omar_00043
Member
Hello
Is the carrot useful for offering turtles Greece solcatas?
Is the carrot useful for offering turtles Greece solcatas?
Carrots??..
- Thread starter omar_00043
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Salaam. In general I believe that carrots (jazar) are high in sugar and usually not considered to be a good food. I’ve seen some offer occasionally as a treat, but not a good daily food. Hope that helps!
Best with you and your Tortoise.
Best with you and your Tortoise.
Welcome!
Carrots are not good for your tortoise, as mentioned above. Too much sugar.
I see in your photo that your tortoise has a strawberry. Your tortoise is not built to eat sugars; it will make him sick.
Your tortoise should be eating leafy greens and vegetables. Have you read the care sheet for Greek turtles in the Greek sub forum? It has a section on foods.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/greek-tortoise-testudo-graeca-care-sheet-overview.87146/
Carrots are not good for your tortoise, as mentioned above. Too much sugar.
I see in your photo that your tortoise has a strawberry. Your tortoise is not built to eat sugars; it will make him sick.
Your tortoise should be eating leafy greens and vegetables. Have you read the care sheet for Greek turtles in the Greek sub forum? It has a section on foods.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/greek-tortoise-testudo-graeca-care-sheet-overview.87146/
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If carrots are too high in sugars for our torts, what about nectar in flowers that we feed our torts ? Just a question I’ve wondered about for a while now .
Actually I feed carrots a lot. Not daily but when ever I'm peeling carrots.
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Mine get a few small shreads everyday !
@Grandpa Turtle 144 and @wellington I understand where you are coming from. My tortoise gets a fair amount of sugar from flowers; something I think would be common for any tortoise in early spring. And she gets a few inches of carrot now and again.
But given the number of new owners who come to us feeding heavy amounts of carrots and other vegetables and not much leafy greens; I don’t recommend it to them anymore. Omar is brand new; he will not know correct proportions for a while, I don’t think. YMMV.
But given the number of new owners who come to us feeding heavy amounts of carrots and other vegetables and not much leafy greens; I don’t recommend it to them anymore. Omar is brand new; he will not know correct proportions for a while, I don’t think. YMMV.
Understand what your saying. However, neither of us said yes, carrots are a good part of a diet. I give them when I am using them, which isn't daily and Grandpa gives a few small shreds daily. We don't feel it's a never feed item. In fact it's not all that bad. http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/viewplants/?plant=619&c=8#.WqbLakFOnv4
Hi Omar
Sulcatas and Greeks are different species. They do have similar dietary requirements up to a point
Both need to eat a variety of weedy amd leafy greens to be healthy.
Both cannot digest sugars properly; they cause digestive and kidney problems.
Because of this they should only be fed sweet foods very sparingly and very occasionally... They don't need to be fed them at all. Sweet foods include tomato, carrot, bell pepper and fruit. Banana is far too sugary and must never be fed.
Both don't need a high protein diet, so peas and beans should not be fed.
Sulcatas should also be fed grass and hay. They rarely eat when young, but can be introduced to it when small by snipping a little grass up really small with scissors and sprinkling it on other food.
What species do you actually have?
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I still have a question we all say feed flowers to our torts but sugar is bad for torts , but what a bout the nectar on the flowers ?
So I’ve been thinking about Grandpa’s “sugary flower” question and about the parts that compose let’s say a typical hibiscus flower. How much of that “flower” is sugary?
Here’s one link that describes those parts https://www.hunker.com/12332703/what-are-the-parts-of-a-hibiscus-flower
and here is a picture from Natureloveyou.sg - probably very little sugar in the actual petal that our torts Love, which is probably 70-80 percent of the volume.
And I’m thinking the sugar is only where the nectar is located...
Food for Insects – The nectar and pollen produced by the flower is what is eaten by many insects who in turn pollinate the flower, which then results in a fruit or vegetable that we eat. Some of the most importantpollinators that are attracted by flowers include: bees, wasps, ants, and butterflies.
Thoughts?
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You have a point about flowers Gramps, but the quantity of sugar per flower is very small. The point is that these species don't need sugary foods. Although undoubtedly eat them from time to time in the wild. In captivity we aren't providing a natural habit or diet.
I watched Joe eating dandelions and clover on our lawn and he would maybe munch 2 or 3 flowers and spend most of his time grazing the leaves by choice. He wasn't above eating windfall apples or cherries if I wasn't quick enough to remove them and would happily gorge on the cherries especially.
But who says the wild tortoises live healthily having gorged on sugary fruit? Chances are they don't... or that something else kills them off first.
As a keeper of a captive tort, I try to minimise risk of harm.
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Thank you I really like your answer. For years I’ve been herring how we shouldn’t feed carrots cause of the sugars but feed hibiscus flowers . Thank you again you have a great answer !
Is the sulcata a "grassland" species of tortoise. and is that why sugar is bad for them as they do not comes across fruit as a general rule in their wild habitat and therefore they are not conditioned by evolution it eating it? And is the redfoot more conditioned and able to deal with sugary fruit because of its jungle habitat in which there is lots of fruit all over the ground?
