Feed Shelly the Tortoise her favorite foods

[xOliver2009x]

Do you and can you grow your own veggies and plants for tortoises?

[packard400]

...for the past month or so, its been warm enough (central Florida) to leave her out all the time, and she has been "free ranging" on the lawn grass and weeds (she is partial to the dandelions.....I love it! saves me from having to pull them out...she just gravitates to them and starts munching!

[poozybear]

@packard400 Yes, they LOVE dandelions. They're very nutritious, as are hibiscus flowers and roses. My vet also recommends letting my guy "graze" on the lawn. He's also quite fond of collard greens. Spinach is equally nutritious, though a lot of tortoises find it bitter.

[packard400]

.....why the shells? Is that how they get calcium??? Mine was eating gravel and I was afrai its guts would get blocked up! All my tortoise will eat is romaine lettuce and apples (I only give it apples once a week) Is the romaine "green" enough, or should it be eating kale or collards? I sprinkle the calcium powder on the greens, but I think our tort is starting to "pyramid" as well..The shell is not perfectly smooth, like that of a hatchling. Our tort is approximately 3 yrs. old (football size)

[ShellyTheTortoise7]

Shelly had found some little shells in the sand of our yard. Yes, it is for calcium. The shells are rather soft, I suggest cuttle bone. Tortoises seem to take a liking to certain foods. Shelly loves romaine also, but darker greens are better. Pyramiding can also be caused by protein in the diet or lack of calcium

[11wormbig]

Yeah, sulcatas are easy to pyramid because they need greens with lower protein content than other torts like Russians. 70% of the sulcata's diet normally consist of grasses and weeds, which has high fibre/ low protein, which does not lead to pyramiding. "People" vegetables like romaine should actually be more like a treat for a sulcata. Fruits (and this includes tomatoes) is not good for these torts - their stomachs can't handle sugar well. For a picky tort, I chop everything up,

[11wormbig]

For picky torts, I chop everything up in small bits so they don' have a choice ;) Then they gradually get used to the taste of the other items, so I stop chopping. Problem solved ;)