Can Tortoises Drink Milk? (No, Do This Instead)

Like most animals tortoises need to consume fluids in order to maintain good health, but unlike most animals tortoises also have a shell, which is basically made out of bone, so they need a lot of calcium in order to keep it healthy. So, you can easily think that bi giving them milk you fulfill two of their most important needs at the same time. No?

Tortoises can not drink milk, their bodies lack the required enzymes to break down lactose. And as a result, they won’t be able to get the nutrients found in milk, and if drank in large quantities milk can lead to serious health problems for a tortoise.

So, it’s better to keep milk as far away as possible from your tortoise. Instead you should give them water to drink. As for the main benefit of milk, calcium, there are better ways for your turtle to get plenty of it. But before we discuss that, let’s have a look at what kind of water you should be giving your turtle to drink, as you can’t always rely on tap water.

What Tortoises Should Drink

Tap water is not necessarily a type of water, it’s the water that comes out of your sink.  But where that water originates and how it’s treated can differ greatly from region to region. So, in some cases tap water is perfectly safe for consumption, and in some cases it’s not. And the only way to be perfectly sure is to test it.

Testing the water can be done for free, most countries in the world have a specific agency that tests and provides information on the water in multiple areas. So you can google the agency in your country that does this and you should be able to find some information about the water in your area.

The problem with this is that they usually choose an area and test it there, but there can be big differences between the water in the testing point and the water that reaches your home. It’s even possible that your house has a rusted pipe which can make your water different from the water your neighbor receives. So while this is a good way to get a general idea about your water, it’s not the most precise.

Another way to test your water is to buy a water testing kit. They are quite cheap and they are really easy to use. Here is a link to a testing kit that I’ve used before: API MASTER TEST KITS for Freshwater, Saltwater, Reef Aquariums and Pond.

Here are the criteria that you should be looking for:

• A pH between 6.0 and 8
• A chlorine level of 0
• An ammonia level of 0
• A nitrite level of 0.5 ppm (parts per million) or less (preferably zero)
• A nitrate level of 40 ppm or less

If you want a more detailed guide on how to make tap water safe to drink for your tortoise you can check out this guide: How to Make Tap Water Safe for Turtles – Complete Guide.

How to Give Your Tortoise Enough Calcium

As I said in the beginning of the article, calcium is essential for the good health of the shell. But milk, which is one of the best calcium sources out there, is not a good option. So how can you make sure that your tortoise gets enough calcium?

There are 2 main ways to make sure that your tortoise gets enough calcium: vegetables and supplements.

In the case of vegetables, most of them have a good amount of calcium, but they also have a good amount of phosphorus, and this is where the calcium to phosphorus ratio comes into play.

Vegetables have a calcium to phosphorus ratio, this ratio can be 1:1, 2:1, 5:1, 1:2, etc.

A 1:1 ratio means that the amount of calcium is equal, or almost equal to the amount of phosphorus. So a vegetable with this ratio is not that great for tortoises, but it’s not harmful either. But if possible such a vegetable should be avoided.

A 1:2 calcium to phosphorus ratio is really bad, there are not many vegetables with this ratio, so don’t worry too much about them. Just remember that if a vegetable has more potassium than calcium you should keep it away from your tortoise.

A 2:1 ratio is great, and this is what you should be aiming for. If the ratio goes higher it’s ok, but ideally this is the ratio that you are looking for.

While both fruits and vegetables have calcium, vegetables have considerably more than fruits. So, if you want to increase the amount of calcium you should give it more vegetables.

At the end of the article, I will post a table with some of the most common vegetables that you will find in a supermarket and their calcium to phosphorus ratio.

In case your tortoise seems to lack calcium in its diet, you might also want to consider some calcium supplements, more exactly calcium powder.

The best way that I’ve found to use calcium powder is to take a plastic bag, put some calcium powder in it, add some food, and then some water, so the calcium will stick to the food. If you just sprinkle it on top of the food most of it will go to waste.

If you look for calcium powder for reptiles you will notice that there are two types, one with vitamin D3 and one without D3.

Vitamin D3 allows your tortoise to assimilate and make use of the calcium that you are giving it. Without D3 all that calcium won’t do anything. D3 usually comes from the sun, or from the basking area, in the case of pet tortoises.

So even if you get calcium powder with D3, you still need to make sure that your tortoise has a proper basking area from where it will get all the D3 that it needs.

Vitamin D3

Tortoises get their D3 from the basking area, which should be equipped with two light bulbs, one that provides heat, and one that provides UVB light.

The UVB bulb is the one that replicates the effects of the sun and provides vitamin D3 for your tortoise.

Both bulbs are very important for the health of your tortoise and need to be placed in a certain way in order to be effective. If the bulb is too far, its effects will be diminished. If the bulb is too close it can lead to burns or other health problems.

In the article Best Tortoise Light Bulb (Illustrated Buyers Guide) I have an in-depth guide on how to choose the correct wattage and how far you should place it from your tortoise. Here is a short extract about the UVB bulb, the one that is responsible for vitamin D3.

When it comes to choosing UVB bulbs things are a little more complicated due to the huge variety of wattages, in which UVB bulbs can be found. And then there is the fact that most manufacturers have a different rating system, and some of them have no instructions at all.

So, for UVB bulbs, I am going to give you the exact distance for a few bulbs that I’ve used before that come from a reputable manufacturer, and I will provide links to Amazon, where you can get them

And in case you have something between the UVB bulb, like a net, or a grill, you want to move the bulb closer by one inch, as anything in between the tortoise and the bulb will reduce the amount of UVB rays.

One more thing to keep in mind is that UVB bulbs will stop producing UVB rays, way before they will stop producing light. On average I would say that a UVB bulb only produces UVB rays for only half of its lifespan. I measured the amount of UVB light produced by the bulbs and noticed that after about 6 months, the amount drops considerably, so I change my light bulbs at around 6 months, and I would advise you to do the same.

And if you want to measure how much UVB light your bulb produces you can use this device. While it’s a little bit expensive, overall it will save you money since you will know exactly when the bulbs run out of UVB light, and it will help your tortoise remain healthy. But it’s not a requirement.

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately, milk is not an option for turtles, and should be avoided. But if you give your tortoise healthy food and enough water, they would more than make up for the advantages that milk could have brought.

Here is a list of some of the most common vegetables and their Calcium to Phosphorus ratio:

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