Cannibal

[chris1810]

My Rt likes to find snails and get them I posted a pic so u can see.Is this normal ?

 

[JoesMum]

RE: Canabial

I have friend whose Russian likes snails... their diet is supposed to be leafy greens.

I can only think they do it to get the calcium from the shell. have you tried cuttlebone with this tort?

 

[chris1810]

RE: Canabial



This is a better pic of the cannibal who found another snail to eat,Don't worry I moved the snail as soon as I took the pick the bully.

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Yeah he has cuttle bone calcium on his food and a good diet

 

[Itort]

RE: Canabial

If opportunity presents itself I'm sure even grassland torts will eat "prey". My forest type actively hunt and forage for bugs and such.

 

[chris1810]

RE: Canabial



Yeah he has his cuttle bone and leafy greens,they must eat snails in the wild

 

[bigred]

RE: Canabial

He is just being a tortoise, In the wild they eat whatever they come across. I watched My sulcata swallow a lizard whole and days later he found a rat and was trying to eat it but it was to big so I took it from him

 

[chris1810]

RE: Canabial

No way did it eat a lizard your tortoise needs a muzzle haha.I was shocked cause I never seen him do it before he got through the snails shell and started to eat the actually snail.

 

[Tom]

RE: Canabial

This is interesting. I had one big time tortoise breeder tell me that he thought most captive tortoise diet were actually protein deficient. That was one of the reasons that he liked to use Mazuri. My adult sulcatas show no interest in anything meaty. After reading tall these anecdotal stories, I was curious so I offered them a few different things just to see what they would do. No interest in roaches, chicken, rats, mice or gophers. In the past I have also found a dead bird in their enclosure and it was untouched, even though it had been in plain sight.

Interesting that some tortoises seem to really go for it and others would rather graze on weeds or grass when given the choice...

 

[Edna]

RE: Canabial

I have observed every single one of my torts, Hermann's and Leopards, eating slugs. All of my Hermann's also like night crawlers. Interesting: they particularly like night-crawlers when they're dried up. Yep, all the protein with none of the struggle.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

RE: Canabial

Eating snails is good for tortoises. Even though they are primarily browsers or grazers, tortoises still benefit from occasionally eating slugs and snails. And snails are better, because not only do they provide protein, but they also provide lots of calcium carbonate from their shells, which is the most readily absorbed form of calcium for tortoises (but not for us). As long as snails are not carrying pesticides or parasites, they are good for tortoises.

BTW - It's not cannibalism unless you're eating your own species.

 

[chris1810]

So it's ok to eat the snail because if it is I will leave him too it,He normal knows what he can and can't eat in the garden so I thought because he has not come across the snail before he did not know what it was he thought he would try it.☺

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

So it's ok to eat the snail because if it is I will leave him too it,He normal knows what he can and can't eat in the garden so I thought because he has not come across the snail before he did not know what it was he thought he would try it.☺

Yeah, just let him do his thing. Unless he has come across a barrel full of snails and is gorging on an unnatural plethora of them, he's just naturally supplementing his predominantly herbivorous diet with a few mollusks.

 

[Zamric]

Snails are best sauted in garlic butter 1st, but if he prefers them alive and slithering... more power to him!

 

[JoesMum]

Snails are best sauted in garlic butter 1st, but if he prefers them alive and slithering... more power to him!

I agree totally!

 

[chris1810]

Good job cause I was about to rush him to the vets.Worried was not the word😁

 

[Talka]

I do want to point out, cannibal = tortoise eats tortoise. Carnivore = tortoise eats snail. Before I clicked this thread I was afraid I'd see a picture of your tortoise eating another tort!