Tortoise food.

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Posted by EJ on September 10, 2000 at 10:46:59:

In Reply to: Anyone Know What Food Is Good For RUSSIAN TORT OR ANY TORT? posted by Matt on September 07, 2000 at 17:19:47:

After Rickys post I couldn't pass this one up.
What Ricky has learned is totally wrong. Any good herp vet will back me up on this. There is nothing wrong with store bought greens. Yes a natural diet might seem better but who knows. You can also find good prepared diets such as that put out by Walkabout Farms. I've been using store bought greens for many years with no ill effect. Tortoises have been raised on this stuff way longer than you or I have been around. Once again variety is the key. Too much of any one thing is not good. Even the stuff that I don't recomend feeding such as beens and spinach can be fed if given only occasionally. If you keep adding to the list that was posted what are you going to feed your tortoise? I know I can find something wrong with everything anyone can come up with as a good food.
Basicly what you want to do is provide variety, the heat to process the food and the water to facilatate the whole process and flush the waste. Simple as that.
To address the original question directly you can feed Romaine, escerole, endive, kale, bok choy, parsley, italian parsley, celantro, fresh basil, watercress, green leaf (or any lettuce) and a good one is carrots.(I grate this to make it easier for them to eat.) What you are looking for is dark green, broad leaf plants. Of course the stuff you find outdoors is probably more along the lines of what they eat naturally but is by no means the only thing that can be feed your tortoise.
Also, to help you decide what is edible and not you might want to pick up a copy of Edible Wild Plant (eastern and central north america) by LA Peterson. It is one of the Peterson Field guides (amazon.com).

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: After Rickys post I couldn't pass this one up. : What Ricky has learned is totally wrong. Any good herp vet will back me up on this. There is nothing wrong with store bought greens. Yes a natural diet might seem better but who knows. You can also find good prepared diets such as that put out by Walkabout Farms. I've been using store bought greens for many years with no ill effect. Tortoises have been raised on this stuff way longer than you or I have been around. Once again variety is the key. Too much of any one thing is not good. Even the stuff that I don't recomend feeding such as beens and spinach can be fed if given only occasionally. If you keep adding to the list that was posted what are you going to feed your tortoise? I know I can find something wrong with everything anyone can come up with as a good food. : Basicly what you want to do is provide variety, the heat to process the food and the water to facilatate the whole process and flush the waste. Simple as that. : To address the original question directly you can feed Romaine, escerole, endive, kale, bok choy, parsley, italian parsley, celantro, fresh basil, watercress, green leaf (or any lettuce) and a good one is carrots.(I grate this to make it easier for them to eat.) What you are looking for is dark green, broad leaf plants. Of course the stuff you find outdoors is probably more along the lines of what they eat naturally but is by no means the only thing that can be feed your tortoise. : Also, to help you decide what is edible and not you might want to pick up a copy of Edible Wild Plant (eastern and central north america) by LA Peterson. It is one of the Peterson Field guides (amazon.com).

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