What to feed baby tortoise

whortoise

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Hello, I'm about to get my tortoise in a couple days and I was wondering if I need any additional food and supplements. I'm planning to give my tortoise the greens as well as a calcium block.
Should I add Mazuri into the mix? Would it be beneficial? (the tortoise is young and will be kept indoors)
Also should i get a food topper as well (salad style)?
Do I need the reptile multivitamins as well?
Thank you!
 

method89

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Read the care sheets here for your specific tortoise. They will provide most of the answers to the questions you have and the ones you don't know you have.
 

Tom

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Hello, I'm about to get my tortoise in a couple days and I was wondering if I need any additional food and supplements. I'm planning to give my tortoise the greens as well as a calcium block.
Should I add Mazuri into the mix? Would it be beneficial? (the tortoise is young and will be kept indoors)
Also should i get a food topper as well (salad style)?
Do I need the reptile multivitamins as well?
Thank you!
What species are we talking about?

I would say yes to all of your questions. Although, with a good diet and Mazuri, it could be argued that the vitamin supplement might not be needed.
 

whortoise

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What species are we talking about?

I would say yes to all of your questions. Although, with a good diet and Mazuri, it could be argued that the vitamin supplement might not be needed.
Hi! Thank you for answering, it was very helpful! I have a Russian tortoise. I have already read all the care sheets and caring for baby tortoise. My questions were a little more specific so I had a tough time figuring it out. I wasn't sure whether it was one or the other or whether I should have all of the food options.
 

jsheffield

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Hello, I'm about to get my tortoise in a couple days and I was wondering if I need any additional food and supplements. I'm planning to give my tortoise the greens as well as a calcium block.
Should I add Mazuri into the mix? Would it be beneficial? (the tortoise is young and will be kept indoors)
Also should i get a food topper as well (salad style)?
Do I need the reptile multivitamins as well?
Thank you!

The type of tortoise you're getting will greatly affect the types and amounts of food and supplementation you need to provide for them. Read through the care guides in the species-specific forum for the species you'll be getting.

I feed my Russian weeds and flowers from my lawn and garden in the warm months, and a salad mix heavy on the weird stuff and herbs in the cold months... he also loves hibiscus flowers, which I feed him from a pair of plants I keep growing in my living room.

If you're providing a variety of appropriate foods, you probably don't need to supplement much (too much can be as much a problem as not enough)... a calcium block or cuttlebone they can gnaw on at will is a good thing to have in their enclosure.

Mazuri is purported to be a complete diet for many/most species, so feeding that one or more times a week may help to balance the nutrition... I feed it to all of my torts twice a week.

I sprinkle a bit of powdered hibiscus and seaweed over all of their foods once or twice a week; it's essentially a vitamin powder with the advantage of being red, which all of my torts seem to key on when looking for food to eat.

Check the guides for your species, see if it makes sense, then duck back in here to ask more questions as they arise.

Good luck!

Jamie
 
Last edited:

whortoise

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Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
23
Location (City and/or State)
California
The type of tortoise you're getting will greatly affect the types and amounts of food and supplementation you need to provide for them. Read through the care guides in the species-specific forum for the species you'll be getting.

I feed my Russian weeds and flowers from my lawn and garden in the warm months, and a salad mix heavy on the weird stuff and herbs in the cold months... he also loves hibiscus flowers, which I feed him from a pair of plants I keep growing in my living room.

If you're providing a variety of appropriate foods, you probably don't need to supplement much (too much can be as much a problem as not enough)... a calcium block or cuttlebone they can gnaw on at will is a good thing to have in their enclosure.

Mazuri is purported to be a complete diet for many/most species, so feeding that one or more times a week may help to balance the nutrition... I feed it to all of my torts twice a week.

I sprinkle a bit of powdered hibiscus and seaweed over all of their foods once or twice a week; it's essentially a vitamin powder with the advantage of being red, which all of my torts seem to key on when looking for food to eat.

Check the guides for your species, see if it makes sense, then duck back in here to ask more questions as they arise.

Good luck!

Jamie
Thank you so much! This was exactly the answer I was looking for :)
 

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