Tortoises are herbivorous animals and consume a variety of weeds, grasses and leafy vegetables. Their nutritional needs vary slightly from species to species.
To ensure that your tortoise is getting a well-balanced diet, plant only edible plants in your garden space and supplement with table scraps. Avoid toxic plants such as rhododendrons, buttercups and honeysuckle as they can poison your tortoise.
Contents
Mediterranean Tortoises
Mediterranean tortoises are primarily herbivores, browsing on a wide variety of plants in the wild. This should be reflected in their captive diets, which should contain pesticide free weeds from the area where they were originally native.
They are generally quite hardy animals and will live to over 100 years when kept properly. If you decide to adopt a Mediterranean tortoise as a pet, it is important to make sure that you do your research and choose a reputable pet store.
A tortoise in good health will be alert and keen to eat, pass faeces regularly and have clear open eyes, nostrils and a clean vent. A swollen shell or wounds should also be addressed immediately.
Adults are best offered fresh food daily, and a high calcium supplement should be provided twice weekly. Neonates and growing juveniles should be provided smaller amounts of finely chopped food with daily calcium supplementation.
Greek Tortoises
Greek tortoises eat a variety of greens and weeds such as dandelions, parsley, and collard greens. They also enjoy fresh grass from time to time.
They can be fed a little bit of fruit such as apple and berries, but it’s best to limit this to once or twice per week. Some tortoises can’t handle the high sugar content of these foods, which may lead to diarrhea or vomiting.
These tortoises also need UVB lighting for 12 hours per day to promote vitamin D production and metabolize calcium. This can help prevent Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) which causes deformed shell growth and weak bones.
These animals can live for a long time and should be treated with care as they are known to take a long time to adjust to their environment and establish hierarchy. It’s recommended to keep females and males together inside breeding pens for at least a year to allow them to settle in before they start to breed.
Hermann’s Tortoises
Hermann’s tortoises (Testudo hermanni) eat mainly vegetation that grows on the ground, such as flowers, leaves, and grass. When these plants aren’t available, they rely on other food sources such as worms and other small insects.
Providing them with the right dietary balance is important. It is also essential to provide a well-lit enclosure and keep the temperature at the ideal levels for their species.
A diet that is low in carbohydrates and high in fiber is the best option for Hermann’s Tortoises. Feed them a variety of fruits and vegetables, but be careful not to overfeed or give them too much sugar. This can be dangerous as it may lead to Toxic Shock Syndrome, and it kills off the good bacteria that they need in their digestive tract.
Hermann’s Tortoises are a diurnal species and need to be kept in a warm environment. Heat can come from standard bulbs, infrared emitters, ceramic heat emitters, or under tank heating pads.
Other Tortoises
Tortoises, like all reptiles, eat a variety of plants and animal matter. In the wild, they primarily eat leaves, grasses, and fungi.
Depending on their environment, some tortoises are omnivorous, while others are herbivores. For example, Mediterranean tortoises whose scientific Latin names all begin with testudo consume almost exclusively herbaceous and succulent vegetation.
Tropical rain forest species in particular can be quite meat-eating. This is a feature of their habitat and they can eat a little carrion, slugs, and insects or worms from time to time.
However, this is in very small quantities and your pet will probably go out of its way to avoid it.
Fruit is an important part of a tortoise’s diet, but should make up no more than about 5-10% of the food they eat. This is because the high sugar content can be toxic to them over prolonged periods of time, leading to diarrhoea.
