Feeding Tortoises Fresh Foods
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2024
- In this video you will see how I prepare my tortoises dishes on the days that they get fresh greens and, depending on the tortoise species, fresh fruits as well.
My Tortoises get fresh mixed greens every other day. Their greens get sprinkled with calcium and multivitamin supplements. Even though I give them a very varied diet that likely has all the nutrients they need, I prefer to be cautious and still add the powders to their foods. 
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Man that was enjoyable to watch. Love your torts. A pancake tortoise you don't see that often.
Reason1717 , thank you. My goal has always been to inform; as such, my little sister told me that my channel has the appeal of “Dr Sheldon Cooper’s fun with Flags” on with turtles. Given that it makes me especially appreciative when someone tells me they found my channel enjoyable, thank you again.
Wow those tortoises are living a good life. You are doing a really good job.
Nice! i like how you roll. your torts are very lucky to have you lol
Thank you very muchThat was very helpful
You have some beautiful torts! And very well looked-after.
Thank you very much.
wonderful video and great enclosure, they all look very happy to me !
and also what do you recommend for a hermann's tortoise
What brand of multi- vitamins and calcium powder do you use?
We are new to the tortoise world and have fallen in love with our hatchling Sulcata! Enjoyed your video and headed to check out more of your posts!
Thank You for your comment, I hope you enjoy some of my other videos.
Nice 👍👍👍
Thank you.
I would like to see how you fix up their habitat. Especially for the red foot.
Salyna, Have a look through the other videos on my channel, I do believe you will be entertained.
Good foods
Thank you
Great video. What grass did you plant in their enclosures
That grass was called Arctic Best, purchased in the local Lowes in North Anchorage.
I sometimes throw some bell peppers and shredded carrots with the kale, romaine and endive I feed my tortoise. Is that bad or good?
How often do you recommend feeding baby leopard tortoises? I just wanna make sure I’m not over feeding mine.
I thought they needed a balance diet of fruit and vegetables? Do you need the vitamin powders?
How do you prepare the squash
Hi sir can i feed a sulcata in a similar way? Theres videos were they say sulcatas should eat lots of grass
All your tortoises look really healthy. No pyramiding on their shells.
What kind of dirt/soil is in the leopards cage? Also, what's the process you go through for the grass... like what kind of seed do you plant, do you plant it before the torts are living inside, and does the uv bulb for the torts help the grass grow at all or at least stay alive longer? Thanks, I own two baby leps
The soil is a mixture of coco coir, peatmoss, and top soil. Check out my oldest video for better details. I basically lay out grass seed before the tortoises go in the enclosures. They eat some as it grows, other chutes make it to full "grasshood." And yes having full spectrum lights is intended for the tortoises but, as a side bonus it helps plants grow in their enclosures.
What type of soil you use?
And I have a indian star tortoise can u tell me the right substrate for my tortoise
Please link the spring mix.
I couldn't find it anywhere either until a Costco opened in my area!
My torts are dining on local weeds & yard plantings now, but if memory serves, Spring Mix is primarily pieces of kale, collards, red-leaf lettuce, romaine & maybe some arugula. Other than the enclosed pouch of salad dressing that's about it!
In the video I fear he goes a little heavily on the "powders": Vits A & D aren't H2O-soluble so too much can cause liver damage and severe toxicity because the kidneys can't clear the excess like it can with the B & C vitamins. Calcium is important for growing bone but again, don't overdo. Reptavite or Nekton-R twice/week are plenty. I let my bigger tortoises nibble at cuttlebones ad lib (which they do) and only add ReptiCal to their food sparingly. I believe Mazuri LS pellets also contain Ca & vitamins, and my girls always have access to them as well.
Good luck!
Hello I would like to know what temperatures you have in winter the leopard babys turtles and that you put them at night thanks :)
I maintain the same temperatures year round in their enclosures. Low 90Fs in the day, low 80Fs in the night.
