How to Feed a Tortoise (How Much, How Often, and What)

As a new tortoise owner, one of the essential things that you have to know is how to feed your tortoise. When I got my first tortoise I had a really tough time finding good, reliable information. So I was left with no other alternative than to test every method that I could find until I finally got the hang of it. And in order to make things easier for new tortoise owners, I decided to write this guide.

Tortoises are herbivores, which means that they will eat plants, fruits, and vegetables, but not meat. They need to be fed a fixed amount of food, as overfeeding and underfeeding can lead to serious health problems.

Now let me tell you the best methods that I found to feed your tortoises.

How Much Food to Give Your Tortoise

The best method to feed your tortoise is to find a container that is about the same size as the shell of your tortoise and fill it completely with food. But don’t fill it over the top. Then simply put food on a flat plate and give it to your turtle. And that’s it.

I’ve been using this method for well over 15 years, and all of my tortoises are in top shape, they are full of energy, fit, and have no signs of pyramiding.

But of course, just giving them the right amount of food is not enough, you also have to make sure that you feed them often enough, and that you give them the right food. So let’s take a look at that.

How Often to Feed Your Tortoise

This part is somewhat more flexible than the last one. On average you should feed your tortoises 4 or 5 days per week.

If you should feed your tortoise 4 or 5 times, it mostly depends on what you feed it. If you feed it a lot of lettuce, you should feed it 5 times, but if the meals are half lettuce, half something else, you can feed it 4 times per week.

Lettuce, while good for a tortoise, doesn’t have that many nutrients. So you can give them one more meal to make sure that they get all the nutrients and vitamins that they need.

So, while lettuce is not the most nutritional thing out there, it’s definitely not harmful. But there are some fruits and vegetables out there that can be very harmful to tortoises, so let’s see which they are, so you can avoid them.

What Food to Give Your Tortoise

Fruits

Most fruits are good to eat, but there are some that aren’t good for tortoises due to the high amount of phosphorus or citric acid that they contain.

Citric acid irritates the stomach of a tortoise, and phosphorus blocks the absorption of calcium shock is essential for a healthy bone structure and shell.

So instead of having an endless list of fruits that are safe for tortoises, I will make a list of fruits that you should avoid. If you don’t find a fruit on this list then it’s completely safe for a tortoise.

So here is a list of fruit that you should avoid:

• Raisin
• Prune
• Date
• Avocado
• Guava
• Banana
• Coconut
• Kivi
• Persimmon
• Cantaloupe
• Apricot
• Pomegranate
• Honeydew
• Nectarine
• Mulberry
• Peach

And as a general idea you should remember that citrus fruits are bad for tortoises so make sure to avoid:

• Oranges
• Lemons
• Limes
• Grapefruit
• Citron
• Pomelo

For a complete list of citrus fruits, you can check out this Wikipedia page, but the ones that I listed above are the most common.

So if you don’t find fruit on this list, it’s good to eat.

If you want a more in-depth explanation of fruits and tortoises you can always check out my article: Can Turtles Eat Fruits? (How Much, How Often + List).

Vegetables

Just like fruits, vegetables are great for tortoises, but there are some that contain a lot of phosphorus. 

Besides those other vegetables that you should avoid are iceberg salad, cucumbers, eggplants, and mushrooms. While those vegetables won’t harm your tortoise in any way, they also have little to no nutritional value for your tortoise.

Here is a list of some vegetables that contain a high amount of phosphorus, which you should avoid:

• Corn
• Tomatoes
• Asparagus
• Beets
• Peppers
• Pumpkin
• Cauliflower
• Brussels Sprouts
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Sweet potatoes
• Green Beans
• Squash
• Romaine Lettuce
• Turnips

So if you don’t find a vegetable on this list, it’s good to eat.

And just like lettuce, there are a few more vegetables that are good for turtles, but don’t have that many useful nutrients for them, some of the most common ones are:

• Lettuce
• Cucumbers
• Eggplants
• Mushrooms

Processed Food

Processed foods are bad for tortoises. So no kind of processed food for them. No cheese, bread, pasta, chips, or any other kind of processed food.

Pellets

While pellets can be considered a type of processed food they are made especially for tortoises so they are ok.

But as you can imagine there can be some significant differences based on the brand of the food, so if you want to know which those differences are and which one is the best I would recommend you to check out this article where I and the rest of the members of Turtleowner.com, choose the best tortoise food on the market, based on our years of experience and a lot of research: Buyer’s Guide: Best Tortoise Food.

Plants

One of the most interesting things about tortoises, whether they are wild or not, is that they somehow know on their own if a plant is safe for them to eat or not.

While this won’t happen 100% of the time, if they have a well-balanced diet they won’t go around eating every plant in your house or your garden.

If you were to give them some of those plants mixed in with their food they would probably eat them, so don’t do this.

Here is a short list of some of the most common and toxic plants for tortoises:

• Amaryllis
• Asparagus Fern
• Avocado Leaves
• Azalea
• Begonia
• Boxwood
• Buttercups
• Calla Lily
• Castor Bean
• Crowfoot
• Daffodil
• Ficus
• Holly
• Iris
• Ivy
• Juniper
• Nightshade Family
• Poinsettia
• Primrose

Calcium in the Diet of a Tortoise

One of the most important things that you want to make sure that you have in the diet of a tortoise is calcium.

And how do you get enough calcium? By avoiding phosphorus. Phosphorus inhibits the absorption of calcium. By avoiding the fruits and vegetables that I listed above your tortoises should have no problem getting enough calcium.

Fruits and 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

So, tortoises are herbivores, but you can’t feed them just any fruit, plant, or vegetable. As some of them contain a lot of phosphorus or other acids that can be harmful to them.

The best way to give them the right quantity of food is to find a container that is about the same size as the shell of your turtle and fill it with food. This method works great and will be efficient for any tortoise whether it’s a baby or a full-grown adult. Just make sure to check from time to time (once a few months) to make sure that your tortoise hasn’t grown.

Feeding your tortoises 4 or 5 times a week is ideal. This way they will get all the nutrients and vitamins that they need, and there will be no risk of overfeeding. And in case you forget to feed your tortoises for a day or two, don’t worry. In the wild tortoises can go for weeks, even months without food and nothing bad happens.

And make sure that they have a proper basking area, otherwise, all of this will be for nothing. Without enough vitamin D3 which they get from direct exposure to the sun, or from the basking area. They won’t be able to properly process all the nutrients and calcium in the food.

I hope this article answered all of your questions about tortoises and how you should be feeding them, but in case there is anything else that you would like to know, don’t hesitate to leave a question in the comment section below. I regularly check for questions and answer each and every one of them.

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

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