Tortoises and fruit?

[Meggers]

I was gavin a pamphlet with information about russain tortoises. The meal part it list bananas, apples, melons, and red berries. And to give them a small amount twice weekly. Are these the right fruits? I see some people say you shouldn't give them sweet fruits, pretty much the ones listed are sweet. Do they really need fruit?

 

[reticguy76]

They can have them. I certainly wouldnt give them to them on a regular basis, let alone twice a week. Prickley pear fruit is all I give my dt (and he/she doesnt even eat it, so I do, haha)

In my opinion, there is no need to give fruit, unless you, as an owner, want to maybe once a month or so.

 

[Tom]

They don't need it, and they should be eating the other stuff that they do need.

Where'd ya get the pamphlet?

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Sounds like that pamphlet is way off. The fruit-eaters are redfoot, yellowfoot, hingeback, and Indotestudo tortoises, as well as box turtles. Testudo species - including Russians - eat mostly leafy greens, like lettuce, chicory, dandelion, arugula, etc. You can give them fruit about once a month as a treat, but that's about it.

 

[GBtortoises]

I completely agree with Tom and with Geo. Russian tortoises, as well as many other tortoise species are not evolved to be fruit eaters as a few other species are. Because of this their digestive systems are not designed to digest and process the high amounts of sugars and acid found in most fruits. While is absolutely no need to feed fruit of any kind to Russians tortoises a small amount on rare occasion to a healthy tortoise will do no harm. But fruit should definitely not be part of a Russian tortoises regular diet.

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

Fruit is meant for a rare treat if anything. Even so, I never give my torts fruit.

 

[Meggers]

K thx everyone that's what I thought. But I just wanted to double check.

 

[Jacqui]

Is the pamphlet really meant for Russians or was it just something printed out as general thing for tortoises?

 

[dmmj]

My russians get a carrot once a month for beak maintenance.

 

[Madkins007]

I am not sure I would go as far as saying they don't need fruit. An occasional 'non-sweet' fruit, and an even less often 'sweet' fruit would offer vitamins and nutrients that are less-easily available in the leaves, flowers, and stems we often offer.

Wild torts enjoy fruit on the rare occasions they come across it- although they are also getting more fiber, exercise, etc. to help counterbalance the extra carbs.

In any case- they certainly don't need much.


(On a slightly different track, some articles I have been reading lately about sucrose and fructose being bad for humans also talk about the fiber in fresh fruits helping moderate the effects of the sugars- a benefit that is lost if the fruit is processed- cooked, canned, dried, frozen, juiced, etc. I wonder if this is the way it works for torts as well?)

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I am not sure I would go as far as saying they don't need fruit. An occasional 'non-sweet' fruit, and an even less often 'sweet' fruit would offer vitamins and nutrients that are less-easily available in the leaves, flowers, and stems we often offer.

Wild torts enjoy fruit on the rare occasions they come across it- although they are also getting more fiber, exercise, etc. to help counterbalance the extra carbs.

In any case- they certainly don't need much.


(On a slightly different track, some articles I have been reading lately about sucrose and fructose being bad for humans also talk about the fiber in fresh fruits helping moderate the effects of the sugars- a benefit that is lost if the fruit is processed- cooked, canned, dried, frozen, juiced, etc. I wonder if this is the way it works for torts as well?)

Agreed. Tortoises may be herbivorous, but they are also opportunistic. If they come across a palatable fruit, they will eat it. It's just that such foods are scarce in the wild, and should be similarly scarce in captivity. Ditto for invertebrates, which again, some tortoises will eat on occasion.

Re: sugar and fiber in fruit
Mark, I'm sure you're familiar with the term "glycemic index." For those who don't know, this refers to how rapidly a certain type of food's sugar is assimilated by the body, to be released into the bloodstream as glucose. Granulated table sugar has an extremely high glycemic index, because it is just a simple sugar that gets turned into glucose quite quickly. Pasta has a lower glycemic index because the starch in it takes longer to break down. Fruit has a still lower glycemic index, because its soluble fiber (pectin) slows down its travel through the gut, slowing down the release of glucose.

I would think that leafy vegetables (forbs) have a still lower GI, followed by other vegetables. Grass has among the lowest of GI values because it is high in insoluble fiber, or cellulose. Wood probably has the lowest GI of all, because of the lignin in it.

People report that non-forest tortoises tend to develop diarrhea if fed a lot of fruit. This has to due with both the length of the gut itself, and the symbiotic bacteria that live in it. These tortoises have a long digestive tract, which gives bacteria enough time to break down cellulose into simpler, digestible compounds. The flip side is that when fiber-degrading bacteria are presented with fruit, they ferment the sugar and release gas. This, combined with the relatively low fiber levels in fruit can lead to diarrhea, dehydration, and possibly even an imbalance in the gut microbial community.

The same applies to cattle and horses, actually, which have an even longer digestive tract than tortoises. They can eat the odd fruit every now and then, but if they eat too much they get colic, which is painful and potentially life-threatening.

Forest-type tortoises and box turtles have a shorter gut, and can eat more fruit and meat because the food passes through the body relatively quickly, and doesn't have time to ferment.