Hello, my name is zeus, I have a question about how often do you feed a turtle with one year of age? And how many times do you give calcium a week thanks
You can offer it food daily. A tortoise can easily its own volume in greens or store-bought diets. Pretend you turned your tortoise upside down and he was a bowl; they can eat as much as would fill that bowl, often more. Understand that as they eat veggies it gets compacted so it doesn't actually take up that much space after being ingested. I switch between fresh veggies and store-bought diet every other day and skip feeding Saturday for the most part as that is the day I do most enclosure maintenance. I sprinkle a bit of calcium(with d3) and multi-vitamin on the fresh stuff but not the amount recommended on the calcium containers, that would drown the food, likely making it unappetizing. So by lessening the recommended amount I can give some the 3 days a week the eat fresh foods. The store-bought diets are already enriched with vitamins and minerals conducive to proper development so no need to sprinkle them. I also look for the more calcium rich greens to mix-in when I can like dandelion greens and opuntia cactus(nopales). I make sure they have Calcium with added Vitamin D3 because I live in Alaska where I can not get them into the natural sunlight for 7-8 months of the year. What type of tortoise are you feeding?
I have a horsefield tortoise, i have no idea how old he is and his beak is a little long (not my doing) i rescued alan from a shop that had him in a tank roughly larger than a shoe box he was sharing with an elongated and another horsefield. He seems alot better now i've had him a while, he's more active, and often charges round in his box however my tort jusy flat out refuses to eat calcium supplements i've tried and tried but he just doesnt want to eat it...anything else i can try??? Also any recommendations on sorting his beak out? Im at a bit of a loss as im relatively new to keeping and caring for my tortoise
Sorry to respond so late. Some foods that are very rich in calcium are turnip greens and cactus pads from the opuntia genus commonly referred to as prickly pears. Trimming a beak is actually an easy task if you know how to do it, but often is best left to a qualified vet. I'd recommend searching for it on youtube then making a decision on whether to attempt it or seek out help.
What kind of tortioise would you recommend for beginner tortoise keepers? I was thinking of getting one but I’m not sure what kind.
I would say the russian tortoise because i have one and actually they have a great personality ive taught mine to wink and with mine i can actually gently stroke its head so i recommend the russian tortoise
Greek tortoises are better for beginners. You don't have to worry about humidity levels as much and their full size is usually smaller.
Greek Spur thigh tortoise, I have one and they are great pets!
sorry, but I don't know what squash is
How did u get grass in your inside enclosure?
Go watch open air enclosure
By artic reptie ranch
Wow!!! Your tortoise look so healthy.I have desert tortoise what's a good solid diet for them?
As far as a solid, staple diet goes; Variety! the more variety they are offered the more vitamins and minerals they will get. Variety also helps minimize the effects of some of the negative secondary compounds in vegetables that are not the best for your tortoise.
Variety of weeds. Best natural, they don't eat like literally grass as they aren't a grazing species (There might be exceptions but I don't know every species). Of course there isn't weed all year available so spring mix is also an option.
Or you can buy some greens from the store like for example collard greens, turnip greens and mustard greens. Biological still best.
No fruit, no lettuces (A lot of lettuce is bad for them so know which one is good - there is a site named the tortoisetable)
There is also commercial diet like ''Mazuri'', also good for them. Don't buy food from (local) pet shops as a lot of them got high protein and a lot of other stuff you don't want.
Well, at the end of the day, natural weeds are still the best for them. You can grow them in your own house when weeds aren't available but if you're like me, a horrible garderner/plant grower blabla. I just buy some spring mix and vegetables and once per week or twice to be sure I sprinkle their food with supplements. Like calcium and the thing that guy used in the video.
Calcium dust/powder (however you call it) can be used less often if you have a cuttle-bone/fish in your enclosure or anything else that gives the tortoise extra calcium intake.
You probably already know this but whatever
Can u plz tell me that from where u brought the feeding plates of tortoise
amazon i saw
Where is the hay for the grassland species?
Kenneth, I am glad you found my channel and have questions. Let me answer your question in three parts.
The first is with a quote by a fellow tortoise keeper researcher, Will E., "Grassland is a habitat description, not a diet definition." I know in a lot of social media circles as well as less informed pet store employees, the opposite seems to be the case, as it is simple and convenient way of looking at diet. Let me assure you from my near 40 years of reptile keeping experience, my pal Will is correct.
