Russian tortoises feed off of natural sources like grasses and wildflowers for sustenance, making the use of pesticide-free plants outdoors essential.
Avoid eating just iceberg lettuce as it lacks essential nutrition. Instead, aim to include other leafy greens such as dandelion leaves, watercress, endive, escarole and radicchio as part of your salad plan.
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Grass
Tortoises should only eat grass and weeds that are safe for them, such as lawnmowers. Avoid feeding fruit and vegetables that contain high levels of carbohydrates to avoid health complications like shell deformities and other health concerns, and commercial pellets which provide fast food options like McDonald’s for tortoises.
Instead, opt for easily growable tortoise-safe greens like dandelion leaves, parsley and collard greens – these foods contain plenty of fiber to aid their digestive systems and ensure they can digest their food correctly.
Russian tortoises kept as captive pets typically spend most of their day grazing on safe plants and flowers that provide variety in their diet, as this will help prevent them from becoming obese while providing variety for variety in their daily routine. They should also drink plenty of water.
Leaves
Russian tortoises are genetically designed to eat everything they can in preparation for summer hibernation or aestivation (sleep in the sun). Unfortunately, when kept as pets and kept indoors they may overeat too quickly leading to shell deformities and health problems.
Russian Tortoises should be fed a variety of grasses, weeds, wildflowers and fruits. Commercial pellets containing ground up ingredients deprive their diet of essential vitamins and minerals needed by tortoises.
Provide your tortoise with a secure outdoor run, filled with grass, weeds and plant material (including some fruit) that they can graze on in the sun. Make sure there is shade, line-of-sight fencing to prevent escapees and an enclosure to discourage predators, along with a shallow dish of water within their enclosure for them to soak in when thirsty – this way they are getting enough liquid intake!
Fruits
Russian tortoises are herbivorous animals that graze on a variety of weeds and wildflowers for sustenance, with an emphasis on fiber consumption rather than protein. Because they spend most of their lives hibernating underground, Russian tortoises must consume large quantities of food in order to store up enough nutrition to survive winter hibernation periods.
Russian Tortoises in the wild eat hay, dark leafy vegetables such as collard greens, kale, turnip greens and mustard greens; flowers; other forms of vegetation (dandelion and okra); peppers, squash corn carrots prickly pear cactus sweet potatoes etc; however apples and berries should only be fed occasionally as too much sugar may cause digestive issues in these creatures. As pets their diet should include plenty of dark leaves containing Vitamin K to ensure maximum energy production from their body.
Foods containing chemicals known to interfere with tortoises’ ability to digest and absorb vital minerals should be avoided, including those containing oxalic acid, phytic acid and tannins – these bind with calcium present in plants to prevent it from being absorbed by their bodies and hence should be avoided.
Nuts
Idealy, your tortoise should receive a variety of grasses and leaves throughout its diet; not just one type every day. Some great grocery store options for tortoises are plantain leaves, dandelion greens, turnip greens, dark lettuce and collard greens.
Spring Mix (a blend of various greens) and Romaine lettuce are excellent choices to provide your tortoise with plenty of tasty nutrition, as are Hibiscus flowers and leaves, Mallow Cornflowers Forsythia Chrysanthemum plants as all of these items are safe and beneficial to their wellbeing.
Avoid feeding your tortoise any wild plants known to be toxic, such as Jerusalem cherry, black cherry, wild cherry leaves, sweet pea, nettles, nightshade or yarrow leaves, which could potentially cause serious illness or even lead to its death.
Your tortoise needs a diet rich in nuts that are low in fat content. Nuts provide essential nutrition and provide additional sources of protein. Fruit can also be provided, although only fruit-eating species should receive them in limited amounts.
