Food/health questions

MyboyWilfred

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Nov 5, 2019
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Weatherford, Texas
Hey! I got a 1 year, 4 month old Hermann’s tortoise two week ago and I just want to make sure he’s healthy and getting enough to eat. His name is Wilfred and right now he’s eating a mix of collard and turnip greens with chopped butternut squash, zucchini, and green bell pepper. How much should he be eating and how do I tell if he’s getting fat? Also, how do I tell if he needs calcium? Some people say to dust his veggies, some say don’t. I bought a bird cuttlebone for him 2 days ago and he hasn’t touched it yet. He looks good, I just want to make sure he feels good.

I was going attach pictures but it keeps saying ‘error uploading your file’.
 

daniellenc

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MyboyWilfred

New Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Messages
11
Location (City and/or State)
Weatherford, Texas
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/suggested-guide.173139/
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

These two guides will be your best friend. Collards and turnip greens are ok in moderation but things like bell peppers are too high in sugar to be a staple. Read through these guides and offer the foods mentioned daily. I always throw a handful in slightly bigger than the tortoise itself.....they eat a lot, lol.

Ok, what other greens would you recommend? And other veggies? Thank you for the advice!
 

MyboyWilfred

New Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Messages
11
Location (City and/or State)
Weatherford, Texas
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/suggested-guide.173139/
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

These two guides will be your best friend. Collards and turnip greens are ok in moderation but things like bell peppers are too high in sugar to be a staple. Read through these guides and offer the foods mentioned daily. I always throw a handful in slightly bigger than the tortoise itself.....they eat a lot, lol.

Thanks for the links!
 

Maro2Bear

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Food

Low protein, high fiber and calcium rich are crucial points to keeping Hermann’s tortoises stable and healthy. In nature, much of their day is comprised of grazing or browsing for edible vegetation. Unfortunately, many uninformed keepers turn to supermarket produce which is generally lacking in acceptable fiber levels and is too high in sugar. A diet rich in protein will eventually cause renal failure and offering too much fruit will bring on diarrhea or even an outbreak of internal parasites. Pesticide-free weeds grown in the yard such as dandelion, clover, plantain, catsear, thistle and vetch make for excellent food items. Mulberry leaves are also recommended. Here, we make sure our tortoises get Mazuri tortoise diet (original blend and LS blend) several times a week. This commercial diet aids in keeping a healthy weight on the animals, enables hatchlings to grow steadily and rapidly replenishes nutrients lost in females who have recently deposited eggs. For years we have raised many species of tortoise by using this diet in combination with appropriate weeds and the outcome is more than satisfactory. We also mix the Mazuri diet with organic dried herbs which can be purchased online at www.mountainroseherbs.com. This method comes in handy during the winter months when weeds are really inaccessible. On my site www.hermannihaven.com, a video I have put together shows how to make this mix. Sometimes, supermarket produce may be your only option. Whenever possible, purchase only organic greens and stay away from all lettuces. Collard greens, mustard greens, radicchio, endive and turnip greens will suffice in moderation. Various “tortoise seed mixes” are now available from distributors and while these can make for an excellent variety of safely grown edibles, be extremely careful with them. Reports of tortoises becoming poisoned from these mixes are now beginning to surface. This may be attributed to the accidental presence of seeds from poisonous plants being mixed into the mix. Doing your homework in order to gain the knowledge of how to properly identify poisonous plants goes a long way. Google is at everyone’s fingertips now so start researching, it could save your tortoise’s life.


For calcium intake, I choose to not force it on the tortoises. The all too familiar practice of dusting each meal with calcium powder can cause long term problems down the road. Instead, a constant supply of cuttle-bone is kept in every enclosure with tortoises of all ages. The animals will nibble the bone as they feel the need. Adults, particularly females, will use the cuttle bone more often than males or neonates. Only occasionally will we dust the food items with powder. In the case of growing youngsters and gravid females we may do this twice weekly. Phosphorus free calcium powder and cuttle-bone can be purchased at most pet stores or in bulk online.
 

MyboyWilfred

New Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Messages
11
Location (City and/or State)
Weatherford, Texas
Food

Low protein, high fiber and calcium rich are crucial points to keeping Hermann’s tortoises stable and healthy. In nature, much of their day is comprised of grazing or browsing for edible vegetation. Unfortunately, many uninformed keepers turn to supermarket produce which is generally lacking in acceptable fiber levels and is too high in sugar. A diet rich in protein will eventually cause renal failure and offering too much fruit will bring on diarrhea or even an outbreak of internal parasites. Pesticide-free weeds grown in the yard such as dandelion, clover, plantain, catsear, thistle and vetch make for excellent food items. Mulberry leaves are also recommended. Here, we make sure our tortoises get Mazuri tortoise diet (original blend and LS blend) several times a week. This commercial diet aids in keeping a healthy weight on the animals, enables hatchlings to grow steadily and rapidly replenishes nutrients lost in females who have recently deposited eggs. For years we have raised many species of tortoise by using this diet in combination with appropriate weeds and the outcome is more than satisfactory. We also mix the Mazuri diet with organic dried herbs which can be purchased online at www.mountainroseherbs.com. This method comes in handy during the winter months when weeds are really inaccessible. On my site www.hermannihaven.com, a video I have put together shows how to make this mix. Sometimes, supermarket produce may be your only option. Whenever possible, purchase only organic greens and stay away from all lettuces. Collard greens, mustard greens, radicchio, endive and turnip greens will suffice in moderation. Various “tortoise seed mixes” are now available from distributors and while these can make for an excellent variety of safely grown edibles, be extremely careful with them. Reports of tortoises becoming poisoned from these mixes are now beginning to surface. This may be attributed to the accidental presence of seeds from poisonous plants being mixed into the mix. Doing your homework in order to gain the knowledge of how to properly identify poisonous plants goes a long way. Google is at everyone’s fingertips now so start researching, it could save your tortoise’s life.


For calcium intake, I choose to not force it on the tortoises. The all too familiar practice of dusting each meal with calcium powder can cause long term problems down the road. Instead, a constant supply of cuttle-bone is kept in every enclosure with tortoises of all ages. The animals will nibble the bone as they feel the need. Adults, particularly females, will use the cuttle bone more often than males or neonates. Only occasionally will we dust the food items with powder. In the case of growing youngsters and gravid females we may do this twice weekly. Phosphorus free calcium powder and cuttle-bone can be purchased at most pet stores or in bulk online.

That helps a lot! Thanks!
 

MyboyWilfred

New Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Messages
11
Location (City and/or State)
Weatherford, Texas
Hey! I was just wondering if turtles shed like other reptiles? I noticed this morning that Wilfred has a couple little skin peelies above his eyes and am just wondering what’s up.
Also should he be acting different in the wintertime? I’m keeping his temperature the same as before so there shouldn’t be much different in his environment.
Thanks in advance!
 

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MyboyWilfred

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Hey! I just noticed this morning that Wilfred’s beak, or whatever it’s called, has little chips out of the edge and looks like it might shed or something. Is it supposed to do that? He has been nibbling on his cuttlebone a bit this week and eating his dandelion greens and pumpkin only slightly less than usual. Here are a few pictures of him.
 

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Maro2Bear

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Torts like other reptiles routinely slough off a few exterior dry outer skin cells as they dry out and get replaced by new skin. If your guy looks overly dry, especially now in Winter, i would make sure you are routinely giving them a soaking.

Nibbling on cuttle bone like your guy is doing is good beak trimming exercise. Thats good that it’s nibbling and self trimming it’s beak. I’m sure most torts have a little jaggedy edge, much better than way over grown.
 
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