The second part of my answer supports the first in the form of a research study that was done on Leopard tortoises and serrated tortoises in South Africa: journals.co.za/content/wild/23/3/EJC116933 . In case you are in a hurry I'll give you the easy version. In years when rain is average to plentiful, grasses make up less than 40% of their diet even when they account for more than half of the available food. Literally any other plant within reach is preferred. In years with less rain or drought conditions, grasses still only made up 70% of their diet, meaning they will still go out of their way to find non-grasses but kind of get stuck with grass as it is hardy and all that is available.
Now while a varied diet of greens is packed with nutrition, it is a bit lacking in fiber. Grass is loaded with it. So to answer your question about my particular herd of shelled garbage disposals, they get grass when they are outside and grazing, when out side is not an option, zoo med forest tortoise pellets are soaked and used as a great source of fiber and other vitamins and minerals. The key to healthy, growing tortoises, in my experience, has been giving a WIDE variety of plants with supplements.
How much should I feed a baby tortoise. I’m thinking of getting a Greek but how much food should I feed them and what time of day.
Good question. The time of day doesn't matter, my tortoises that live outdoors eat all day, everyday when temperatures are nice but then are only active in morning and evenings when summer temps set in. So for an indoor baby tortoise, choose a time of day that works for you and try to be consistent. As for how much: I've found a young tortoise can eat between 10% & 20% of its body weight in a single morning session, they'll wander off briefly then come back and pick throughout the day. I always add extra, my target is to be cleaning up a tiny bit of food the next day before giving them more fresh food.
What do you sprinkle over their food
McNutty nutrabol or calcium dust
calcium dust
I’m getting a Greek. But I heard fruit is bad for them, that true? Very useful info thanks! Can I feed him cabbage kale or parsley? Nice tortoises btw
No!!! Pls do not offer cabbage it can cause intense diarrhea fruits can be offered once in 2 weeks with very small portion Apple strawberries blueberries and mango are perfect to be offered rarely try hay as they come from dry area
Never ever give your tortoise things in the celery family. These are too high in sodium.
My Russian tortoise doesn't I have...only like Kale at the moment I have try mushrooms and carrots and Apples and cantaloupe and Watermelon and don't like them..what should I do?
Russians should be fed mainly weeds. Sprinkle with calcium and vitamins. Check you don’t give them weeds that can poison them though.
I recently got a Greek and had no trouble finding dandelion greens at the store.
I have a question. I found this small tortoise in some dirt one day and took him home. I think it's a he. He's brown, flat, a little smaller than my hand and has claws. We tried giving him every fruit, vegetables we could find. He wouldn't touch them he barely took a couple of bites of a grape and a strawberry within 6 months or so. I thought he was gonna starve to death. Then one day I threw some shredded chicken in his water plate where he drinks his water. He ate it so fast! He ate pork, beef also. I read that meat is not so good for them but seems like that's all he likes! Any suggestions?
Return it to where it was!
They should never have meat ,lettuce, cucumber, little strawberry, especially watercress,keep grapes away toxic!!!!!! GOOD LUCK😊😊😊😊
@@carolynjones5142 they can have lettuce and cucumber.
@@enriquepenanieto4398 sorry I wrote this wrong I ment meat is a no,no thanks for replying.
It is probably too late, but returning it to the place you found it is a good idea. I recommend getting a captive born baby from a breeder as most tortoise and turtle populations are under heavy stress. But, if you still have it and it is still alive, my first question is, are you sure it is a tortoise and not box turtle or wood turtle? What part of the world are you located in? Turtles, generally speaking have a more meat-based, omnivorous diet than the majority of tortoises. I have however observed many tortoises eating bugs and worms that they come across. Give me a little more detail and I will help you along.
Is broccoli good for tortoises?
