Repti-cal Tortoise food

[Rattlesnake082]

Can i use this food for my Russian Tortoise every day with nothing else for a little while? I just started growing Wild flowers from seeds that i got from walmart, with organic soil, and they are just starting to come up.Also I got them in these little Styrofoam cups i got the seed in.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Horsfield's tortoises eat stuff like grass, greens (dandelion greens, endive, escarole, mustard greens, kale, romaine lettuce, collards) as well as hay (timothy or bermuda).

Avoid fruits, grains or animal protetin.

Supplementation with calcium and vitamin D3 (particularily if kept inside under artificial lights) powder is highly recommended. If kept outside or allowed regular daily sunlight, the D3 best avoided, as your tortoise will make his own from the sunslight.

I don't think I'd use the Repti-cal Tortoise food for much more than 10% of your pet's daily feeding, but others may disagree.

 

[Yvonne G]

Where do you live? Here in California I buy a product at the grocery store called "Spring Mix." You find it in the produce section with the packaged lettuces. You can also buy dandelion greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, escarole, endive...and the list goes on! Its always a good idea to find a healthy manufactured tortoise food and get your tortoise used to eating it for when the natural foods are scarce, however, its much better to just buy greens at the grocery store.

Welcome to the forum!!!

 

[Rattlesnake082]

Thanks for your help! i am going to go buy some spring mix at the store later for them. Also i live in north Florida. its my first tortoise too so i want to do it all rite

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Welcome to the forum...I hope you went and got the Spring mix as I don't like those colored pellets...Fresh food is best. Do you have a yard that you could put him outside in?

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the group! I like to feed only fresh food such as listed on russiantortoise.org, and if pelleted food is necessary (I feed about 5% good pellet food like Mazuri Tortiose Diet or Grassland Tortoise Food), such as to have on hand in case of an emergency, or to add some variety, then I feed only that good stuff I listed. Anything they add colors, fillers, or other stuff they wouldn't find in the wild is bad. Feeding one thing is bad. Wild flowers that are organic and on the edible food list for torts are great, but one food should only be 5% of the diet as an example...I feed my tort over 20 things on a regular basis so he has good healthy variety. I buy spring mix (organic, no spinach, the most variety I can get in the package, rotating brands for even more variety), other greens like dandelion/radish/mustard/turnip, a bit of butternut squash or pumpkin, cactus pads, the two good commercial foods, edible flowers, etc. The best thing to do however is to grow weeds and broadleaves and veggie leaves and flowers that are organic. Hibiscus flowers and grape leaves are great too. What I listed is a great in the mean time diet (and what I do as I live in an apartment).

Can you tell us more about how you care for your tort? Good luck!

 

[Rattlesnake082]

I built a out door pen today that's 5x3x3 but i think its way to hot to let him stay out side the shade was 85.6 and the sun was 111.8+ but that was at 2:30 in the after noon so i let him stay in his inside tank today

On the hotter days/rainy days/night time i put him in his 40 gallon breeder tank witch has a hot side of 97.2 and a cool side of 80.9 these were the exact temps from today.i also home built him a hide for him to sleep.

I bought to tortoise today and the spring mix. hes a 4 year old male Russian tortoise. so this is my first tortoise and i hope he does well with me. i paid 50 for the tortoise and $3.00 for the spring mix.

i will take some pics of him and the out door pen and his 40 gallon soon prob in the morning

---

I took some pictures of all my stuff besides the out door pen you couldn't see any thing out its too dark out side.

His tank 40 gallon breeder has cypress mulch layer and dirt under it also the half log is way to small for him so i took it out.

These are the plants im going to be growing for him but once repti-con comes i looking to get 3 females there.

 

[tortoisenerd]

You need hides (at least one next to the basking spot, one cold, and one in between), a water dish large enough for the tort to get completely in to soak (plant saucer is great--put river rocks in it if it is too deep), and somewhere to feed to keep the food off the substrate (I like slate tiles) in there, and that tank isn't big enough for one tort let alone 3...even with the outdoor enclosure. Having a huge outdoor enclosure and a tiny indoor tank is very stressful for them to come inside. You want the outdoor enclosure to not be more than 2-3 times the indoor one so it isn't so huge of a change. I like that you have the plants going, but you really need to focus on the basics. What do you have for heat/light/UVB? For hides, even a cardboard box does great. My tort prefers a pile of timothy hay and fake plants.

