What do desert tortoises eat ?

Desert Turtle food is a finely chopped mixture of greens, vegetables, fruits, protein foods and vitamin-mineral supplements. Adult desert turtles need to be fed not more often 2-3 times a week. Turtles for up to a year can be fed daily, but do not leave food longer than 2-3 hours. Feed Central Asian turtles can be varied food. Do not give milk, black bread, citrus peel, cut bones of apples, pears and fruits, plants containing alkaloids. Dry and canned animal feed. You can not overfeed turtles with cucumbers, grapes, cherries, sweet fruits, garlic, spicy greens, spinach, asparagus, minced meat.

In summer, desert turtles eagerly eat dandelions, clover, plantain, lawn grass. You should offer strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, summer fruits. The ideal balance of the diet is 70% – greens and vegetables, 25% – fruits, the rest – protein, vitamin-mineral supplements. Natural protein supplements – bran, raw liver, boiled egg, cottage cheese, dry yeast, minced meat. Mineral top dressing – glycerophosphate, carbonate, borogluconate, calcium palmitate, bone meal, ground eggshell at the rate of 100 mg per 1 kg of turtle weight. Additives should be given no more than 1 time per week. The main components of the mixture can be a green salad or cabbage (preferably young), carrots, apples.