Russian tortoise diet questions for a school paper

[Boris_Russian_Tortoise]

Hi, I'm doing another school project about Russian tortoises. This time it's an animal science class, not biology.

Anyway, I need to know their diet. I know a lot of this (they mostly eat broad leaf plants; vegetables should not be their main diet) but I need specifics, like what percent of certain nutrients and vitamins they need to be healthy. Does anyone know this information or know where I could find it? I tried searching here but only found a list of foods, not specific things like I'm looking for.

Thanks

 

[Tom]

In the wild they have access to thousands of plant species and they eat different ones seasonally. I've seen these plants referenced in articles and books, but I don't have anything handy.

Will @Kapidolo Farms is likely to know where to find this info, and @jaizei is a master searcher.

 

[Maro2Bear]

I doubt if you are going to find an exact answer to this “…need specifics, like what percent of certain nutrients and vitamins they need to be healthy.”

Lots of things go into a “healthy” diet, some things are absolutely necessary, some trace elements, prob not so much. But who would know the specifics & who can tell you right or wrong?

I guess you can look at their natural food intake & examine the composition of 90% or so of those…. There are so many variables involved…

 

[TheLastGreen]

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286194352_Initial_study_on_nutritional_preferences_of_Russian_tortoise_Testudo_horsfieldii_in_captivity

Here is a link to a Polish study, you can translate it via Google translate
(Hope this helps)
This also seems like a good general guide on it

Chemical Composition of Turtles and Tortoises

Chemical analysis in chelonians could advance our understanding of nutritional requirements and help develop feeding recommendations. Knowledge of body composit

academic.oup.com

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Hi, I'm doing another school project about Russian tortoises. This time it's an animal science class, not biology.

Anyway, I need to know their diet. I know a lot of this (they mostly eat broad leaf plants; vegetables should not be their main diet) but I need specifics, like what percent of certain nutrients and vitamins they need to be healthy. Does anyone know this information or know where I could find it? I tried searching here but only found a list of foods, not specific things like I'm looking for.

Thanks

Nutrients and vitamins for one species of tortoise are going to be pretty much the same as the next species. The difference is what are the local plants that supply those nutrients and vitamins. Also, just because an observer sees what they eat sometimes does not take into account other times. All tortoises eat feces of other animals which can also extend the range of plants the tortoise eat, indirectly. It also means the tortoises as a second user may be getting plant material they could not otherwise access.

For Russian tortoises, most journal articles are not in English. The best one I found is in Chinese, a doctoral thesis on their natural history in western China.

Some tortoises are better able to use some harder to digest foods as an adaptation to local abundance, but ultimately they all need pretty nearly identical amounts and diversity of nutrients and vitamins.

 

[jaizei]

Whether you agree with their conclusions or not, the Tortoise Library and Tortoise Trust are both good with citing sources and giving a biblio.

https://tortoiselibrary.com/

Tortoise Trust Web - Newsletter articles

Tortoise Trust Web - A site dedicated to the conservation and captive care of Chelonia

www.tortoisetrust.org

 

[RosemaryDW]

For Russian tortoises, most journal articles are not in English. The best one I found is in Chinese, a doctoral thesis on their natural history in western China.

Oh wow do you have a link; I would love to take a look. Google Translate will at least give me an idea of what it says.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Oh wow do you have a link; I would love to take a look. Google Translate will at least give me an idea of what it says.

If you can translate with google, you can search with google.