eating bugs

[sara]

o.k. so bert was cruzin the other day and found himself a worm. it was dried up so i took it away. didnt look appitizing. then he starts rutting around and comes up with some other wierd kind of bugs. tiny little white worm. some kind of larve. took that away too.
is it safe to let him go around eating bugs? I have been reading about diffrent kinds of protien people feed. some like dog food, others cat food. I know he needs protien, and i tell myself in nature they would eat bugs, but how do i know if they are safe?
poor bert, i dont let him do anything!
he also goes after those little white mushrooms that grow in the grass. and not knowing if they are poisonus or not, i take those away too. I am more concerned about them than wierd bugs he finds.

 

[jackrat]

I see my redfoots eating worms,grubs and various bugs and beetles.Haven't seen any obvious harm so far.

 

[terryo]

Pio is outside all Summer. Two days ago I went out there and he had the biggest slug in his mouth. When he saw me he took his slug and went into his cave. I guess he thought he wasn't going to share that with me. I can just imagine what he finds and eats out there.

 

[spikethebest]

what kind of tortoise do you have? if its a redfoot, and yes it needs to eat more protein than dryland tortoises, so bugs are okay. mushroom are good too, but probably not the ones going wild in your garden.

 

[Madkins007]

Wild Red-foots love bugs, worms, and all kinds of invertebrates- even things that look nasty to us. I have not seen any mention of a common garden bug that is unsafe for tortoises (as long as it has not been sprayed recently with a poison).

 

[sara]

well ok. that answers that! Bert ( a red foot) found himself a HUGE earth worm and gobbled it up. seemed to enjoy it. so the bug question has been answered! thanks everyone!

 

[tortoisenerd]

As long as your yard is chemical free (if your tort is roaming out there hopefully you have already made sure of this), then any bugs it finds should be great. You just want to factor that in to your diet plan. ie. you may not have to feed any other protein besides that if you believe that he's getting quite a few. I too would be wary about mushrooms growing in the yard. I agree with searching for them and pulling them out before you put the tort in the enclosure.