Aldabra killing a bird - have you guys seen this? *graphic warning, ofc*

zovick

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I reckon it's just bad eyesight and possibly the scent of leaves or flowers - or not? Poor thing!

Contrary to what the above video states, all tortoises are not strictly herbivores. Forest Hingeback Tortoises routinely seek out live prey. I have seen Travancore Tortoises in my care walking about looking for slugs in their enclosures.

I also used to feed pinky mice to my breeding female Radiated Tortoises which were devoured with great gusto.
 

harrythetortoise

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I saw a sulcata tortoise devouring a pidgeon on the internet a few weeks ago. I guess they can be opportunistic feeders.
I truly hope mine does not become like that...
 

jsheffield

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I've seen my Russians go after pillbugs and earthworms inside and crickets outside... of course I expect, and see, that behavior from my forest torts (a redfoot, an MEP, and a hingeback).

Jamie
 

TeamZissou

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I forget which issue it was in, but The Tortoise magazine, put out by the Turtle Conservancy had a long article on wild Aldabras that showed them eating/cannibalizing the flesh of other (dead) Aldabra tortoises. Take what you can get on an isolated island, I suppose.
 

ruthiepo

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Hello, I was reading the report about the giant tortoise hunting and eating a tern chick.
Very interesting and surprising.
I wondered if my Hermann tortoise would appreciate extra protein and calcium in the form of the little calci worms that you can buy live for frogs.
 

wellington

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I forget which issue it was in, but The Tortoise magazine, put out by the Turtle Conservancy had a long article on wild Aldabras that showed them eating/cannibalizing the flesh of other (dead) Aldabra tortoises. Take what you can get on an isolated island, I suppose.
I have seen a couple different places that stated this same thing.
 

wellington

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Someone else posted this same video.
There are articles about them eating their own when they come upon a dead one.
 

Toddrickfl1

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I came outside once and found my redfoot eating a dead bird. Don't think he caught it though I think it fell out of a nest.
 

swdavis28

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Oxalis

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I've seen my Russians go after pillbugs and earthworms inside and crickets outside... of course I expect, and see, that behavior from my forest torts (a redfoot, an MEP, and a hingeback).

Jamie
I concur; my Russian sought out a slug a couple times in the garden. I pulled him away once, thinking he was going to eat it and that the protein was not necessary for his diet. ?‍♀️

This article also made me wonder what all redfoots eat in the wild, in terms of protein.
 

Suranai

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I'm surprised that people are surprised about this. You have to be opportunistic if you're big, slow, and there're limited resources.

What I really want to know is, will they get stomachache? When I eat red meat after not having any for few months, I would get stomach ache. I wonder if these tortoises experience the same thing when it comes to eating meat.
 

William Lee Kohler

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I concur; my Russian sought out a slug a couple times in the garden. I pulled him away once, thinking he was going to eat it and that the protein was not necessary for his diet. ?‍♀️

This article also made me wonder what all redfoots eat in the wild, in terms of protein.
I have read that carrion is a part of Redfoots diet. Maybe only dead meat?
 

TammyJ

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I have read that carrion is a part of Redfoots diet. Maybe only dead meat?
They happily eat pinkie mice that have just been killed and are still warm. I am quite sure that they will eat anything that they can catch!
 
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