Can I Feed a Russian Tortoise Strawberries
Banana, orange – no problem. In fact, that's what you usually find inside a tortoise food bowl.
But when your pet tortoise is offered a fresh organic strawberry from the garden, it's scrabbling around for something to dig its teeth into before stuffing itself full to bursting with this delicious morsel.
For a small creature, a tortoise can consume a surprising number of strawberries. So "can tortoises eat strawberry" is a question that deserves an answer. The results may surprise you!
Though fruit-eating tortoises can eat strawberries, desert or Mediterranean tortoises should avoid them. Desert tortoises can eat fresh, young strawberry leaves, but not the older ones, as they have hydrogen cyanide gas in them, which can be toxic to most tortoises.
Moreover, if you overfeed strawberries, the high sugar content of the berry is likely to cause diarrhea in young and adult tortoises, and hence should be fed sparingly.
Thus, never treat strawberries as a staple diet for tortoises and always combine them with grasses and other vegetables for a balanced diet.
If fed moderately, strawberries are safe for most tortoises, including their leaves, and provide some nutrition.
In a nutshell, freshly picked tortoises contain energy, lipid, fibre, sugar, calcium, sodium, vitamins, and minerals. So, is it a good idea to feed strawberries to tortoises?
Can tortoises eat strawberry tops?
Yes, tortoises can eat strawberry tops. Eating strawberry tops is often seen as a nice, harmless addition to the diet of an adult tortoise. Tortoises do, after all, come from craps of plants and leaves.
Even my pet tortoise loves to munch on strawberries top, but is it okay for her to eat strawberry leaves too.
Can tortoises eat strawberry leaves?
Tortoises should eat young and fresh strawberry leaves, as they are not poisonous. The old, stale leaves contain hydrogen cyanide gas that is harmful to tortoises and hence, never feeds old strawberry leaves.
Moreover, strawberry leaves hold antioxidants, which are rich in bioactive natural sources and have anti-inflammatory properties.
Furthermore, strawberry leaves contain compounds that save the tortoise from microbial pathogens, and hence, it is safe to feed strawberry leaves to tortoises.
Can baby tortoises eat strawberries?
Baby tortoises can eat strawberries, but only sparingly, once a month, as the high fiber and high sugar content of strawberries will cause fecal problems in the tortoise and result in beak decay if fed regularly.
Moreover, baby tortoises need a lot of nutrition as they are just in their growth and development stage, and keeping them just on a strawberry diet for tortoises will deprive them of their energy and lead to stunted growth.
Benefits of feeding strawberries to tortoises
There should not be any doubt in anybody's mind that feeding strawberries to tortoises are beneficial. After all, I would not have made this article if there was not any evidence that it is good for them.
1. Hydration.
Strawberries provide enough nutrition and hydration to maintain a tortoise's health, much to the amusement of veterinary doctors.
Strawberries solve bladder stones, chemical imbalances, shell, and skeletal problems, and digestive issues. You can even combine strawberries with other juicy fruits like melons and cantaloupes to keep the tortoise hydrated.
Strawberries have a high water content that hydrates your tortoise when fed in combination with other fruit delicacies.
2. Fiber
For a tortoise to remain healthy, just hydration is not enough. Apart from water, young tortoises need other boosters for their growth and development, whereas adult tortoises need them to maintain their health.
Appropriate nutrition implies that all constituents, fiber, fats, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and vitamins are well balanced and in proper proportions.
A tortoise breaks down fiber into carbohydrates by using the technique of fermentative digestion to obtain energy. Furthermore, the digestive system of the tortoise converts these carbohydrates to short-chain fatty acids that provide metabolism.
Hence, fiber is a crucial constituent in the tortoise's body and experts recommend that the optimal fiber range should be between 18-28% for a mature tortoise.
With a value of 2%, strawberries somewhat provide fiber to the tortoise, enough to prevent loose feces.
3. Proteins, and fats
Though strawberries contain trace amounts of fat and protein, they are not enough to fulfill the daily requirements of 10% fats and 15-35%protein.
