Contrary to what is often thought, the diet of your terrestrial tortoise cannot be composed only of lettuce leaves, in Animal Expert we know that these reptiles need a balanced and varied diet to become strong and healthy.
However, you can’t add any ingredients to your tortoise’s food because some of them are harmful, so we’re here in land turtle food.
- A good feeding of the turtle will depend to a large extent on the species to which it belongs.
- Even among those of the land there are different varieties with different nutritional needs.
- However.
- There are some general recommendations on a diet suitable for terrestrial.
Offering a variety of dishes, with different types of vegetables, small portions of fruit and some extra supplements is ideal, not only to cover all food needs, but also so that the turtle does not get used to just one flavor and then refuses to Test it. Different things, something that ends up being counterproductive for your healthy development.
Here is a list of some foods that are prohibited for terrestrial turtles, which should only be offered in small quantities and rarely.
All vegetables and cereals are prohibited for turtles, such as beans, green beans, corn, rice, beans, lentils, peas, among others.The turtle must not receive natural grain or in the form of biscuits or other foods containing it.
These food groups should constitute 90% of the tortoise diet, however, not all vegetables or vegetables are suitable for them, in this regard we recommend avoiding:
Eating most of these foods can lead to obesity, nutritional deficiencies and even liver disease.Lettuce, although not harmful, is preferable to be administered sporadically and prefers wild herbs and different types of flowers.
While fruit should be part of the usual diet of terrestrial turtles, it is recommended to add only about 10% for each serving of food, so there are some that are prohibited:
A dish prepared with fungi is usually very tempting for humans, but it will be fatal for a terrestrial turtle, you should not give fungus or any other fungus, not only are difficult to digest, but you can also find one that is toxic.
In no case should turtles be given foods containing large amounts of sugar, this includes not only minimizing the portions of fruit, a topic already mentioned, but also removing any type of human delicacy from the diet of these reptiles.
Because? Bacteria in the turtles’ stomachs can only digest reduced amounts of sugar, so overfeeding would eliminate them all, causing poisoning that could kill the animal.
Many people recommend giving dog feed to supplement the nutrition of turtles, however, this is a mistake, since the vitamins and minerals of this type of food have been formulated exclusively for dogs and not for turtles, so they provide supplements that in the long run can be harmful to these reptiles and can lead to nutritional deficiencies or excesses.
Mediterranean terrestrial turtles should not consume any type of animal product, while tropical turtles do not need this type of food in their diet, but in the form of snails, larvae and insects, in addition the ration should be very small, only about 5% of the total supply.
The food specially formulated for turtles is not recommended as the main food in the diet of turtles, since it does not contain all the necessary nutrients, ideally administer a homemade and natural diet, and offer food to turtles only sporadically.
Overeating is often the main problem for captive turtles.Giving more food than necessary results in obese animals, with serious health problems and shell deformities.Ask your veterinarian frequently to advise you how much food the turtle needs, depending on its age and species.
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