Diet of Desert Tortoise

A proper diet is essential to the long-term health of desert tortoises. This care sheet explains recommended foods, feeding practices, and common dietary concerns for daily and long-term care.

How to Prepare Tortoise Food:

Grassland Tortoise Food contains all the nutrition your tortoise needs. There is no need to add vitamins, minerals, or vegetables. It’s easy and worry-free!

Soften Tortoise Food with water for 2 or 3 minutes using a ratio of about 1 part Tortoise Food to 11/2 parts water. Watch the video about preparing Tortoise Food. Some tortoises need a little time and coaxing to accept a new food. Try mixing a little of their previous food with Tortoise Food. Gradually reduce that food until you serve only Tortoise Food. Please remember that it is very difficult to provide a complete diet using a vegetable salad as a base unless you know the exact nutrients to add in the correct amounts (vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and sufficient protein, and fiber).

Foods to Avoid:

To prevent your tortoise from becoming ill we advise you avoid feeding them the following foods:

SODIUM. Most fresh vegetables contain only 1 to 10 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams of the food. Canned vegetables average 236 mg per 100 grams! Sodium is added to some frozen foods. Avoid: canned and frozen vegetables, dairy products, breads, and celery.
SPINACH has nutrients but also contains OXALIC ACID. Oxalic acid binds calcium making it UNAVAILABLE to the Avoid spinach. Also avoid beet greens and Swiss chard for the same reason.
BROCCOLI, KALE, COLLARDS and MUSTARD GREENS (of the cabbage family) have valuable nutrients but depress the Goiters can develop from heavy use of the cabbage family.
NO CAT FOOD OR DOG They may cause digestive problems because the fiber content is too low for tortoises.
NO SWEET FRUIT OR CORN The sugars in these foods predispose desert tortoises to intestinal parasites.
NO FROZEN VEGETABLES especially for young tortoises. Some nutrients are lost when foods are frozen. Often frozen vegetables have added sodium that is not healthy for Frozen carrots and broccoli are rubbery and difficult to digest. Due to the sugar content corn should also be avoided.

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