Where Should I Get Food From For My Horsefield Tortoise?
The correct natural diet that your Horsefield tortoise is use to in the wild and will be needed to maintain peak health, maximum vitality and live to be the happiest, most stress free and longest life possible.
The best version of himself will all come down to the correct environment and diet that you will provide him.
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Ultimate Diet Buyer Guide
| Product | Description | Click For Price |
|---|---|---|
Zoo Med Grassland Natural Tortoise Food | #1 Best bet for food because it is specifically designed for the Horsefield tortoise and its Testudo Genus. It's formulated just for them with the correct vitamins, minerals and fiber. All natural with no artificial colors or preservatives and mainly consists of their favorite, Dandelion and Yucca. |  |
Komodo Dandelion Flavour Food | I recommend this because Dandelion is one of their top favorites and Komodo is a trusted provider. It receives 4 stars because although it is a excellent food source, you need many different types of food including fresh. A big heath secret for them is having as many different types of food as possible. Add this to your food arsenal! | |
ProRep Tortoise Feed Growing Kit | A large part of their diet needs to be locally grown plants, flowers and shrubs so this is the perfect kit to do so. Grow as large of variety as you can to feed them with. | |
Zoo Med Tortoise Calcium Block | This block ensures your tortoise gets their required calcium (they need a lot). Place this block in the pen and let your tortoise chew on it. In addition to calcium, this block keeps their beck from over growing and provides a great source of vegetables and cactus! | |
Having the correct food types, water and amounts do nothing though and cannot be processed or metabolized if the temperature and lighting is not right. A Horsefield tortoise can starve to death with all the food in front of him if the temperature is wrong. The temperature needs to be around 23.9 to 35 Celsius (75 to 95 Fahrenheit). So be sure, in the Housing section, to execute the correct temperature and lighting.
Horsefields eat plants known to be poisonous to humans but consume them just fine. There are plants that are poisonous to Horsefields, including mushrooms and certain plants, but they are not always the same ones that are poisonous to us humans.
One important thing to ask yourself is “where am I going to actually get the food from to feed my tortoise?” Because it is crucial to have a large variety of food it is also likely that you will pull food from several sources.
Grocery Stores
Grocery stores and your local supermarket are going to be one of the most convenient go-to places to buy food from. But you must not rely on this one source alone, although it seems like the perfect solution, these food markets actually provide food that can contain pesticide residues and also have unhealthy fiber sugar levels for your Horsefield. You can get quite a few leafy greens and vegetables from grocery stores but your pet can become unhealthy with only store bought food.
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Online
There are only a few food items you should be buying online, two include cuttlebone fish and Grassland Natural Tortoise Food. The rest of your online purchases should be based around housing and getting his living conditions right.
Pet Stores
Ovoid general and generic large pet stores as they are usually not trained on the specific needs or a Horsefield tortoise, not do they ever usually sell any food products that you should feed your tortoise. There are few good products like Mazuri Tortoise Diet ® but there are many ones that they might try to refer you to.
Seek the advice from specialty reptile stores. Most establishments have extensive knowledge of the needs of Horsefields. The majority of your food will not be found here as you need fresh leafy greens and vegetables and they are not a food market.
Grow Food Yourself
Probably the best option, yet the most involved and time consuming, is to grow the plants from seed yourself in a home garden. This can be grown like any other backyard garden and the set up will depend on your surroundings.
Many of these plants can be grown in the tortoise’s outdoor housing. Even if you only have indoor housing for your tortoise it is still possible to grow food. If you have any outdoor part to your house that received a decent amount of sunlight, water and nutrients then you can you can set up a garden. You can also grow these plants indoors in pots.
Community Farmers Market Events
There is a good chance that your local community has a weekly or monthly event where local growers will bring their produce to the public. The usual setting is a community center or popular blocked off street where dozens of farmers set up tents and display their produce to individuals walking by.
These events can be a great food source where you can buy spectacular organic fruits and vegetables to feed your tortoise. Most farmers can produce some of the most extremely fresh, pesticide free, natural and organic food you can get your hands on.
Pick From Your Local Area
Because many of the items they eat include all those weeds that grow in a lawn setting you can look to any many areas where you live to pick from. Places like parks, school grounds or yards of your neighbors will work. One big problem is to make sure that these areas do not spray chemicals such as pesticides, insecticides, weed-killers and fertilizers or next to a road that can be exposed to motor oil, gasoline and antifreeze. Never pick from an area that you are not 100% sure it is not contaminated, it is not worth poisoning your tortoise.
Although this is everything you must know about the sources of food, I can’t possibly fit everything else you need to know to take care of your pet. That’s why I’ve created the perfect email course that will cover everything else to know, sign in below to get it for free!