The truth about tomatoes?

christinaland128

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I’m always hearing how redfoots can eat more fruit than other species. Does that mean they are more tolerant to tomatoes?

I’ve always read tomatoes are a “feed occasionally” food, too acidic and high in sugar.

Are there any good threads on the forum or elsewhere with some more in depth information on tomatoes?
 

Zoeclare

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I don't give my redfoot tomatoes purely because I also have a budgie and when reading about what foods to give I read that although the fruits themselves aren't actually toxic, the plant is in the nightshade genus and the leaves and stalks are, as are unripe fruits, which I believe I read if ingested could cause intestinal bleeding so I never risked it with the bird and I've followed the same logic with the tortoise!
 

zovick

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I’m always hearing how redfoots can eat more fruit than other species. Does that mean they are more tolerant to tomatoes?

I’ve always read tomatoes are a “feed occasionally” food, too acidic and high in sugar.

Are there any good threads on the forum or elsewhere with some more in depth information on tomatoes?
I have kept tortoises for 60 years and have ALWAYS fed them as many tomatoes as they wanted to eat with no problems whatsoever. I grew tomatoes in my gardens for many years and gave all the overripe ones plus those I simply could not use myself to my tortoises. The tortoises eating the tomatoes were Burmese Stars, Indian Stars, Sri Lankan Stars, Travancore Tortoises, Elongated Tortoises, Western Hermann's Tortoises, Radiated Tortoises, Ploughshare Tortoises, all 4 types of Pyxis, and a few other species.
 

Zoeclare

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I have kept tortoises for 60 years and have ALWAYS fed them as many tomatoes as they wanted to eat with no problems whatsoever. I grew tomatoes in my gardens for many years and gave all the overripe ones plus those I simply could not use myself to my tortoises. The tortoises eating the tomatoes were Burmese Stars, Indian Stars, Sri Lankan Stars, Travancore Tortoises, Elongated Tortoises, Western Hermann's Tortoises, Radiated Tortoises, Ploughshare Tortoises, all 4 types of Pyxis, and a few other species.
Wow! Silly question but did they like them? As in did they go for them over other foods?
 

Relic

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I have kept tortoises for 60 years and have ALWAYS fed them as many tomatoes as they wanted to eat with no problems whatsoever. I grew tomatoes in my gardens for many years and gave all the overripe ones plus those I simply could not use myself to my tortoises. The tortoises eating the tomatoes were Burmese Stars, Indian Stars, Sri Lankan Stars, Travancore Tortoises, Elongated Tortoises, Western Hermann's Tortoises, Radiated Tortoises, Ploughshare Tortoises, all 4 types of Pyxis, and a few other species.
Same experience here - with a smaller variety of examples. One thing I did notice was tomato plants sprouting all over the pen - up to 25 feet away from the feeding area. They seeds seem to pass through with no damage, and after being encapsulated in a nugget of fresh fertilizer, germinate rather well.
 

Zoeclare

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Obviously if the tortoises didn't like the tomatoes, I would not have kept feeding them tomatoes over a 60 year period.

Tortoises will eat almost anything which is red in preference to foods of other colors.
That's what I meant, did they choose to pick the tomato over other food.
 

zovick

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That's what I meant, did they choose to pick the tomato over other food.
Yes, the tortoises picked tomatoes over greens all the time. However, I also fed them red grapes, cherries, and apples when those were in season, and they picked those over the greens as well. I think that if given all of the above with tomatoes included, they would have a hard time deciding which to eat first.
 

zovick

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Same experience here - with a smaller variety of examples. One thing I did notice was tomato plants sprouting all over the pen - up to 25 feet away from the feeding area. They seeds seem to pass through with no damage, and after being encapsulated in a nugget of fresh fertilizer, germinate rather well.
Yes, I have noticed the same thing over the years with tomatoes, squashes, and cucumbers all sprouting from tortoise droppings.
 

newCH

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Sheldon loves tomatoes. But we don't have them frequently.
I cant imagine them having more sugar than a banana, grapes or blueberries.
He gets those fruits more often & eats fruits once a day. I use it as a topping for his baby spring mix.
He is a good eater. He never just eats the fruit and walks away. He cleans the plate every time.
 

ZEROPILOT

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My Redfoot LOVE Cherry Tomatoes and it's fun to watch them get eaten. Usually with a POP.
The rest of the plant is toxic. No leaves. No blossoms. (But my RF never try to eat the plants when they have access to them.)
Tomatoes are NOT harmful as part of a Redfoot diet.
A diet of over 60% fruit is not harmful to a Redfoot.
 

pawsplus

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I use red food to my advantage. Beasley will eat lots of stuff happily if it's mixed into well-chopped red food LOL. If I add prickly pears, hibiscus, tomatoes--and also yellow or peach food like mango, papaya, or plums--to greens, she will eat them where she may not alone.
 

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Did anyone feed leopard tortoises tomatoes? I have him an Eastern and a Western Hermann? I would like to give them all tomatoes. Thanks
 

ZEROPILOT

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Did anyone feed leopard tortoises tomatoes? I have him an Eastern and a Western Hermann? I would like to give them all tomatoes. Thanks
They, like most species, cannot process sugars.
I would feed it very rarely and in very small amounts. (If at all)
 

Tom

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I don't use tomatoes as a regular food item, but occasionally I will get some leftover salad mix with tomatoes or cherry tomatoes mixed in. I've sporadically fed that to all species for 3 decades and never had a problem. Tomatoes would constitute far less than 1% of their diet over all.
 

zovick

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Did anyone feed leopard tortoises tomatoes? I have him an Eastern and a Western Hermann? I would like to give them all tomatoes. Thanks
As you may have surmised from my previous posts, I would not hesitate to feed any of the species you mentioned tomatoes. I didn't think to mention Leopard Tortoises in my list of species to which I fed tomatoes, but I did also have Leopard Tortoises for several years and they got tomatoes (and the other fruits I mentioned) just as all my other tortoises did.
 
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