The Red-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria) has become a popular pet due to its bright colors, manageable size, and sociable nature. However, these tortoises have specific care requirements, especially when it comes to their diet. Understanding the dietary needs of your Red-footed tortoise is crucial for ensuring its health and longevity.
Understanding the Natural Diet
Red-footed tortoises are native to northern South America and the Caribbean islands, where they inhabit warm, humid environments in the transitional zones between forests and grasslands. In the wild, their diet consists of a variety of grasses, fruits, flowers, and small plants. They are also known to consume small amounts of animal material, such as carrion.
Key Dietary Components
Red-footed tortoises are omnivores, requiring both plant and animal protein in their diet. An ideal diet should consist of approximately 70% leafy greens, 20% fruit, and 10% animal protein.
Leafy Greens and Vegetables
The majority of a Red-footed tortoise's diet should be made up of mixed greens and vegetables. Appropriate high calcium greens include collard, mustard, and dandelion greens. 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.
Other vegetables to offer include pumpkin, winter squash, grated carrots, crook-neck squash, zucchini, and frozen mixed vegetables (thawed). Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts should be fed in small amounts as they contain iodine binders that can cause a dietary deficiency if fed as a large part of the diet.
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Fruits
Red-footed tortoises commonly eat fruit in the wild and should be offered fruit about twice a week. Common fruits to offer include strawberry, apple, papaya, cactus fruit, mango, kiwi and melon, cantaloupe. Bananas, grapes, and citrus should be given sparingly.
Animal Protein
Red-footed tortoises require a small amount of animal protein, offered about once a week. Options include boiled chicken, hard-boiled eggs, pinky mice, live insects (small mealworms, dubia roaches, Phoenix worms, or butterworms), shrimp, or organ meat.
Additional Options
Prepared tortoise chows, such as Mazuri tortoise diet for Red-footed tortoises or Zoo Med Natural Forest Tortoise Food, can be used to supplement fresh foods. Edible shrubs and garden plants can also be planted in outdoor enclosures. Plant materials can be most lettuces, greens, flowers, mushrooms, hays, grasses, leaves or flowers of edible plants such as hibiscus, and leaves of fruit trees such as mulberry.
Sample Feeding Schedule
A sample feeding schedule might look like this:
- Day 1: Greens only.
- Day 2: Tortoise pellet, a tiny bit of greens, and two pieces of mango (rinsed thoroughly).
- Day 3: Greens only.
- Day 4: Greens only.
- Day 5: Fruits only (a small piece of banana, a piece of mango, and maybe some papaya, rotate with strawberry blueberry etc.).
- Day 6: Tortoise pellet, some greens, calcium supplement.
- Day 7: Super worm or a snail (thawed), calcium supplement, greens, fruit, and possibly a tiny piece of tomato and cactus pad piece.
This schedule is not strictly adhered to and serves as a sample of what can be fed, with the understanding that variety is key.
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Important Considerations
- Variety: Offer a wide variety of foods to ensure a balanced diet and prevent nutritional deficiencies.
- Calcium Supplementation: Supplement the diet regularly with calcium and a multivitamin, 2-3 times weekly. Use a calcium carbonate powder such as ReptiCal and a multivitamin such as Reptivite.
- Water: Always provide fresh, clean water in a shallow dish that the tortoise can easily access.
- Organic and Pesticide-Free: Use organic and pesticide-free food sources whenever possible.
- Avoid Harmful Foods: Iceberg lettuce and head lettuces should be avoided as they contain very little nutritional value.
Feeding Frequency
Hatchling tortoises should be fed every day, while tortoises older than one year can be fed every other day. Remove any uneaten food to prevent spoilage.
Housing and Environment
Outdoor vs. Indoor
Red-footed tortoises thrive in warm, humid environments, ideally around 86°F with high humidity and plentiful rainfall. Temperatures and humidity will vary during the cooler wet season (April-August) and warmer dry season (September-March), but will rarely get lower than 70°F or higher than 95°F. It is recommended that Red-footed tortoises be housed outdoors whenever possible. If housed outside, the tortoises must be provided with shaded shelter areas. Red-foots prefer to spend the majority of their time underneath bushes or tall grass (make sure the vegetation is non-toxic).
Pens should be constructed with solid walls which the tortoises cannot see through. The walls should have a minimum height of 1.5x times the length of your tortoise (usually around 20-24 inches) and extend below the ground surface a minimum of 6 inches to discourage tortoises from digging under the walls. The enclosure must also provide protection from predators and other family pets, such as dogs, which could harm the tortoise.
Indoor housing can also be considered, especially for juveniles, to ensure a proper environment. Enclosures with clear sides, like aquariums, are not recommended as the tortoise will constantly attempt to walk through the clear glass.
Substrate and Humidity
Hardwood mulches such as cypress mulch mixed with coconut fiber, topsoil and leaf litter should be used to mimic the forest floor of their natural habitat. Avoid small reptile bark, wood shavings, sand, and gravel as these can be accidentally ingested. Substrates should be at least 4-12 inches deep or more to allow the tortoise to burrow. It is important to allow the substrate to be slightly moist, but not overly wet and muddy, in order to provide proper humidity for your tortoise.
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Humidity should ideally be between 70-90% in the tortoises enclosure. As a tropical species, Red-footed tortoises require higher levels of humidity than tortoises that live in desert environments. Tortoises housed indoors should have their humidity maintained by misting their enclosure for 30 seconds 2-3 times daily.
Additional Tips
- Observe Your Tortoise: Pay attention to your tortoise's eating habits and adjust the diet accordingly.
- Consult a Veterinarian: If you have any concerns about your tortoise's health or diet, consult a reptile veterinarian.