Rick broccoli isn’t bad as an occasional food but in general, like spinach and kale, should be avoided due to a high phosphorus to calcium ratio. nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2356/2 you’ll see the P:Ca ratio is about 3:2. When P is present in higher concentration than Ca it binds up all available calcium so the tortoise doesn’t benefit. Ca is extremely important for proper shell, limb, and muscle development. Look for foods like dandelion greens and prickly pear cactus for great sources of Ca unhindered by P. Using powder supplements and fortified commercial diets in addition to fresh veggies also helps to offset and increase Ca asorbtion.
My Indianstar turtle never stop eat
That sounds like a good thing. As long as you are feeding it a proper mix of foods, your tortoise will do just fine. As long as they are not overfed, a tortoise is fine to eat everyday.
o I have the same calcium as u for my baby Herman tortoise
Thanks for the help keep making cool videos do not listen to nonsensical comments;)
Spinach is bad for tortoises
Spinach is a bad staple for tortoises. As a small part of a well rounded diet, it is not harmful and has many good vitamins. I've found that you can balance out the high phosphorus levels in spinach with calcium supplements so that they get all of the good spinach has to offer without sacrificing calcium intake.
it’s not bad at all there’s a misconception, where’d your evidence it’s Bad?
Why is that tortoise from the beginning pyramiding?
Jade, thank you for taking interest in Harambe. Like many of my tortoises, he is a rescue, and like most rescues didn't receive the best care prior to living with me. He was kept for 8 years in a 36" x 18" glass aquarium with only a carpet for a substrate. Not only was he pyramided but he also could not walk correctly(his ligaments were too strong for his muscles) nor very far. Over time, with a more nutritious diet and increasingly larger enclosures with proper substrate, his muscles and ligaments are now where they sould be and he roams an outdoor enclosure 20 ft x 10 ft. The pyramiding willnever go away but his subsequent growth has come in as smoothly as it could given his early life.
Our desert tortoise loves (MUNG) bean sprouts and snow peas. Is this food good for them?
Misha Max I’m pretty sure they shouldn’t eat peas I think it has too much protein or something
No! These are too high in protien. Never give them sprouts or beans of any kind. This seriously hurts them.
haha u r more dedicated than I am. I just pluck some dandelions, grass, and some veggies from the garden. Feeding prep takes like 2 minute for me lol, and half of that is walking to and back from garden lol.
Living in Alaska as I did when this video was made, a garden suitable to feed everyone wasn't a simple possibility. There was a three month window when I could get fresh clovers and giant dandelions. Now Living in Arizona, all tortoise of appropriate size live outside and gorge themselves on the weeds growing and even the dried up weeds. Feeding has become much simpler of a process.
Hi, can make a video on how to treat Anorexia in tortoises?
I will write that suggestion down, research it to add to my existing knowledge and hopefully make a video on the subject. Thank you for the suggestion.
Im getting a box turtle and they eat some of the same things so sometimes i come to tortoise video's
Arianna, I also have a few pairs of Box Turtles. I have a video of them coming out in the next month. Until then, you should check out this great video from Garden State Tortoise, ruclips.net/video/M57mmWw1eo4/видео.html
@@TheArcticReptileRanch thanks while your here i just got a hachling yesterday he is fine other than the fact he won't eat fruits or veggies he eats mealworms fine but he won't eat fruits and veggies
Arianna, young box turtles tend to be more carnivorous, many not eating fruits for several months and green leafy plant matter until they are mature. My easterns didn't eat a single green thing until they were about 4 years old. Overtime their diets adjust based on what their body tells them they need. I've even seen some box turtles take veggies in their first month. Since it is eating mealworms you're off to a good start. I'd recommend looking for other, softer invertebrates to feed to your little boxie like wax worms, soldier fly larvae, earthworms, crickets and dubia roaches. Providing a diverse diet will help it get all of the vitamins and minerals it needs to grow fast and healthy.
