Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A neighbor gave my family a bag of home grown cucumbers and I was curious if these could be fed to tortoises? I have two redfoots, a yellow foot, and a pair of russians. I didnt because I couldnt locate anything confirming cucumbers were bad, but nothing stating you could feed them either. Better safe than sorry. However, if I have an opportunity to get more of these young tasty treats, I am sure the change of pace would be nice for the torts if acceptable.

Hi Kevin. There is no problem feeding your tortoises cucumbers. They like them and they is a very good source of moisture for the tortoises. Cucumbers are about 95% water, but have a relatively high mineral content. The skin contains the cell salts and the vitamins. Hence they should not be peeled. Cukes are a source of potassium, sodium, magnesium, sulphur, silicon, chlorine and fluorine.

Thanks for the response. The tort forums appear to be very slow lately and I though this might go unanswered. I typically feed my collection spring mixes, turnip/collard greens, etc., and occassionally fruit and mazuri tortoise chow. These cucs looked awesome and I thought they would enjoy them chopped up. When I tried to reference info I had on torts and other herbivorous reptiles I could not find cucs listed and felt it better safe than sorry!!!

A seasonal feeding of this kind of stuff should not be a problem at all.

>>Thanks for the response. The tort forums appear to be very slow lately and I though this might go unanswered. I typically feed my collection spring mixes, turnip/collard greens, etc., and occassionally fruit and mazuri tortoise chow. These cucs looked awesome and I thought they would enjoy them chopped up. When I tried to reference info I had on torts and other herbivorous reptiles I could not find cucs listed and felt it better safe than sorry!!!
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

how about patatoes? are they ok to feed to my redfoot?