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- A healthy tortoise diet is made up
of three main components.
It's low in protein, it's high in calcium,
and it's high in fiber.
But there's a lot of outdated information out there
and conflicting information,
which might drive certain keepers nuts,
as to what to actually pick that is right
for our tortoises to eat.
Well look no further, 'cause in this video,
we're gonna show you some items that you can buy,
but also some that you can pick right from your own yard.
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So I'm just sitting here right now.
All I did was take these few Greek tortoises
and plop them right down on our lawn
and they are helping themselves
to some very healthy food items.
And that's because this is all natural stuff
that grows right here for them.
A lot of these plants grow in the Northeast,
but they also grow in other portions of the United States
and other parts of the world.
So we're talking about some pretty simple weeds
that most people don't want growing in their yard,
but we went the route of making sure
all this stuff grows in,
instead of caring about a nice, beautiful lush lawn,
because well, it feeds our tortoises for free.
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- So we have a lot of mouths to feed here
at Garden State Tortoise.
As you can see, this is only a handful of greens
that we like to feed out from our local wholesaler.
This and the Missouri Tortoise Diet is a supplementation
for all these beautiful, natural, wonderful weeds
that grow here in the backyard.
- So what items that grow in our yards naturally,
are safe to feed tortoises?
Well, this Burmese Star here is helping himself,
to some Broad Leaf Plantain.
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- So this is Ribwort or Narrow Leaf Plantain.
And this is Radiated Tortoise chowing down.
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- Athena here, the Eastern Hermann's Tortoise,
is helping yourself to some CLOVER.
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- So sometimes Chris and I,
take the tortoises out of their pens
and bring them to these special spots in the yard
that are loaded with lots of good, good weeds.
This little Greek Tortoise is feeding
on some fresh Dandelion.
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- Another item that you may not normally consider,
because it's not a weed,
would be the leaves of the Mulberry Tree.
These are excellent food items for tortoises.
And the trees are pretty abundant.
- Honeysuckle is another great option.
They can eat both the flowers and the leaves.
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- One other option I'm gonna show you guys,
for a safe food that might grow in your yard is Catsear.
It's an excellent weed.
Tortoises can eat as much of it as they want.
But of course, there are many, many options out there,
aside from what we showed you in this video.
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It's safe for iguanas too.
Hey, guys.
(Chris laughing softly)
Oh, what's up buddy?
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- So if you live somewhere where you don't have access
to natural weed growth, like we do,
you can always plant things like Hibiscus or Rose of Sharon.
They can eat the flowers and the leaves.
And they're really prolific.
Hi, hi there, yes.
- And a couple other options that you can buy
at garden centers that will come back each and every year,
are things like Roses.
- Heather.
- Spiraea.
- A succulent, like Sedum.
- Hosta.
- So raspberries, specifically the newer growth,
is enticing for these tortoises.
- And Forget Me Not, as well as Water Hyacinth.
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So all of the options that we gave you guys,
in this video are merely a fraction
of all the amazing things that you can and should,
offer your tortoises.
Like Casey said, if you don't have access
to natural weed growth, there are plenty of things
that you can buy from garden centers,
as well as places that sell produce.
If you're wondering about the toxicity in some plants,
well, anything that we showed you today is great,
as part of a varied diet.
Everything should be fed in moderation
and make up different components
of the overall diet of the tortoises,
in combination with produce and some commercial foods,
if you choose to use them.
- Always, always, always, do your research
before you feed anything out.
Make sure that nothing was just sprayed with weed killer
or, you know, make sure that you're rinsing off
your fresh vegetables or fruits
that you're feeding out.
You always wanna make sure that everything's nice and clean
and avoid any extra toxicity.
Also, plant identification is extremely important.
There's a ton of apps out there.
There's field guides.
I mean there's Google.
Always try to ID properly, what you have.
And if you don't know what it is,
reach out to somebody who might.
- The Tortoise Table is an excellent app and website to use,
if you really wanna get the nitty gritty
on plants that are safe, not safe,
and how you should use them.
Tortoises can consume a little bit of toxicity in plants
and believe it or not,
a lot of times, they know what they're taking in.
They'll spit things out, this and there,
but accidents can and do happen.
So overall, make sure you do thorough, thorough research,
on how to properly feed your tortoises,
and make sure it's new information.
You can use any of our websites, our blogs,
and any of the newer websites that out there,
that know what they're talking about
when it comes to feeding these animals properly.
Because you want them to be healthy
and around for a very long time.
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