[Ozric Jonathan]

It's been noted that what mediterranean tortoises eat in nature doesn't have much fat or protein and that it is high in fibre. There have been various studies into what the wild ones eat but of course that is nto the same as knowing nutritional requirements.

One argument goes that food in captivity should aim to be something like food in nature since this is what the tortoise's digestive system is designed to deal with. On that basis we wouldn't be be looking for 10% protein, but to me it's unclear what harm an excess of protein (if it is that) would do.

A herbivorous tortoise in the mediterranean is normally on a low protein high fibre diet but they don't have any choice and just eat what there is.

Some pellet foods have quite a lot of fat in them but I think a wild med tortoise would hardly find any fat. There must be a good reason why pellets generally have levels of fat and protein in them that are far above the diet in nature.

It's not just for filler since that is what the grain is for. The pellets are basically chemical soup attached to grains. Neither the chemical soup nor the grain is like food in nature but it might be delivering ideal nutirtion.