Food for thought

[CathyNed]

Hi guys. Just wondering....my tort is not a fussy eater. He is very fond of weeds such as dandelion, plantain, clover etc. I am in the process of planting his outdoor enclosure and have gone through the tortoise table list to ensure all the things I intend to pot or plant are safe but i was wondering what is the ratio of weeds: flowers and leaves that a tort should eat. For example are flowers and their leaves as nutritious as the weeds? Can a tort be solely fed a variety of flowers and their leaves or do they also need weedy greens? Curiosity...

 

[Tom]

Flowers should only make up small percentage of their diet. Maybe 10% tops. Leaves of the plants the flowers came from can be part of the 90% of the rest of the diet.

There are no set "rules" for this. Just people's personal opinions and guidelines. Your tortoise will not drop dead if you feed 11% flowers one day instead of 10%.

 

[CathyNed]

Thanks @Tom! Just wondering what to plant. Dont want to have him filling on flowers in his enclosure all day and then not eating his greens..

 

[Prairie Mom]

Seems like most people tend to agree that the wider variety of foods the better. I offer as much as possible of all the categories of foods you mentioned. My tortoise seems to be doing a pretty good job of hitting all the tortoise food groups

It's my understanding that flowers are more like the "candy" portion of the plant, usually having less nutrition and more sugars/nectar etc. I don't stress about it too much and have lots of flowers planted in my yard because there are always more green parts of plants than blossoms just because that is the nature of most plants. Planting taller flowers solves that problem too. Tortoise can snack on the lower leaves and you'll have to pick off the occasional blossom treat.

I vote that you plant away as much variety as you can and observe how your tortoise is eating. You can always protect plants that you think your tortoise should take a break from. -This can be good for both tortoise and THE PLANT


Here's an ugly yet effective way to make your tortoise take a break!



Good luck and HAVE FUN!