Fruity Vitamin Pellets

[Ivankathetort]

About 2 months ago I got a Russian tortoise named Ivanka. The pet store told us that we need to feed her 2-3 of the fruity vitamin pellets every day. I have tried to make them stick to the lettuce, but it doesn’t usually work. Even if it does stick, Ivanka will usually eat around it until she scrapes the pellet off with her claw. Is it very important to feed her these pellets? I am already feeding her leafy greens like collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, and kale. I also feed her carrots. Should I keep trying to feed Ivanka these pellets, or is she getting enough vitamins already??

 

[Tom]

About 2 months ago I got a Russian tortoise named Ivanka. The pet store told us that we need to feed her 2-3 of the fruity vitamin pellets every day. I have tried to make them stick to the lettuce, but it doesn’t usually work. Even if it does stick, Ivanka will usually eat around it until she scrapes the pellet off with her claw. Is it very important to feed her these pellets? I am already feeding her leafy greens like collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, and kale. I also feed her carrots. Should I keep trying to feed Ivanka these pellets, or is she getting enough vitamins already??

No. You don't need to feed those to your tortoise. Pet stores are infamous for giving bad advice and selling you the wrong products. Any other advice they've given you and products they sold you are probably not good either. Here is the correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Ivankathetort]

No. You don't need to feed those to your tortoise. Pet stores are infamous for giving bad advice and selling you the wrong products. Any other advice they've given you and products they sold you are probably not good either. Here is the correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Thanks Tom! I noticed in your care guide that you said not to get reptile heating bulbs. I got a reptile heat lamp bulb about a month ago and it already burned out. Will a normal incandescent bulb provide enough heat?

 

[Tom]

Thanks Tom! I noticed in your care guide that you said not to get reptile heating bulbs. I got a reptile heat lamp bulb about a month ago and it already burned out. Will a normal incandescent bulb provide enough heat?

Depends on the wattage, room temp, distance form the tortoise, ventilation and many other factors. Only your thermometer can answer this question. I usually use 65 watt floods form the hardware store. I raise or lower the fixture to get the correct temp under it. In my closed chambers with lower ceilings, I use lower wattage bulbs. In a large open tortoise table for an adult Testudo, I 'might use a 150 watt bulb, or two, if the room was cool and I needed more heat for the tortoise.

The bulbs marketed for reptiles are over priced, and most of them are "spot" bulbs. Spot bulbs shouldn't be used for tortoises because they concentrate too much carapace desiccating heat and IR-A into too small of an area, which causes pyramiding.