Diet?

Domm

Active Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2020
Messages
105
Location (City and/or State)
PA
I have a 5 month old Eastern Hermanns Hatchling and have read several articles on here on what to feed them. There is no clear answer and most are crazy wild weeds and plants I just don't have access to. Can anyone tell me if what I am giving him is ok and enough? If anyone has suggestions on another way I can grow food I'm all ears too.

I feed him:

-Organic Arugula
-Organic Spring Mix (I pick out the spinach)
-Butter Lettuce
-Organic Chard
-Organic Collard Greens
-Baby Red Romaine (not everyday)
-Mazuri mix once a week, watered down to make it mushy
-Broadleaf grown from seeds from tortoise supply
-Organic Dandelion Stem
-Calcium Sprinkle once a week
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
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Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I have a 5 month old Eastern Hermanns Hatchling and have read several articles on here on what to feed them. There is no clear answer and most are crazy wild weeds and plants I just don't have access to. Can anyone tell me if what I am giving him is ok and enough? If anyone has suggestions on another way I can grow food I'm all ears too.

I feed him:

-Organic Arugula
-Organic Spring Mix (I pick out the spinach)
-Butter Lettuce
-Organic Chard
-Organic Collard Greens
-Baby Red Romaine (not everyday)
-Mazuri mix once a week, watered down to make it mushy
-Broadleaf grown from seeds from tortoise supply
-Organic Dandelion Stem
-Calcium Sprinkle once a week
I've been to PA. There are weeds everywhere, except during he time of year when they are covered by snow. It will take some time and effort for you to learn which ones are good and find sources for them, but that is what your tortoise needs. Also look for mulberry trees, rose of sharon, lavatera, grape vine leaves, honey suckle, nasturtiums, hostas, untreated roses, hollyhocks, gazania, and so many more.

Grocery store foods tend to lack fiber, lack calcium, have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, tend to be grown with chemicals, and some have deleterious compounds in them. If you must use grocery store foods, like during your long winter months, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Use all the others you mentioned to add some variety once in a while. To make up for the shortcomings, you'll need to "amend" the greens in one of several ways. Hermanni are not usually grass eaters, but you can add some freshly sprouted grass for some fiber. You can soak ZooMed tortoise pellets or some Mazuri pellets and mix that in with greens. Tortoisesupply.com has an awesome "herbal hay" mix of dried flowers that you can mix in. @Kapidolo Farms has all sorts of dried leaves and opuntia cactus chips that you can mix in to grocery store greens to make them a much better diet for your tortoise.

There are many ways to do it, and hermanni are very adaptable, but a diet of plain grocery store greens with nothing added is not a great way to go. Amend the greens with a variety of these other things, and you can have a great diet for your tortoise with the grocery store greens as a base.

Its still best to find "real" natural foods, but that isn't practical or possible for everyone all of the time. These amendments will work for your tortoise if this is the case for you.
 

Domm

Active Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2020
Messages
105
Location (City and/or State)
PA
I've been to PA. There are weeds everywhere, except during he time of year when they are covered by snow. It will take some time and effort for you to learn which ones are good and find sources for them, but that is what your tortoise needs. Also look for mulberry trees, rose of sharon, lavatera, grape vine leaves, honey suckle, nasturtiums, hostas, untreated roses, hollyhocks, gazania, and so many more.

Grocery store foods tend to lack fiber, lack calcium, have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, tend to be grown with chemicals, and some have deleterious compounds in them. If you must use grocery store foods, like during your long winter months, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Use all the others you mentioned to add some variety once in a while. To make up for the shortcomings, you'll need to "amend" the greens in one of several ways. Hermanni are not usually grass eaters, but you can add some freshly sprouted grass for some fiber. You can soak ZooMed tortoise pellets or some Mazuri pellets and mix that in with greens. Tortoisesupply.com has an awesome "herbal hay" mix of dried flowers that you can mix in. @Kapidolo Farms has all sorts of dried leaves and opuntia cactus chips that you can mix in to grocery store greens to make them a much better diet for your tortoise.

There are many ways to do it, and hermanni are very adaptable, but a diet of plain grocery store greens with nothing added is not a great way to go. Amend the greens with a variety of these other things, and you can have a great diet for your tortoise with the grocery store greens as a base.

Its still best to find "real" natural foods, but that isn't practical or possible for everyone all of the time. These amendments will work for your tortoise if this is the case for you.

Thanks Tom, there are tons of grass and weeds here but everyone in PA is pesticide happy, they even spray near our state parks.This worries me so I'm terrified to pick something like that and harm him. I never buy regular grocery store lettuce I always get organic which to my knowledge still has all of the important vitamins and no pesticides... I could be wrong though. I am growing broadleaf mix from tortoise supply and he seems to love it. I'll also look for some of the suggestions you sent, my mom has a ton of honey suckle in her yard.
 

Domm

Active Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2020
Messages
105
Location (City and/or State)
PA
Thanks Tom, there are tons of grass and weeds here but everyone in PA is pesticide happy, they even spray near our state parks.This worries me so I'm terrified to pick something like that and harm him. I never buy regular grocery store lettuce I always get organic which to my knowledge still has all of the important vitamins and no pesticides... I could be wrong though. I am growing broadleaf mix from tortoise supply and he seems to love it. I'll also look for some of the suggestions you sent, my mom has a ton of honey suckle in her yard.

I'm going to order the herbal hay now
 
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