Craft stores are great for river rocks and fake plants. Please please just focus on this tort and don't even think about getting a second one for at least 3 months, preferably longer. It takes awhile to get the hang of tort ownership. They are tricky to get everything set up. What is your humidity in the tank? If you can't get any area in the 70s in the tank, then it is too small. Can yous till return it? I really recommend a plastic tub or a wood tort table. You should have enough space on each side of the bulb to get 70-95/100. Are you moistening the mulch? Pure calcium supplement? Read russiantortoise.org The substrate should be at least twice as deep as he is long as they like to dig--the more the better though. Find a tort vet (there is a list on the home page) and make an appointment for a check up and a fecal test for parasites.

Since where you live is so hot this time of year, think about having him get outside in the early morning and evenings when you can watch him. In the 80s is perfect. After the outside time is perfect to soak him. For a new tort, I'd want to do this daily for the first few days or a week, and then see if you want to do this every few days, or if the tort drinks on its own in the enclosure. If the tort gets out daily for a couple hours five days a week, you can forgo the UVB bulb indoors and just use a light bulb (and a ceramic heat emitter at night if it is below 60 F in the house). This might get the temperature gradient better in the enclosure.

Good luck and don't be overwhelmed!

 

[Rattlesnake082]

You need hides (at least one next to the basking spot, one cold, and one in between), a water dish large enough for the tort to get completely in to soak (plant saucer is great--put river rocks in it if it is too deep), and somewhere to feed to keep the food off the substrate (I like slate tiles) in there, and that tank isn't big enough for one tort let alone 3...even with the outdoor enclosure. Having a huge outdoor enclosure and a tiny indoor tank is very stressful for them to come inside. You want the outdoor enclosure to not be more than 2-3 times the indoor one so it isn't so huge of a change. I like that you have the plants going, but you really need to focus on the basics. What do you have for heat/light/UVB? For hides, even a cardboard box does great. My tort prefers a pile of timothy hay and fake plants.

Craft stores are great for river rocks and fake plants. Please please just focus on this tort and don't even think about getting a second one for at least 3 months, preferably longer. It takes awhile to get the hang of tort ownership. They are tricky to get everything set up. What is your humidity in the tank? If you can't get any area in the 70s in the tank, then it is too small. Can yous till return it? I really recommend a plastic tub or a wood tort table. You should have enough space on each side of the bulb to get 70-95/100. Are you moistening the mulch? Pure calcium supplement? Read russiantortoise.org The substrate should be at least twice as deep as he is long as they like to dig--the more the better though. Find a tort vet (there is a list on the home page) and make an appointment for a check up and a fecal test for parasites.

Since where you live is so hot this time of year, think about having him get outside in the early morning and evenings when you can watch him. In the 80s is perfect. After the outside time is perfect to soak him. For a new tort, I'd want to do this daily for the first few days or a week, and then see if you want to do this every few days, or if the tort drinks on its own in the enclosure. If the tort gets out daily for a couple hours five days a week, you can forgo the UVB bulb indoors and just use a light bulb (and a ceramic heat emitter at night if it is below 60 F in the house). This might get the temperature gradient better in the enclosure.

Good luck and don't be overwhelmed!

Thanks for your help but i know what im doing that tank he is in now only has to last him till Friday, so i can pick up my tortoise table at my moms house 8x3x3 and bring it to my dads. Also in the cage is now 50% top soil, 50% sand water dish, hot side of 95 and cool side of 75 also i soak him every other day, uvb is 5.0 and have 60 watt day bulb for uva and a heat light 75 watt for the hot side hes eating spring mix dusted with calcium and (calcium w/ d3 one a week). I am getting 3 females at repti-con as im going to have 1 huge out door tortoise pens for them with every thing they need so thanks for your help