How much do i need to feed my two tortoises?
Red-Footed tortoises are primarily herbivorous, consuming a wide variety of grasses, fruits, flowers, and small plants. Red-foots in the wild have been reported to consume small amounts of animal material such as carrion. In captivity, red-foots should be fed a mixture of high calcium greens, fruits, vegetables, and flowers and a small amount of animal protein. Appropriate high calcium greens include: collard, mustard, and dandelion. Other greens such as endive, watercress, romaine, kale, and escarole should also be mixed in for variety. Spinach should be fed sparingly, as it contains oxalates that bind dietary calcium, making it unavailable. Good fruits and vegetables to offer include: pumpkin, winter squash, grated carrots, crook-neck squash, zucchini, papaya, mango, kiwi, melon, cantaloupe, frozen mixed vegetables (thawed), and prickly pear fruits. Feed cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts in small amounts, these vegetables contain iodine binders
Buy a good book. In my opinion no exotic pet should be kept without the owner buying a good manual, taking into account their housing and nutrition requirements. You can’t rely on what other people tell you, because unless they’re reptile experts they’re likely to biased or wrong in some way. Pet shop owners especially will tell you absolute crap, just so they can sell you the most expensive products, or get you coming back for more. They know people will trust them to know what they’re talking about even if they don’t. The internet can be a good source of extra advice and learning, but it won’t tell you everything, and you must be careful as much advice is written by non- experts, or just copied from somewhere else with little thought as to it’s validity. Tortoises need to have the right balance of certain plants in order to get the right nutrition and for their skeletal system to be healthy and properly developed. Their shell often suffers, and the scutes may become pyramid shaped, a
