Like their counterparts, marginated tortoises are herbivorous creatures. Greens should make up most of your pet’s diet with vegetables such as squash, cucumber and mushrooms only being fed occasionally.
Plants such as grasses, flowers and succulents can make great additions to the habitat of your tortoise! Just ensure all species have been identified as safe to consume before giving any to your tortoise!
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Leafy Greens
Marginated tortoises are herbivorous animals that primarily consume leafy greens, grasses and flowers for food; fruit may also be enjoyed by this animal species. For optimal results it’s important to feed them organic or pesticide-free food products.
Avoid feeding them plants high in oxalic acid as these may bind with calcium and prevent absorption resulting in skeletal deformities. Furthermore, foods rich in goitrogens could interfere with thyroid activity.
Fruit is great to feed to babies, but limit how much sugar they get because fruits such as apples, bananas, berries, and melons contain too much. A shallow bowl of fresh water should always be available each day for proper hydration – and young babies should soak for at least 15 minutes every morning in room temperature water to ensure adequate hydration.
Grass
Marginated tortoises have an extremely varied diet in nature, consisting of various plants such as weeds and wild flowers. Captive versions can replicate this variety with some research into edible weeds (see Shelled Warriors Edible Weed Section). However, care must be taken not to feed plants high in oxalic acid or goitrogens which bind calcium preventing its absorption, leading to serious shell deformities or metabolic bone diseases such as metabolic bone disease.
Tortoises should be housed outdoors for much of the year as this will help them thrive in more natural surroundings. At least 100 square feet should be set aside in an outdoor enclosure, including both dirt and sand mixes, shallow water dishes for bathing purposes, as well as being cleaned daily to ensure health of both tortoise and dish.
Flowers
Marginated tortoises are known for the distinctive flared “marginal scutes” at the end of their shell, which become larger and more prominent with age and male gender. They are most frequently found in Southern Greece near mountains, dense scrub, gardens and agricultural zones.
These reptiles are herbivores, feeding on leafy greens, flowers and grasses. To provide them with optimal care and diet options, they should be fed on a regular basis a diet rich in quality low protein low fat food like fresh herbs and vegetables that have not been treated with pesticides.
As adults usually get their water through plant foods they eat, it’s still essential to provide a shallow bowl of fresh, shallow water each day in their enclosure for maximum hydration. Babies should be soaked by hand in room temperature water each morning for around 15 minutes to ensure adequate hydration; babies require manual soaking. Babies also benefit from having access to fresh, shallow dishes of water in their enclosure each day so as to remain well-hydrated.
Fruit
Marginated tortoises enjoy occasional treats of melons and strawberries, but should not be fed fruit regularly as this disrupts their digestive systems.
Hermann’s and marginated tortoises can be kept alone, in either same-sex pairs or opposite-sex pairings. Males can be identified by their larger head size, darker shell coloring and flared marginal scutes – characteristics which set them apart.
Tortoises should primarily consume leafy greens such as dandelion, watercress, curly kale, radiish and collards as part of their diet. Other staple foods should include grasses and weeds such as plantains, corn poppy, chickweed and bindweeds as well as dried vegetables and fruits as part of their meal. Providing shallow baths a few times each week for at least 10 minutes will also help hydrate them effectively, and ensure their water dish should be disinfected daily to avoid bacteria growth.
Vegetables
As with other Mediterranean tortoises, Hermann’s and Marginated Tortoises can be seen feeding opportunistically by taking advantage of opportunities to consume earthworms, slugs or garden snails as an easy source of calcium for their diets. This provides them with natural sources of nutrition.
Vegetables should make up only a small portion of a tortoise’s diet, but can still provide variety by being offered the same way as fruits. I recommend starting off by offering pesticide-free store-bought greens before topping with Repashy Superveggie to add variety.
Baby marginated tortoises should be immersed daily for approximately 15 minutes in shallow water bowls to remain hydrated and grow into their adult sizes. Due to their small sizes, this will help ensure they receive sufficient hydration.