@@TheArcticReptileRanch thank you i know were to get crickets and mealworms but were do i get the other's
i have heard that you should not feed your tortoises spinach. is that true
You should not feed them spinach as a staple. It can be a small part of a varied diet of fresh greens, with calcium supplements added. Plants like spinach and kale are high in phosphorus. Phosphorus bonds to Calcium and prevent the tortoises from absorbing Calcium. To compensate, calcium supplements should be given. Adequate water also needs to be provided to aid in digestion and kidney function. Many mysterious pet tortoise deaths can be contributed to kidney failure due to lack of water/humidity. For you Hermann's tortoise, I'd recommend green leafy foods, very very rarely offer fruits and rarely offer animal protein. Have a look here www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/webdiet.htm. I also recommend browsing this forum, www.tortoiseforum.org/
The Arctic Reptile Ranch vgsa
Tortoises are so cute!!! I was thinking about that I would get a tortoise as a pet. Do they eat meat proteins? What types of meat proteins do you give them? They are pretty expensive. I live in Canada. Wonder where I could get them cheaper. They cost in pet stores like at least $500 each.
Tortoises dont eat any meat but i think turtles do the difference between a tortoise and a turtle is that a tortoise would spend most of its days in water whilst tortoises dwell on land
you shouldn’t get one if have not done your research.
I heard that you shouldn't use red lamps?
If a person uses too high of a wattage and/or the bulbs are placed too close to the tortoise, than yes lamps, of any color, can be bad and outright dangerous. You want to give them a warm spot, preferably in the upper 90sF to help them thermoregulate, but not bake them. Also when kept in overly dry conditions, any heat source can compound conditions that are already dehydrating a tortoise. The bulbs when too close or too powerful can create uneven heating on the shell and overtime damage the keratin and bone beneath. Adequate hydration and even oiling your tortoise's shell from time to time(I use coconut oil) can help keep their protective layer healthy.
So we can feed tortoises with salad mix off the shelves? cool
only supposed to be 20% of their diet if using any grocery foods that are 100% organic for tortoise. Natural grazing of grasses and weeds is 80% of most tortoise diets. The other 20% is small amount fruits, flowers, and other variety of grape leaves, hibiscus, rose, prickly pear cactus with thorns removed and others.
FlopFlip, yes, tortoises can most certainly eat salad mix just be sure to remove any included dressing. Spring mix, which ever you can find with less spinach, is a very good part of a varied diet, which when combined with proper hydration, are rich in enough nutrients to counter any bad secondary compounds like oxylates in plants or calcium leeching substances like excessive phosphorus in some plants. The "Grass First" mantra in tortoise keeping is a bit over simplified but also glorified in some online "tables" and numerous Social Media circles. Many treat it as religion and defend it like a crusader, and to parallel the crusades once more, for as misguided of a cause. To explain my position, I will borrow from another comment from this video and edit to match this particular discussion.
I will begin with a quote by a fellow tortoise keeper/published researcher, Will E., "Grassland IS a habitat description, NOT a diet definition." As I mentioned, in a lot of social media circles, convenient online references, as well as with less informed pet store employees, the opposite seems to be the core belief, as it is simple and convenient way of looking at diet. And, people sure do like easy. Let me assure you from my near 40 years of reptile keeping experience, my pal Will is on to something.
The second part of my answer supports the first in the form of a research study that was done on WILD Leopard tortoises and serrated tortoises in South Africa: journals.co.za/content/wild/23/3/EJC116933 . Both of these tortoises are unarguably in the "grassland" tortoise group. In case you are in a hurry I'll give you the easy version. In years when rain is average to plentiful, grasses make up less than 40% of their diet even when they account for more than half of the available food. Literally any other plant within reach is preferred. In years with less rain or drought conditions, grasses still only made up 70% of their diet, meaning they will still go out of their way to find non-grasses but kind of get stuck with grass as it is a hardy, resilient plant and all that is available. Yes they do live in tall grasses and scrubland, but their actual diets are so much more varied and complex than "80%." This referenced field research suggests that when available, that "20%" mentioned by Daring More should actually be the bulk of their diet.
My objectively and subjectively successful style of tortoise keeping has no "staple" diet. Now while a varied diet of store-bought greens is packed with nutrition, it is a bit lacking in fiber. Grass is loaded with it. My particular herd of shelled garbage disposals get grass when they are outside and grazing; when out side is not an option, zoo med forest tortoise pellets are soaked and used as a great source of fiber and other vitamins and minerals. The key to healthy, growing tortoises, in my experience, has been giving a WIDE variety of plants with powdered calcium and multivitamin supplements.
