Fruit for salcata?

DeesBalls · 04-22-15, 05:55 PM

I am a bar tender and at the end of the night we throw away fruit... u was wondering if it was okay to give to my sulcata tortoise. It's lemons limes oranges pineapple strawberries and cherris. I woukdnt give him lemon do lime though. Just the other. Thank you for the help.

**millertime89** · 04-22-15, 06:21 PM

It's not recommended. You can give the fruit as a treat, but I would only give very small amounts, very occasionally.

that1guy · 04-22-15, 08:34 PM

It's best not to give them fruit at all. Fruit is high in sugar and acid which can cause the beneficial bacteria in the tortoise digestive track to die off which can cause gut and digestive problems and even Sepsis and can kill your tortoise. That is worst case and probably won't happen from giving them fruit once or even giving it to them on a rare occasion, but still it is recommended that you not give them fruit at all.

reptiledude987 · 04-23-15, 03:52 PM

Ive read the same on those guys. fruit should only be a rare treat and go with things like blueberries that are high in antioxidents and low in acids.

DeesBalls · 04-24-15, 09:03 PM

thanks guys! hes been eating mostly kale/collard greens, murizuri (sp) tortoise food, and some other things (grass, and dandilions) i was just wondering about fruit, but mostly the first two things. thanks ya'll

metalcopper · 04-25-15, 08:34 PM

Quote:

hes been eating mostly kale/collard greens, murizuri (sp) tortoise food, and some other things (grass, and dandilions) i was just wondering about fruit, but mostly the first two things

You're right on with that diet. I would give mine a couple strawberries once a year, he loved them, but that was it. Otherwise, it was exactly what you're feeding yours. Then, once he's big enough, give him more and more hay and grass.

jarich · 04-26-15, 12:27 AM

There are specialty grasses you can grow for them specifically. They really need that high grass/fibre diet as opposed to fruit or even other green leaf veggies. They are such a highly specialized animal. Super amazing creatures, and Id love to have one, but such an incredible responsibility. Who is going to get yours when you pass away?

DeesBalls · 04-26-15, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarich

There are specialty grasses you can grow for them specifically. They really need that high grass/fibre diet as opposed to fruit or even other green leaf veggies. They are such a highly specialized animal. Super amazing creatures, and Id love to have one, but such an incredible responsibility. Who is going to get yours when you pass away?

well being only 28 now- i hope my daughter or possible grand kids- right now it looks like my daughter will be interested in animals like me, she loves my 2 dogs, and always wants to touch the snakes (she has not yet) but shes held the tortoise and always watches him when he eats and such, so i am leaning on her, if not, grandkids.

I usually grow grass for him in the summer in my parents garden they grow, i also grow collards greens and kale, i get a mix from (i think arizona tortoise supply) not 100 percent on the name of website, gotta look it back up since its been winter in OH.

i was just curious about fruit in general, i see alot of YT videos that have them eating it, but it might just be a snack, sense i dont see all of the feeding videos...

none the less, he is by far my favorite animal i have, and couldnt be happier with him

i would love to do a better enclosure for him since hes inside for the time being, but it is getting the job done.

thanks for all input, please add anything you may know!

or pics!

Danimal · 05-01-15, 02:28 PM

I have a couple of Hibiscus bushes and a couple of rose bushes I use the flowers for treats. Anything red will bring them running including red toenail polish, as my wife found out, and they love those flowers. I have used rose petals to move my big one when I didn't feel like picking him up. They also love cactus pads and if you have access to a mulberry bush, they are crazy about the leaves. All these mentioned can be fed to them as the smaller portion of their diet. A little more then 2/3, maybe 75% of the diet I feed my 2 is grass hay, mostly bermuda.

Danimal · 05-01-15, 02:56 PM

Here are a couple of pics. Sherman is the big guy, he's 27ish and weighs in close to 100lbs. Shelly is the other and he/she (probable female) is 2 years old in a couple of weeks. I kept her in sterilite containers until she got big enough to crawl out then moved her to a 110 gal stock tank. You can build an elaborate tortoise table but they outgrow pretty fast. I think I've upgraded Shelly's enclosure about every 6 months and now she is big enough to stay outside in the summer, although it will be a protected enclosure and we have the tub to bring her inside to. The stock tanks are not expensive, easy to modify for things like lighting and deep enough to put enough substrate in to encourage burrowing when they get bigger. I highly recommend a humid hide for the juvenile years. I still use one even though she is starting to dig.