What are the Diets of Tortoises Native to Tropical and Subtropical Regions?

People keep different species of tortoises as their pets. But the food habits of all these species of tortoises are not the same. The food habits depend on the region and ecosystem in which they live. If you have a pet tortoise native to tropical, subtropical, or any other region, the foremost thing which you should know about them is their food habits. This blog will help you understand your pet tortoise food name. After reading this blog, you can take better care of your pet tortoises.

Subtropical and Mediterranean Tortoise Diet

These tortoise species are indigenous to semi-arid grasslands. Such areas are populated with shrubs, weeds, and succulents. Therefore, the bulk of their diets come from the wild. If you visit any shop to buy food for your baby tortoise or an adult tortoise, you should check the nutritional quantity mentioned on it. 

The nutritional value of different food for tortoises is different. The leafy green vegetables are always good for your pet tortoise, no matter whether you have vegetables in your yard or garden or bought these from the market. Besides green veggies, you can also give some other foods to your Subtropical and Mediterranean tortoises. Some examples of these foods include leaves and flowers of Dandelion, sow thistle and bramble leaves, flowers and weeds, etc.

Succulent like prickly pear is also a good diet for your tortoise. These are an excellent source of hydration and nutrition for tortoises. The only problem you may face while buying succulent food for a baby tortoise or an adult tortoise is that they are not readily available than other weeds and green veggies.

If you give the same food to your tortoises, they get bored. You can try different combinations of food for your tortoises. For example, you can provide them cauliflower or broccoli. But these foods should be given to Subtropical and Mediterranean tortoises once or twice per week. 

Following are the tortoise food names which you can provide them rarely:

● Strawberries

● Melon

● Mango

● Cherries

● Grapes

● Pear

● Peach

Let’s see the fluid requirements of Subtropical and Mediterranean tortoises. Make sure that your pet tortoises remain hydrated all the time. For this, you should give adequate water to them. Besides this, you also need to take care of over hydration in your tortoises. Placing a shallow tray of water once or twice a week for up to 15 minutes can fulfill their water requirements. 

Tropical Tortoise Diet

The diet of tropical tortoises is different as compared to the tortoises discussed previously in this blog. These species of tortoises are native to tropical forest regions of South America and Africa. They are also found in the arid grasslands of Sub Saharan Africa. Let’s see the diet of tropical tortoises of these two regions one by one.

Diet of Tortoises in Forests and Rain forests

The habitat of these regions is far more varied than that of the subtropical regions. The dense forests provide an adequate supply of food from fruits to small rodents. This means that the species of tortoises found here are omnivorous. They can eat both plants and flesh. Following are the names of species of tortoises found in these regions:

• Yellow Foot Tortoises and Red Foot Tortoises: These tortoises are native to South American rain forests.
• Burmese Brown Tortoise: These tortoises are native to Southeast Asian forests.

From baby to adult, tortoises in these regions are mainly dependent on green vegetables. About 80% of their diet contains green leafy vegetables. If you have a baby tortoise of these species and you are going to buy food for the baby tortoise, purchase green leafy vegetables for it.

To fulfill their protein requirements, these tortoises feed on the flesh of dead animals. Eating a small piece of meat once per week, they meet their protein requirements. Following are the tropical forests and rain forests tortoise food names, have a look:

• Earthworms
• Low fat and high protein dog food
• Cooked chicken
• Tinned fish (packed in unsalted water)

Tropical Arid Grasslands and Dry Forests Tortoise Species Diet

The tortoise species found in these regions include:

• Sulcata Tortoise (African Spur Tortoises): They are the third-largest species of tortoises in the world. Not get confused with Mediterranean spur thigh tortoises.
• Leopard Tortoise: These tortoises are small in size. They are native to dry grasslands in Africa.
• Indian Star Tortoise: They are native to central Asia dry scrub and forest lands. They are endangered species.

Leopard and Sulcata tortoises are predominantly grazers. If you have these tortoises, you can put them on your lawn so that they could eat the grass.

On the other hand, Indian star tortoises are much similar to jungle tortoises. They are also omnivorous. You can give them a small piece of meat once a week to fulfill their protein requirements.