Diet help.

[anthony14]

I have done extensive reading through google but have not come across a wide list of available foods for my Greek Tortoise.

So far I have only been able to get him to eat Romaine lettuce, Raddichio and Broccoli Rapini(Rabe).

He ignored carrots(which I read should not be fed often, but is good a few times a month).

I have just tried picking some crabgrass from my backyard to see if he is interested in that at all.

So I was just wondering if someone could give me a full list of foods I can provide for a staple, every so often and as a treat, also I am in Ontario, Canada and am wondering what weeds/grasses I can feed my tortoise directly from the backyard, I am just worried some may be poisonous.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GBtortoises]

A full or complete list is very difficult to establish since Greek tortoises are kept in so many different areas of North America and the world where many different foods are available. Basically, think high fiber, quality greens. I live in New York State in the U.S. so our weed selection may be very much the same. Some wild and garden plants that are safe to feed are: Dandelion, chicory, broad and narrow leaf plantain, lambs quarter, purslane, chickweed, crown vetch, clover, squash and pumpkin vine, squash, pumpkin along with other various vegetables and more. They will also often consume various types of leaves and flowers. As a rule of thumb, most people don't feed their tortoises anything that is known to be toxic or unedible to humans. When wild plants aren't available I feed mine grocery store greens including (but not limited to): Chicory, endive, escarole, romaine, green and red leaf lettuce, mustard, beet and carrot greens, dandelion and some others. These lists are by no means complete or restrictive. The key is quality and variety. If you're going to feed "wild" plants it's very important to know their source to know whether or not they have been contaminated with herbicides or any other chemicals.

 

[anthony14]

Thanks for the in-depth response, I have brought in a few weeds from my backyard just now to feed to my tortoise, and he is really enjoying them, I had a tiny bean plant and some raddichio growing so I gave him a leaf from each and he's also eating those.



I also fed him some of the leaves from my tomato plant...just kidding.

E: Just found some clover, I'll see if he enjoys it.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Anthony:

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[Snapper]

Welcome to the forum! Nice to see a fellow Canadian on here; I am in BC

 

[anthony14]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!

 

[greeks]

This post pretty much covers it all:

http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Foo...orts-DT-Marginated-Greeks-Russians-Sullys-etc

Depending on what kind of Greek you have and how picky of an eater your Greek is, you will have varying levels of success. I have mostly Jordanian Greeks and they generally like lettuce varieties, dandelion, clover, plantain, violet leaves and various flowers. They tend to turn their noses to grasses, fruits, succulents and veggies. Try any of these things out and see what your Greek likes