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There’s always a lot of confusion about a tortoise diet
with most people taking the advise of most pet shops,
dealers or 'care books' by feeding their tortoise fruit
and veg. This list should help new keepers to understand
the proper diet that their tortoise needs to have a long
healthy life.
The Diet should consist of wild flowers
and weeds only
Here are a few examples...
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Nipplewort (leaf &
flower)
Smooth Sow Thistle
Prickly Sow
Thistle
Wild Cabbage
Ribwort Plantain
Tree Mallow (flower)
Common Mallow
Atlas Poppy
Common Poppy
Plantain (leaf)
Tufted Vetch
Musk Mallow
Lady's Bedstraw
Hibiscus |
Evening Primrose
Dandelion (leaf, flower & stem)
Chicory
Hawkbit (leaf & flower)
Yarrow
Vetch (leaf & flower)
White Clover (leaf & flower)
Crimson Clover
Trefoil
Milk Thistle
Sainfoin
Bindweed (leaf & flower)
Yarrow
Chickweed |
Mallows (leaf & flower)
Shepherd's Purse (leaf)
Bittercress (leaf & flower)
Red Clover
Stonecrops (leaf)
Honeysuckle (flower only)
Hedge Mustard Clover
Welsh Poppy
Hedge Bedstraw
Sainfoin
Romaine Lettuce
Opuntia Cactus (pads)
Rocket (leaf & flower)
Kale (leaf) |
The
occasional bit of lettuce or cucumber is OK
but fruits and vegetables should not be a
major part of their diet.
ANY WEEDS PICKED MUST BE THOROUGHLY WASHED
TO REMOVE ANY CHEMICALS THEY MIGHT CONTAIN. DO NOT PICK FROM THE
ROADSIDE
OR FIELDS WHERE
PESTICIDES MAY HAVE BEEN SPRAYED.
SUPPLEMENTS
Supplementing your
tortoises food is imperative for a healthy
tortoise. Ideally, you need two types of supplement:
Calcium Powder and a Vitamin Powder, (Nutrobal and Reptivite are the most commonly used), see example
on the right.
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In the wild much of the soil is enriched
in minerals from surrounding rocks such as limestone. Particles are
weathered into the soil providing high calcium rich plants. Many
tortoise keepers have noticed a preference to weeds and plants which are
purposely grown in calcium rich soil to those grown in regular potting
compost. Limestone Flour can be used to supplement your tortoise’s food
once or twice a week. It can also be offered in a small bowl like a
ramekin. Ramekin bowls are small in size which makes them perfect for
younger torts (see picture below). You'll find that some tortoises like
limestone flour, and some will not be too fussed. On the whole, our
torts prefer the limestone flour over cuttlefish. |
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For Hatchlings and Juveniles:
Weeds
should be dusted with a calcium supplement daily.
For Adults:
Weeds
should be dusted with a calcium supplement daily
and a Vitamin powder 3-4 times weekly.
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AMOUNT OF FOOD
You
should be aiming for your tortoise to gain 2-4g a month
so as a general rule your tort should be given enough
food to cover its shell in a 'leafy jacket'. However you
may find that this is too much or not enough! So you
must decrease or increase the amount of weeds given to
get that 2-4g weight gain a month. WATER
Water should always be made
available to your tortoise. You do not always see them
drinking as this was the case when we first got our
tortoises. But gradually over a period of time we
started to catch a glimpse of them drinking their water.
Tortoises can extract water from within their food which
is why they don't always appear to be regular drinkers,
but nevertheless they DO still need to be given
an additional source of water as their food does not
fully provide their fluid requirements.
Your tortoise will use their water
dish to bathe in, cool down, urinate in and drink. They
have no particular preference in which order that they
do this. Please change out the water twice daily. You
may find it useful to place your tortoises water bowl
amongst some cobles away from the substrate as this will
eliminate the amount of sand/soil that gets dragged into
the dish. We also make sure the dish is not placed hard
up against the side as our tortoises like to pace the full length of their table
and climb up the corners. This way, giving them room to walk around their dish
also minimises the amount of substrate being dragging into the water.
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