What do tortoises eat?

Question

What do each type of tortoise in SA eat?

Answer 1

depends on the tortoise . some are strickly vegitarians some eat some protien . I have a sulcata that eats mainly grasses ,while my red foot eats green leafy lettuce everyday with some fruits and veggies and chicken twice a month . there are very different diets for each one make sure you google your tortoise or join a tortoise group at Yahoo.

Answer 2

There are three South American tortoise species. Two are 'forest tortoises'- the Red- and Yellow-foots, and one is a 'grassland tortoise'- the Chaco Tortoise.

Forest tortoises (besides the Red- and yellow-foots, this also includes Hingebacks, Elongated, and a few other species) live in places with little sunlight, high humidity, high overall heat, and generally low nutrition on most foods.

These species eat pretty much whatever they can find. In the wild, they eat about 70% fruit, 15% plants, and 15% meat, bugs, and carrion. They NEED the meat to help provide the vitamin D3 that sunlight gives to most other species.

If you raise a forest species in the 'greens only' diet some people recommend, you get shell deformities, bone problems, and death.

The captive diet is about 1/2 dark leafy greens (some plain head lettuce is OK as a part of the overall diet) and a few other veggies, mushrooms, etc., 3/8ths tropical fruits, melons, and strawberries (bit not much banana), and 1/8th meat or protein like cooked chicken, worms, pinkies, etc.


Grassland species live in more open conditions and get plenty of sunlight. The food gets more light and minerals, so is generally more nutritious, but there is general less water so they learn to conserve it.

Grassland diets NEED to be largely dry and fiberous- too much 'wet' stuff, no matter how green and nutritious it is, causes diarrhea and other problems. These species eat SOME berries and some meats in the wild- but not enough to justify putting it in the captive diet.

Captive diets for these should be heavy in hays, flowers, grasses, cacti, etc. with some dark leafy greens and a few other veggies mixed in.

You can learn more at http://www.tortoisetrust.org

Answer 3

Most (80-90%) of the plant material should be fibrous dark green leaves, and only 10-20% should be fruits and other vegetables. Ideally, on hot days tortoises should be allowed to graze on untreated lawn. This enables those that enjoy eating flowers (the Testudo graeca-type) can find and eat these. Hay is an excellent source of fibre during the winter period. Dark green leaves include grass, dandelions, cabbage, spinach, chard, kale, spring greens, etc. Feeding should not be restricted to a single type of leaf but two or three types each day. For small tortoises these may be chopped and mixed. Lettuce does not contain adequate calcium so should be avoided in growing tortoises. Cucumber, tomato, strawberry, apple, pear, etc can be given in small amounts. It is best to avoid highly fermentable fruits (especially citrus fruits) as bloat may develop. Peas and sweetcorn may be fed in small amounts. However, they are comparatively high in protein and so may cause shell deformities if fed in excess to growing tortoises. Clover, too, is high in protein and may cause similar problems.

Answer 4

What do tortoises eat?

Answer 5

Tortoises are strictly vegetarians. No protein at all in their diet other than maybe a bug here & there. Meat is bad for them.
They do best on weeds, but they like common veggies- greens, tomatoes, carrots, potato of all kinds...whatever. the one thing they should not get is ice berg lettuce.

Answer 6

Can you eat too many oranges or clemantines in a day?

Answer 7

http://www.honoluluzoo.org/yellow_footed_tortoise.htm
for the yellow foot SA tortoise
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/feeding_redfoots.html
for both yellow, n red foot in the wild.

Answer 8

Green vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, courgettes, grass, dandelions, strawberries, blackberries, apricots.
But don't give them lettuce as I understand this isn't particularly good for them and lacks the nutrients that they need.

Answer 9

POLL: When should I eat dinner?

Answer 10

lettuce cumber tomatoes celery,mine even eats dog food and cat food