well as different care sheets, and ask any question whenever in doubt.:)

And a very warm welcome to the forum!:tort:
 

Gillian M

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Tortoises have outstanding color vision.

Brightly coloured foods, especially red, orange and yellow, are frequently sweet and tasty.

Torts like sweet and tasty even when it's not good for their health (eg Testudo, Sulcata, Leopards)

Unfortunately they are not all that intelligent and don't always stop to work out if a brightly coloured item is edible. I have seem mine try to eat red circles printed on a newspaper!
Wow! Trying to eat parts of a newspaper just because it's red! :p Sounds funny doesn't it? ;)
 

ZEROPILOT

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There are reports of tortoises eating substrate when a red heat lamp is used in an enclosure. (Because it all looks red) Gophers eat a lot of ground level flowering plants.
They are animals of instinct. Not of high intelligence.
 
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