Diet for an Spur thigh

[isis]

Someone i know has a spur thigh tortise and i found some things on the inter net about diet, but the ones with starts i question.. lemme know.

Mixed grasses
orchard hay
timothy hay
optunia pads and berries
hibiscus leaves and flowers
clove
prickly pear pads
dandelion greens and flower
Dutch clover
rose leaves and petals
sow thistle
romaine*
and red leaf lettuce
You can also give mulberry leaves and grape leaves in limited quantities. Animal protein should be avoided. Fruits should be fed sparingly if at all.

[prismwolf]

...also known as the Sulcata tort...

...the diet you have listed is actually very good. They also eat a large variety of grasses. If left outside in a large pen...make sure your friend has a secure bottom. These torts can dig!

www.sulcata-station.org/ <---EXCELLENT list of foods!
www.anapsid.org/sulcata.html <---Very good outdoor enclosure info. These torts get pretty big and will appreciate the extra room an outdoor environment can provide.

[paradon]

It's all sounds pretty good, but avoid lettuces because it has no nutritional value whatsoever. Also avoid supermarket greens and vegetables as the main staple because they don't have enough fiber and are often too juicy for tort, which can cause runny stool and some pyramiding. Grazing tortoises like sulcata (or spur thigh tortoises) evolve to eat high fiber and low protein grasses and plants. All the grasses you listed and sow thistles are very good food items and should be fed as the main staple; they are very high in fiber and low in protein. Avoid plants in the legume family this include any type of beans and bean pods like green beans, snow peas, sugar snap peas, peas, and etc...because they are very high in protein, that can cause some serious medical problem in tortoise if fed in excess. I can't remember the specific medical term or the symtoms, but it's very serious. Plants in the legume family also include alfalfa which you shouldn't be fed to the tort as the bulk. You can also feed him some edible weeds and wild flowers which are very good source of food. There a link at www.anapsid.org about what to feed tortoises. Just click on the link, and then click on chelonian; there should be a care sheet on sulcata tortoises; it's a very good site.