I feed them as much of a variety of things as I can. Occasionally I will mix in ZooMed's tortoise canned gel based-food (zoomed.com/zoo-menu-tortoise-omnivorous-lizard-food/). I even give animal protein sources(worms, grubs, & dubia roaches) on a monthly'sh basis. Meat is a particularly nutrient rich treat for young growing tortoises and females developing eggs.
If I give pelleted diets I mix in a few different types:
Mazuri orignal: www.mazuri.com/mazuri/reptile/tortoise/tortoise-diet-25lb
Mazuri LS: www.mazuri.com/mazuri/reptile/tortoise/tortoise-ls-diet-25lb?viewState=DetailView&cartID=&portalUser=&store=&cclcl=en_US
Marion Zoological Diet: www.marionzoological.com/reptile/
Zoo Med Forest Tortoise food: zoomed.com/natural-forest-tortoise-food/
If there is a vitamin, mineral, or other nutrient out there, I want to offer it to my shelled herd. Of those if I had to rank one as the best, using a nutritional comparison chart created by Dr. T. Boyer, it seems the Zoo Med Forest Tortoise diet is probably the top, the variety found in Zoo Med's Gourmet tortoise food (zoomed.com/gourmet-tortoise-food/) would rank it slightly higher.
I don't even buy these salads for myself as they have to be imported and very expensive
Sean …and that's why keeping tortoise(s) is definitely not for everyone. 🤗
He didn't even get into the cost of basic pelleted food (US$60 per 25lb) or the various heat, basking and UVA &B lights (latter which must be replaced every 6mos @ US$40 ea.) plus the cost to power them 8-24hrs/day .I spend far less keeping 4 spoiled and impeccably healthy dogs!
One of those tortoises shells are pyramiding. It is getting too much protien. Your tortoise can get joint problems from that. Get a vet looking at it as soon as possible.
First, thank you for watching my channel and expressing your concern. Unfortunately the information that you are referencing with regards to protein and pyrimading has been thoroughly disproven. The most comprehensive, well formed scientific analysis was done in 2003. I understand that some ideas, even when completely wrong persist in pet communities. Fortunately over the last 20 years since that outdated idea has been disproven and further explored, more accurate information has made is way into books and is even available online in places like Tortoisefrums.org. If you would like a much more detailed answer, refer to my reply to a comment from 2 years ago that begins with "Yes these are fresh foods, FOR HUMANS!! "
As for the joint problems you mention, that is a condition known as visceral gout. When kidneys are not working as well as they should, protein builds up and gets deposited in crystalline-form in the joints. A painful conditions with outward symptoms appearing similar to arthritis in humans, this condition is seen very often in iguanids yet far more rarely in chelonians. One of the main causes of failed kidneys in reptiles is improper hydration, a condition that is most certainly not present in my collection; if you haven't already, have a look at my video showing the daily soaking routine that I still practice to this day.
Again, thank you for watching and caring enough to post a comment. Have a look around at my channel, the information that I present is as accurate and up to date as possible at the time of upload. Everything that I say and present is well researched and backed up by information found in books, peer-reviewed research papers, and field studies, not misinformation passed from who knows where to unsuspecting new tortoise keepers.
Broooo tortoise carnt eat strawberry they carnt process sugar therr Hebavores
Herbivores are plant eaters, strawberries are plants. While fruits should not make up the staple diet of most tortoises, occasional or seasonal offerings of fruit are good for them and their liver & kidneys can more than keep up and process the sugars. It ads color to the dish which is visually stimulating and enriching to a tortoise and it provides them with a variety of nutrients not found in leafy greens or grasses.
NO Fruits!
It's poison for them.
