Tortoise food?

Question

Someone gave my little sister a tortoise. Can I feed it with plain Gardenia bread? What food do they eat?

Answer 1

Based on the YouTube video you posted at another question, your pet is a Red-ear Slider baby, NOT a tortoise!

Baby Red-ears need a water tank to live in and eat in- they will not eat on the ground.

A good diet for Red-ears is about 1/2 good quality turtle pellets and the other half worms, insects, shrimp, krill, etc.

For good info, try http://www.redearslider.com


If this HAD been a tortoise, it depends on the species.

In general, there are two tortoise diets-
- Grassland (for Russian, Greek, hermans, Sulcata, Leopard, etc.)
- Forest (For Red-foot, Yellow-foot, Hingeback, etc.)

Grassland diet is plants, period. It needs to be rather dry and fiberous. Timothy hay, yard plants, leaves, flowers, grasses, dark leafy greens, some yellow-orange veggies, cactus pads, etc. are wondeful.

Grasslanders SOMETIMES eat meat, cactus fruits, and low-lying fruits or berries, but they can cause them problems, so we usually do not offer this in captivity.

Forest tortoises, on the other hand, eat mostly fruit, meat, and moister greens. Fruit can be melons, berries, pineapple, kiwi, manog, papaya, and cacti fruit (avoid banana). Meat can be cooked chicken or organ meats, good quality weight control cat food (moistened if needed), hard-boiled eggs adn shells, etc. and greens would be dark leafy stuff like escarole and endive lettuce, turnip greens or dandelions.

For a great tortoise site, try http://www.tortoisetrust.org

Answer 2

Tortoises are primarily Vegetarian.... All torts diets are mainly grasses and weeds. Some eat a little fruit, others don't. NO MEAT OR INSECTS!!!
Here are a couple of edible plant lists that are okay for ALL torts...
http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm
And another one.....
http://www.russiantortoise.org/edible_plants.htm
Also, PLEASE check out the caresheet HERE:
http://www.russiantortoise.org/care_sheet.htm

If you happen to have a Redfoot Tortoise...they have different dietary requirements...here's a website...
http://www.redfoottortoise.com/redfoot_tortoise_diet.htm

Answer 3

Well what kind? All I know is russians tortoises eat this-rabbit or tortoise pellets, leafy greens(no iceberg lettuce) the darker the leaf the more nutrients it has!, cooked carrots(if raw be sure it's shredded),dandielion greens, celery,collard greens and an occasional banana slice or a grape. Be sure to provide a tortoise mineral block. Every 2 weeks give them a spoon of kitten chow and be sure to provide a water bowl.
House it in your backyard inside a roomy rabbit playpen.http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/category_home.cfm?dept_id=0&siteid=8&acatid=160

Answer 4

I think they are primarily vegetable eaters....probably need a source of protein and calcium. My kids had a turtle that liked a little fresh raw hamburger on occasion, but everything we read said that type of turtle hated meat. Go figure. google tortoise and read an article or two.

Answer 5

my friend feeds his with lettuce. We usually go to Safeway and they give us garbage bags full of lettuce that they are just going to throw away.

Answer 6

Give it some ledduce