Tortoise Food
For A Healthy Tortoise

Keep a tortoise healthy with good tortoise food.

If you have a tortoise at home, here is a list of good things to eat that might be in your yard. This list is a general list. At the end of this page is a link to a list of care sheets for particular tortoises.
  • Cactus -- pads and fruit and yummy, spines are owie
  • Dandelions
  • Grape leaves
  • Grass and weeds from your garden
  • Hibiscus -- flowers and leaves
  • Nasturtium
  • Roses -- flowers and young leaves
  • Squash -- banana squash, summer squash, and yellow crookneck squash
  • Succulents -- Aloe vera
  • Wandering jew
  • Zucchini fruit and leaves


The list above is the best food for a tortoise. You can grow or buy the yummy treats below for your tortoise once in a while. Just be sure there are no pesticides on them and serve them raw, please.
  • Broccoli
  • Collard greens
  • Corn on the cob
  • Endive
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Tomatoes
For really, really special treats, feed your tortoise the things below. No pesticides, raw only, and please give these only once in a while.
  • Strawberries
  • Melons -- not watermelon
  • Apples -- NO SEEDS
Tortoises, especially female tortoises and hatchlings, need calcium, so you can sprinkle tortoise food with calcium carbonate or feed us boiled crushed chicken egg shells. Some people scrape a cuttlebone over tortoise's food.

Food that is dangerous to tortoises

The things in this list are NOT food for a tortoise. Do NOT feed these to your tortoise. And be sure your tortoise can't just find them and eat them on his or her own. These are dangerous!
  • Anything sprayed with pesitcides
  • Apple seeds
  • Bananas
  • Beans
  • Cabbage
  • Cat food
  • Chard
  • Dog food
  • Iceberg lettuce
  • Peas
  • Sprouts of any kind
  • Spinach
  • Watermelon
Here is a list of many poisonous plants. Be sure your tortoise can't get any of these. You can read about the special food each tortoise needs if you click the links below.

And don't forget to feed the turtles



From Tortoise Food to Tortoise Facts



Keep it slow and steady.

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