tunisian tortoise

mackey087

Hi there just wondering if anyone has one. just looking for some tips. i'm feeding our guy the usual stuff romain lettuce, dandelion leaves, some tortoise pellets(only started to use these in the last month. he loves them), clover, some fruit(watermelon, melon, chopped grape but only once every fortnight) he likes red cabbage and so on. I've recently remade the inside of his crib and made a fake desert scene, cave and background got the idea from lizard landscapes.com. He seems to like it. I've noticed that he uses both sides of the tank more often now. Before he used to stay on the side with the u.v bulb. anyhow just looking for some help if you have any. cheers

lrushe

mackey087 wrote: »

Hi there just wondering if anyone has one. just looking for some tips. i'm feeding our guy the usual stuff romain lettuce, dandelion leaves, some tortoise pellets(only started to use these in the last month. he loves them), clover, some fruit(watermelon, melon, chopped grape but only once every fortnight) he likes red cabbage and so on. I've recently remade the inside of his crib and made a fake desert scene, cave and background got the idea from lizard landscapes.com. He seems to like it. I've noticed that he uses both sides of the tank more often now. Before he used to stay on the side with the u.v bulb. anyhow just looking for some help if you have any. cheers

Firstly stay away from tortoise pellets, they will cause long-term damaged to your tort. The general rule of thumb for feeding is dark green leafy vegetation so try to limit the amount of fruit given as it will disrupt gut activity and may give your tort the runs. Lettuce is ok now and again but isn't as nutritious as say dandelion, clover or turnip leaves. Your tort should have a hot side and cool side, it should have a basking temp of 26C, a UVA and UVB bulb and should have a source of water. Provide your tort with a cuttlefish bone as a source of calcium instead of dusting the food with calcium powder, the advantage of this is your tort will only eat the cuttlefish bone when it needs calcium whereas you can over do it on the powder and cause kidney stones.

mackey087

i've tried the cuttlefish bone but i have never seen him go near it, never any marks from his mouth. maybe i'll cut down on the calcium powder. cheers

lrushe

mackey087 wrote: »

i've tried the cuttlefish bone but i have never seen him go near it, never any marks from his mouth. maybe i'll cut down on the calcium powder. cheers

I had a cuttlefish bone in with my tort for a year before he went near it, he still has the same one for the past few years though all the edges have now been nibbled! That's the beauty of the cuttlefish bone, they'll only eat it when they need a calcium boost, there's never a fear of over dosing!

dbrock

fairly decent list of foods, http://www.tlady.clara.net/TortGuide/Diet.htm#plantlist

mackey087

i'll try the cuttlefish again. cheers for that site for diets