Most pellet diets will include guidelines on their packaging to help you feed your tortoise the correct amount and thus help prevent your tortoise from becoming overweight.
An effective tortoise diet is simple to create. Avoid giving them dry dog food as this is unsuitable for their diet.
Contents
Pellets
Tortoise health relies heavily on their diet. Tortoises require adequate calcium and vitamin D3, making them especially susceptible to nutritional deficiencies during hatchling development and juvenile stages; inadequate nutrition could have irreparable repercussions.
Pellets should not form the core of a desert tortoise’s diet, but they can serve as a supplement. Furthermore, fiber content from their source provides them with additional nutritional support in their wild environment.
Mazuri Grassland Tortoise Blend is our recommended food choice for grazing species of tortoises (excluding Egyptian). This food consists of 3 pellet types for variety and comes in 2.2lb bags – no artificial flavors used here either! Our turtle food also has an enjoyable tortoise-inspired taste!
Cobs
As tortoises are predominantly herbivorous, it’s essential that they receive ample amounts of green veg such as dandelion leaves, collard greens, turnip greens, romaine lettuce (not iceberg), kale mustard or endive greens as these provide essential nutrition. Avoid feeding any toxic plants like foxgloves, buttercups or daffodils which can lead to serious stomach upset in tortoises.
Fruit can provide a tasty source of vitamin C and help strengthen their immunity, but make sure that fruits make up no more than 10% of their diet and contain some acidity to ensure proper hydration. Premium quality pelleted food should also be fed on a daily basis.
Seeds
Tortoise pellet foods on the market are specifically tailored for their species of tortoise. These should have high fibre levels – usually 20%+ – making them useful as supplements to fresh greens but should never serve as the sole food source for healthy tortoises.
Tortoises require a diet consisting largely of plants – especially Mediterranean species and sulcatas – but many shop-bought greens produced hydroponically may contain less minerals than when grown outdoors in your garden, potentially leading to an inadequate calcium intake.
Tortoises need an assortment of grass hay, thistle weeds, clover and broadleaf weeds as staple foods; broadleaf weeds and plantains should also be fed regularly as treats; they will eat many berries too if available but this should only be fed occasionally due to being high in sugar content.
Greens
Your tortoise should have access to a range of suitable greens in its diet, and selecting those with various hues is advised, as this adds visual stimulation. However, be wary of those containing high levels of oxalic acid or goitrogens as these could prove toxic.
Contrary to popular belief, tortoises do not require meat in their diet (except the African Sulcata ). Tortoises are exclusively herbivorous and can get all their protein requirements from leaves, flowers, grass and seeds. Food such as pizza, burgers and monkey chow is inappropriate and could potentially lead to metabolic bone disease, excessive growth and kidney damage as well as artificial colours, flavours and scents unsuited for tortoises.
Cuttlefish
No matter what age your tortoise may be, its diet plays a direct role in its health and happiness. What you feed it has a huge effect on their wellbeing.
Tortoises in the wild are herbivorous animals, feasting upon various weeds, grasses, leaves and flowers for sustenance. By feeding on natural sources they get all of their vitamins and minerals requirements met.
Captive tortoises should be fed a mix of fresh greens and commercial tortoise food daily. If using commercial food, soak it first to make it more appetizing and moist; every two weeks sprinkle powdered calcium carbonate (without phosphorus as this binds with the calcium making it unavailable for bone/shell development) or vitamin preparation over their food for extra benefit.