Other food's?

[Joey]

Are Torts allowed any other kind's of food's apart from weed's such as veg & fruit?

Cheers

[sandy]

Anything from the cabbage family stops the absorbtion of calcium to their bones, so are a no no.
Fruit should only be fed as a treat, once every couple of months, or when and if using medications
on tortoises.
Tortoises do like flowers, hibiscus, lavertra, pansies, campanula, mimulus, gazinias. Just to name a
few<g>.
Cucumber can be fed as a top up of water in the weather we are having at the moment, but it has
little goodness in it.
Other than that most things are not healthy for tortoises.
Unless I have missed something<g>.

[piglet]

Depends what specices we are asking about Joey
for example all mediterranean species require weeds and grasses for at least 98% of there diet maybe a 2% treat of cucumber or romaine lettuce.
Redfoots require at least 70% leafy greens and weeds and 30% fruits( berries in particular) mushrooms and a little cooked meat .
Box tortoises and hingebacks require 70% animal matter ( sails , slugs worms etc) and 30% fruit and weedy greens.
Sulcatas and leopards require various grasses weeds and soft hay .
and all tortoises require calcium carbonate .
Darren

[Joey]

Sorry, I should have said, yes I am think med's, Spur thigh, Hermann or Horsefield.
So with these, it really is a case of getting down to the garden nursery and libery and learning the different flowers and weeds.

I have to say that I have never taken much notice in winter to the weeds , and I know, even to me this sound such a dumb question, but as I have not got a green house how would I keep my weeds alive through the winter months, do they do okay in a house

[sandy]

Its a difficult one trying to keep weeds alive during the Winter.
Having a coldframe can help, as these protect some of the plants.
This is another reason for hibernation, then you dont have the worry of food<g>.
Or a sheltered place in the garden can help weeds too. Putting a dug up dandelion in a pot,
and leaving it to seed, can increase your weeds quite quickly.

[Joey]

This reply slightly goes off the food topic, but as I have only researched feeding yet I am not too sure of the answer, but can remember reading some place that you shouldn't hibernate very young Torts?
What age would winter feeding not become a problem due to hibernation?

[sandy]

Sorry to disagree here, my tortoises hibernate from their first year. As they do in the wild.
Its only when you buy a tortoise late in the year, and dont know the history, its advisable not
to hibernate them, as you have to get used to the tortoise, and he/she has to get used to a new
home.
So your answer is from the first year you have them, they should be hibernated, this is scary to
all keepers, but we know that its the best thing for them. Provided they are healthy of course.

[Joey]

Thanks, as said, new to this, so the difference between what I read and what IS better is what I am learning now. I guess with this in mind it is always better to buy a young Tort in early Spring giving us time to get to know each other before we hibernate ... eleviating my worry about keeping weeds alive in winter.
lol I don't which would be more stressfull, worrying about my little guy in hibernation or worrying about where his next meal is coming from in winter.

But this said, it give me a winter to monitor my hibernation place and try out different boxes ... a hibernation test run as it where lol

[sandy]

Doing the research is the best thing you can do for any tortoise. And yes Spring is a really
good time to buy one. As this gives you all Summer and Autumn to get to know your tortoise.
And how he/she reacts to their new world.
Good for you.