Feeding my tortoise

[Robinbirdlady]

Hello,
I am new here and a new desert tortoise owner. I need help with all the feeding information I can get. I read that some just graze on the grass and weeds and some get fed. Should I be setting out a bowl of food for my tortoise Alfred every day? Twice a day? Every few days? Also what do I give him. Of course I have looked all this up but it seems so vague. We have dandelions all over our grass where he roams but he has only eaten a few. We have a mulberry tree but he’s not into the leaves. Only thing he has really liked was roaming and occasionally kale. I also have his little home lined with timmothy hay but he doesn’t eat that at all. But I read I need to limit that. I would greatly appreciate all the info.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Feed Alfred every day and leave the bowl through the day. If he eats everything - put a little more next day. Grazing on weeds and grass is fine, but feeding allows to provide more food variety (e.g. opuntia pads, hibiscus leaves and flowers).

Mulberry leaves is a good food source for tortoises and if he refuses - add it little by a little to the greens he likes (fine chop and mix). Same can be done with weeds from the yard to encourage grazing and foraging.

I don't know much about desert tortoises, unfortunately, but as I've read, they aren't really hay eaters. Also, I've seen that this care sheet has been recommended for CDT owners: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Please post some pictures of the tortoise and the enclosure so we can help you more!

 

[Tom]

Hello,
I am new here and a new desert tortoise owner. I need help with all the feeding information I can get. I read that some just graze on the grass and weeds and some get fed. Should I be setting out a bowl of food for my tortoise Alfred every day? Twice a day? Every few days? Also what do I give him. Of course I have looked all this up but it seems so vague. We have dandelions all over our grass where he roams but he has only eaten a few. We have a mulberry tree but he’s not into the leaves. Only thing he has really liked was roaming and occasionally kale. I also have his little home lined with timmothy hay but he doesn’t eat that at all. But I read I need to limit that. I would greatly appreciate all the info.

Hello and welcome. All the feeding info is in the thread that Alex linked, and here is more info:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Almost all of the info you find online is wrong. We will help get you the right info.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome! Your tortoise is a grazer and should have access to food all day long. If the bowl is empty at the end of the day leave out a little more the next day. If it's overflowing, leave less.

I wouldn't worry about the mulberry leaves. Just because something is a "good" food doesn't mean your tortoise will like it right away, if ever. My Russian certainly didn't care for thick leaves for years. Try cutting them into strips and offer them on and off over time to see what happens; my tortoise now turns her nose up at foods she was delighted to get five years ago but every now and again surprises me by taking a bite of something she's always ignored. They do what they want, when they want.

The most important thing in the diet isn't one or two "good" foods, it's a variety of as many as you can manage, each one has something to offer. Try buying cactus, labeled nopales, at a Mexican grocery store and see how that goes. But if he doesn't like it right off that's okay, offer it every now and again as well.

Your tortoise is going to live a long time, perhaps longer than you! And they can go a loooong time without eating. You don't have to get all of this right in one week. Focus on the enclosure for now, that's more important.

 

[Robinbirdlady]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I’ve been reading all the information on the links you have sent. Alfred has been eating really well the past few weeks and I have been giving him a nice variety. I also see him grazing a lot. He seems to really like when I feed him. He must of been hand fed a lot in his prior home.

About his enclosure. I built a pretty large wooden dog house for him that I got on Chewy. I put hay on the floor but now I am confused about what to put down after reading that link. Are the suggested ground covers like mulch for small tortoises like babies? Is that for the whole enclosure or for just the area they sleep? I’ve thought about putting some dirt from my backyard in his sleeping area (dog house) because he likes to kind of make his way over to the areas of my yard with dirt and sort of make himself a little spot to sleep in it. But now he’s finally realized the dog house is his home and he puts himself to bed every night. I go outside and lock him in for the night just to be safe. I live in Long Beach California. Do I need a heat source for him inside his sleeping area? If so what kind?
His enclosure is almost my whole backyard. Every morning I open his door and let him roam as he pleases but we did build two heavy duty barricades to block him off from certain areas. I will get some pictures tomorrow and post them.

 

[Robinbirdlady]

Just to clarify he is full grown. I was told at least 20-30 years but they really have no clue. Could be way older