Many tortoise keepers provide several small meals each day designed to promote optimal health for their tortoises, usually served in shallow trays like those used for food service or utility trays. This helps reduce bedding that could come into contact with food and become inhaled into the body, potentially leading to health complications and issues.
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Vegetables
Tortoises are opportunistic feeders; in the wild they will feed when they encounter leafy greens, grasses, flowers, vegetables or insects depending on the season. While insects contain high levels of protein they should only be fed occasionally.
Fresh food should always be provided, in a wide range, in order to ensure proper nutrition. Tortoise pellets specifically formulated for herbivorous tortoises may serve as supplements; however, their quality and ingredients vary by brand; always do your own due diligence when purchasing supplements from any retailer.
Fresh food can be grown indoors or outdoors in safe containers, purchased from markets, grocery stores or commercial ‘herbivore’ foods that provide nutritional balance for tortoises – or mixed in with fresh veggies and fruit to provide more variety – all these options should be discussed with your veterinarian to find out which works best.
Fruits
Your tortoise’s diet should consist mainly of vegetables that are low in oxalic acid and goitrogens, including alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts, dandelion leaves, romaine lettuce (not iceberg), Chinese cabbage, mustard greens and turnips. These should comprise roughly 90% of its diet.
Fruit should only be given sparingly and should be offered in a shallow dish so your tortoise can easily access them. A little melons or berries can make great treats; however, their contribution should never exceed 5% of their diet.
Many pet owners do not have the space or time necessary to grow all the food that their tortoise needs for proper nutrition, which is where specially-formulated tortoise foods come in handy. Made using natural ingredients and free from seed husks, oats, maize or flour that you should not feed their tortoise; these special foods have been created specifically to mimic its wild diet.
Herbs
Fresh herbs play an integral part in maintaining tortoises’ good health, especially calcium intake. Furthermore, fresh herbs act as prebiotics by supporting their natural gut bacteria which are vital in supporting their immunity system.
Tortoises should have an ideal diet consisting of grass, herbs, weeds, flowers and vegetables including alfalfa and timothy hays as well as dried fruits and flowers for variety and to ensure a balanced, nutritious and varied diet.
For those lacking the time or space to prepare a tailored diet for their tortoises, prepared tortoise chows tailored for herbivorous tortoises (such as Mazuri tortoise diet) are available as readymade solutions that should supplement fresh food sources. We suggest EarthPro-Optimised52 which contains whole plants fortified with natural paraprobiotics for healthy digestion and beneficial gut flora; its pressed mix makes an ideal alternative to pelleted diets for both adult Sulcata Leopard tortoises as well as baby tortoises soaking water until ready-fed dry!
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish is an ideal fresh tortoise food source because they contain ample calcium – a mineral often lacking from herbivorous tortoise diets that leads to weak shell growth, life-threatening illnesses and weak immune systems.
Cuttlefish bones rub against each other constantly in nature to strengthen them – this process resembles that of tortoises rubbing their beaks against rocks or rough surfaces to reduce overgrowth.
Your pet could benefit from receiving a cuttlefish bone to stimulate its beak and enhance digestion, using the same technique. These bones can even be purchased from pet stores; just make sure they come from a reputable source! Before offering it to your tortoise, however, make sure that it has been cleaned and sanitized, since cuttlefish shells are sharp enough to harm reptiles if left uncovered; alternatively soak the bone for several minutes in salt water before leaving it out to air dry naturally!