Yes these are fresh foods, FOR HUMANS!! No wonder your tortoise has terrible pyramiding I feel bad for that poor thing
To defend my tortoises that are pyramided since they can not type, I'll let you know that NONE of the tortoises that I have raised since they were babies show signs of pyramiding. The larger tortoises that I have which were pyramiding when I got them are now showing more proper growth at the edges of their scutes. In addition to exhibiting pyramidal growth when I acquired them, two of the adult redfoots that I have that could barely walk straight are now exceptionally mobile due to their lives under my care. Their previous owners, like you, did not completely understand tortoise nutrition. No worries, this channel is meant for education so I'll add to the assumptions you make about pyramiding in tortoises and give you a bit more information based on modern research and husbandry techniques. Pyramiding IS NOT solely the result of excess protein(plant or animal) nor excess nutrition. Pyramiding is the result of inadequate hydration mixed with proper or excessive nutrition. -----
A LOT of people keep their tortoises in very very dry conditions, like open air cages with moisture absorbing rabbit pellets and no water dish. There is a common thought out there that tortoises don't need water, they can get it all from the food they eat. This couldn't be further from the truth. They don't understand that grassland and even desert torts experience seasonal rains. Tortoises can live a horribly long time in poor conditions, they are designed very well to be able to tough it out. Even they have their limits. A lot of "healthy" tortoises will die after 5 or 6 years mysteriously, likely due to kidney failure from inadequate hydration/nutrition.-----
In nature, food is abundant during the wetter seasons, like your lawn when it rains. The times of year that tortoises eat large quantities of nutrient rich foods coincides with conditions that are more moist both in the soil and ambient humidity. So when tortoises are growing fastest, their bodies are hydrated more, effecting both their bone growth and keratin deposition/flexibility at the scute boundaries. So in the absence of adequate water, excess protein can intensify the pyramiding effect but in and of itself, hydration is the predominant factor more so than excess dietary protein. It is a fact vs a belief that studies have been published on the subject and there are quite a few experienced, reputable, & published breeders that have spent more than a decade proving this hypothesis out. In another decade this should make it into the tortoise literature at large but I'm sure the "protein is the enemy" camp will still persist.----
An easy way to understand how pyramiding in a tortoise shell works is by considering how you feel after a shower. Your fingernails are made of the same thing as the outer tortoise shell covering, keratin. After a shower they are more pliable than when dry. Same with our regular skin when dry compared to after we put lotion on it. On the cellular level they are not soaking wet like a shower but have just the right amount of moisture needed when hydrated. When the new keratin grows in at the scute edges and it is too dry the keratin does not allow the bones to grow correctly and acts like a band on that area forcing the bone growth to upthrust, kind of like the tribes that bind baby skulls to get that alien head shape. Also, calcium plays a roll in this equation too, less calcium = weaker bones = more likely to upthrust(pyramid). So while giving a lot of nutritious food can cause a tortoise to grow faster more constantly than in nature, correct hydration will stave off pyramiding, though in some cases not completely prevent it. While it shouldn't be a staple or everyday food, protein, in the form of animal protein, shouldn't be completely avoided but viewed as a necessary treat especially for their own muscle and nervous function. I use worms and Mazuri crocodile gel diet as a treat, different species get them at different frequencies.
Newer books are adding this type of information into their nutrition sections. The earliest work I've seen done is from like '03. The breeder and author Jerry Fife was probably the first mainstream person(to the best of my knowledge) to see and discuss the hydration/pyramid correlation. If you aren't on tortoiseforum.org, you are really missing out on a lot of experience to be gleaned and put into use in your own tortoises' upkeep. Here is a long but very good presentation given by a very successful tortoise breeder who focuses on hydration over feeding tortoises foods with minimal nutrition: ruclips.net/video/ee-RW6jDyk4/видео.html
That was the best RUclips beat down of an ill informed owner trying to teach others I have EVER seen.
If you have never seen a tort with a smooth flat shell then you have never seen a healthy tort. My Russian male is smooth and flat and I am no pro like a tortoise keeper, just someone who went to the best tort forum which is tortoiseforum.org and did my homework. Also I should point out Redfoots are prone to at least some pyramiding as they age and get bigger, even under good care.
RenIgadE_Thunder You don’t know what you’re talking about.
lmao stfu
hello can you help me does elongated tortoise eat fruit or not ??