Seems like there is nothing I can safely feed my tortoise...

Status
Not open for further replies.

rj1965

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Messages
33
I bought a Russian Tortoise yesterday and am not sure what food to feed it, as I have read that leafy greens have too much oxalates, so you should only give it to them once in a while, fruits and vegetables are only good once in a while, iceberg lettuce is devois od nutritional value, and the pellets that they sell at the pet store are not good to feed them as turtles do not like the taste and they are too high in protein. Even if there were leafy greens, I would not know where to buy them. Since the tortoises will get sick of a certain leaf, that means I am only to buy a few leaves of each vegetable at the grocery store? Or I guess I would need to buy a bunch of flower pots and grow them? Thanks.
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,655
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
The following is a list of greens that is very good to feed. One of the important things to remember is to give a variety of things not just a couple.
Romaine lettuce
Red and green leaf lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Radicchio
Chicory
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)

Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Plantain (not the banana type fruit....the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves....make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower  Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
Californian Poppy   escholzia  
Chia Salvia hispanica
 

rj1965

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Messages
33
I heard a lot of that stuff has oxalates like mustard and turnip greens so it should only be given once in a while, that is my dilemma. Do you happen to know which of the above foods have too many oxalates? And do you know where I can buy any of the above items? Thanks.
 

jaizei

Unknown Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
9,056
Location (City and/or State)
Earth
Oxalates are generally not a problem if you feed a varied diet and keep your tortoise well hydrated. Look around the diet section of this forum, there's quite a bit of information.
 

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,610
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England
Take a look at the Tortoise Table website for what's safe to feed: http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

With regard top getting variety, it does help if your family develop a taste for salad to prevent wastage until such time as your tort gets to the size of my noe and can polish a whole lettuce off in one meal! ;)
 

Kristina

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
5,383
Location (City and/or State)
Cadillac, Michigan
There is nothing wrong with feeding leafy greens. There is nothing to suggest that tortoises even digest or react to oxalates the way that we do.

Give this article a read, and it should help you out. Basically, you over thinking this and worrying a bit too much about it. While there are certain things that should be generally avoided, as long as you are giving a varied diet, you should have no problems. The only thing I avoid with my Russians is fruit.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread...ises-The-Balanced-Diet-Revealed#axzz1gu1yGqas
 

Jacqui

Wanna be raiser of Lemon Drop tortoises
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
39,941
Location (City and/or State)
A Land Far Away...
If you give a variety, then you don't have to worry so much about a single plant types level of "badness". For example let's say today you buy a bunch of collard greens. Feed that until it is gone. Then buy a bunch of turnip greens and feed until gone. Maybe you decide next to buy a bunch of spring mix or your family has some celery sticks for a snack. While celery is not a high food value item, there is no reason not to give those end clips or leaves to your tortoise. The weather warms up and you can find dandelions greens (that are safe to use as in no chemicals) today, feed that or the grape leaves you spy on your vine. Variety is the key. Troubles come when you feed day in and day out the same single food item. There is no one food, which is good to feed all the time.

Plus over all wild weeds tend to be better choices because they have more fibrous and overall benefits. Eating those tougher wild weeds has an added bonus also for the beaks being kept wore down naturally. :cool:

Does that make sense?
 

ascott

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Messages
16,138
Location (City and/or State)
Apple Valley, California
I totally understand....you can purchase organic spring mix, organic herb leaf mix for during the winter months...you can certainly plant a variety of edibles in his outdoor enclosure for the warmer months....you will get a bit more comfortable with yourself in this area as time goes on.....relax and enjoy your tortoise for a moment....:D
 

rj1965

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Messages
33
ascott said:
I totally understand....you can purchase organic spring mix, organic herb leaf mix for during the winter months...you can certainly plant a variety of edibles in his outdoor enclosure for the warmer months....you will get a bit more comfortable with yourself in this area as time goes on.....relax and enjoy your tortoise for a moment....:D

Thanks everyone for helping me to chill. :) I just bought a few heads of endive and some spring greens, so every 4 days or so I will change the food up. He has not eaten anything since I got him yesterday, so to entice him, I will only give him a few pieces of the endive mixed with spring green salad mix, then maybe in a week or so I will mix it half and half with the grassland tortoise food I bought at the pet store. Does this sound like a plan, or should I stay away from the pet store pellets altogether? I appreciate the input.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I think you need to buy less. One head of something would last you quite a while. When you buy too many heads, you end up tossing them because they didn't keep.

You can add a couple soaked pellets of the manufactured tortoise food to the greens, but make the greens be the majority of the meal.
 

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,610
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England
You said that you only got him yesterday. Don't be surprised if he eats nothing for a while. It could take him a couple of weeks to get used to you and his new home.

Keep offering food and try leaving a tray of supermarket living lettuce for him to nibble on (it doesn't wilt, so is economical)

Make sure you bath him in luke warm water for 20 mins once a day.

Establishing a routine of times for lights, heat, bath then feed may help your tort to settle quicker. Joe always eats after his bath
 

rj1965

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Messages
33
JoesMum said:
You said that you only got him yesterday. Don't be surprised if he eats nothing for a while. It could take him a couple of weeks to get used to you and his new home.

Keep offering food and try leaving a tray of supermarket living lettuce for him to nibble on (it doesn't wilt, so is economical)

Make sure you bath him in luke warm water for 20 mins once a day.

Establishing a routine of times for lights, heat, bath then feed may help your tort to settle quicker. Joe always eats after his bath

Mind if I ask a few questions?


I put a dish of lukewarm water in his cage then put him in it, but he immediately got out. Should I place him in a separate tupperware container filled with water, essentially forcing him to bathe?

So he can essentially go a few wks without eating anything?

By living lettuce do you mean lettuce that is planted in soil? If so, should I bury the pot that it comes in inside the substrate? Thanks a lot.
 

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,610
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England
Put him in a tupperware box to soak, but make sure he can't see out over the edge. He will then take in water... And probably poop too. Twenty minutes once a day in water that is just warm, not hot, that just comes up to his bottom shell. You top up or change the water if it gets cool. This will help your tort to get used to being handled too. (Joe goes in our bath as he can't climb out of that; he climbs and tips over the washing up bowl!)

Living lettuce is the stuff growing in soil in a tray or pot. Your tort needs to be able to reach it, so you may have to sink the tray into the substrate so he doesn't need to get his climbing boots out! :)

Withh regard to not eating, healthy torts can last a couple of weeks without feeding. You do need to monitor weight to ensure he's OK. It is important to prevent dehydration, hence the daily soak.

After stress, the most likely cause of not feeding is having the wrong temperatures and/or lighting so make sure those are correct.
 

rj1965

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Messages
33
Thanks for the great suggestions. You have saved me time and money with the lettuce bit and maybe the little guy's life with the soaking bit.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

New Posts

Top