Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was at the pet store today and saw a so called complete tortoise food. It said that it had fruit and veggies in it and was a complete diet. Could this possibly be true? It was in the form of colored pellets. Could someone tell me if they have ever heard of this and if its good for tortoises at all?

Are you talking about Repcal tort diet? If so, my vet highly recommends it. Though, I do know that other people prefer Mazuri. Just keep in mind that variety is key and not to feed commercial food as the main diet.

I hope this helps.

Kelly Wood

I personally stay away from that stuff. People have told me that their tortoises wouldn't even eat it. Tortoises wouldn't find this "complete tortoise diet" in the wild, so why feed it to them? I think fresh veggies and fruit are the best possible foods.

Reid

My vet recommends the commercial foods over "fresh" foods mainly because the commercial food is parasite free, where as the fresh foods always carry parasites and worms.

I use the repcal once a week for my Redfoots so they can get the protein they need.

Sometimes though, fresh fruits and veggies are just unattainable so I do not see why one cannot use a substitute for awhile.

Kelly Wood

You said:

"My vet recommends the commercial foods over "fresh" foods mainly because the commercial food is parasite free, where as the fresh foods always carry parasites and worms."

Wow, that's exactly what my vet said. He also pushes bearded dragon pellets for the same reason, saying that crickets can bring in parasites. But when I ask if worms and parasites have been found in the natural foods, he doesn't have an answer.

Funny thing, this vet also sells feeder insects at his pet store. Hmmmm!

It is funny that our vets say the same thing about the repcal food.

My vet did tell me that the commercial food does not carry any parasites or anything lke that.

Also, I know off the topic of torts, but he also said that 1 pellet of the commercial food is equivelent to 4 crickets in nutritional aspects. I am feeding my beardies the commercial food and they are thriving. Beats keeping crickets.

I trust my vet, but I also know how to follow my own commen sense about the commercial food for torts. Once in awhile is okay, but not all the time. My opinion!

Kelly Wood

I would stay away from any of those coloured pet store "tortoise diets." They generally have little if any research put into them. Some even say "Tortoise & Box Turtle Diet." Well, you can't get much different than the diets of tortoises and box turtles. If you are going to go with a pelleted diet try mazuri. Its cheaper and has had considerable research put into it based on the nutritional requirements of galapagos tortoises. Most people would agree that it shouldn't make up 100% of the diet. In my opinion the greens and grasses we feed our tortoises shouldn't make up 100% of the diet either. Just because our greens and grasses look more like what a wild tortoise eats doesn't mean that they are anywhere close in nutritional content.
I think that variety is the key. Greens, grasses, and mazuri should all be part of a balance diet.

My 2 cents
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Adam
http://anraviary.cjb.net
0.0 African Sidenecked, 0.0 Northern Diamondback Terrapin, 0.1 Redfoot, 0.1 Sulcatta, 1.0 Western Hognose, 1.0 Crested Gecko, 0.1 Mali Uromastyx

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but how often does any tortoise run across colored food pellets in the wild? That's how often you should feed them this stuff. Please don't feed your tortoises commercial food. Your tortoises will thank you and your wallet will be saved from vet bills down the road. The only tortoises that should get any commercial food, and that should only be Mazuri, are Galops, Redfoot's, Yellowfoot's, Hingeback's, and Burms. They require a small portion (10% of the diet as a max) for the protein content.

In 30 years of tortoise keeping I've never fed any commercial food, except to our Redfoot's, and my combined vet bills over those 30 years don't equal 1 years vet bills for either one of our dogs.

Just say no to commercial food.

Ernie

I was thinking about getting a redfoot actually is why I asked. So for redfoots pellets should be feed just once a week right?

Yes, Mazuri is fine for Redfoot's. I feed 1 gram per kilogram of tortoise per week. To make it easy 1 gram (about 3 water soaked pellets, per 450 grams of tortoise per week. If you have a hatchling that's about 1 soaked pellet every other week.

If you don't want to use Mazuri you can use Walkabout Farms (www.herpnutrition.com) Forest Tortoise Mix. I use both and actually prefer Walkabout's, as the science is better, IMO. The mix you add to every meal you feed your Redfoot's. Once I've used up the Mazuri I have, I'll probably stop and only use the mix.

When I see complete diet in the sales pitch I can't help but wonder. That would imply that the manufacturer knows the RDR of a tortoise. We wouldn't be having this discussion it that was the case. So, once again, you can only go by trial and error. This can be reduced by asking the questions you have and sifting through all the BS.
All you have to do is put a little thought into it and try to steer clear of preconceived notions.
Ed