Hence, for a balanced diet, aim for 70% greens, 10% high fiber pellet, 15% veggies, and 5% strawberries.
However, the percentage of strawberries depends on the tortoise species, and Mediterranean tortoises can have fruit just up to 5%. Rainforest tortoises that eat strawberries in the wild can have up to 15% of their total diet.
4. Vitamins and minerals.
Both juvenile and adult tortoises require vitamins and minerals for their overall growth and development.
B riefly, strawberries contain about 58.8mg of Vitamin C, 16mg calcium, 24mg phosphorus, and 0.386mg of magnesium per 100g serving, respectively. Thus, the amounts are very traced and do not contribute to a balanced diet.
Minerals form the tortoise's body and regulate chemical reactions, calcium being the most abundant mineral. Young tortoises need calcium to strengthen their skeleton, while adult ones need it for their shell.
Thus, calcium is the most necessary mineral in a tortoise's diet, though when compared to phosphorus, it is poorly absorbed.
Moreover, when phosphorus is high in a food, it affects calcium absorption, and unfortunately, this is the case with strawberries.
Strawberries have a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 1.5:1 and experts recommend avoiding foods whose ratio is more than 1:1.
However, it does not imply the feeding of strawberries, and you can feed strawberries to tortoises, but in moderation.
Remember that strawberries should not become the staple food for your tortoises and offer them commercial daily tortoise food for nutrition.
Apart from calcium and phosphorus, strawberries contain sodium, magnesium, potassium, and iron, which are necessary for the tortoise in trace amounts.
Apart from minerals, strawberries contain several vitamins. Vitamin A, for example, helps the maintenance of the skin and mucous membranes, the eye health, and boosts the functioning of the reproductive system.
Strawberries also include water-soluble vitamin B-complex that surprisingly is never fed in excess as the tortoise will excrete out the excess ones from its body.
Examples of vitamin B-complex found in strawberries include vitamin B1 or thiamine that regulates metabolism and carbohydrates within the tortoise's body.
Vitamin B2 and vitamin B12 manage energy production and release, and vitamin E acts as an antioxidant and helps release stress from the tortoise's body.
Things to consider in a strawberry diet for tortoises
Are too many strawberries bad for the tortoise? How many strawberries are too many strawberries? While strawberries in moderate proportions benefit the tortoise, overfeeding strawberries has its side effects.
It can cause dangerous problems to the tortoise. In this blog, let us prepare a comprehensive list of what happens if you overfeed strawberries to the tortoise.
1. Can upset your pet's stomach.
Never overfeed strawberries to the tortoise as it upsets its stomach, causes diarrhea and, disrupts the digestive power. Along with diarrhea, the tortoise may suffer from dehydration.
Dehydration prompts the tortoise to lose many salts from the body, which is not a good sign. Hence, feed tortoises sparingly.
2. High sugar content.
Strawberries contain high sugar and, if the tortoise eats too many strawberries, it will eventually lead to obesity, low nutrient absorption, and other problems. Hence, feed the strawberries within the limit as the tortoise may suffer badly.
3. Not a staple food.
Many tortoises do not get strawberries in the wild. Hence, strawberries are not a staple diet for most tortoises. Moreover, as they do not contain many nutrients, they do not provide the tortoise with its daily energy requirement.
Hence, feed strawberries sparingly. Furthermore, strawberries have low fiber content, and thus, overfeeding can lead to problems in the digestive tract.
How to feed strawberries to tortoises?
While providing strawberries to tortoises, ensure that you buy organic and fresh strawberries, free of insecticides and pesticides, and won't harm the tortoise.
Wash and rub them thoroughly and carefully after that, and if they are too big, cut them or otherwise offer them as a whole to mature adult tortoises.
You can mix strawberries with other fruits and vegetables like melon, carrots, and dandelions for a balanced diet. Offer 2-3 strawberries to adult tortoises as a thumb rule, and do not overfeed as it is not suitable for them.
How many strawberries can a tortoise have?
Adult tortoises can have about five strawberries. However, they need to combine with other fruits and vegetables such as dandelion, clover, mustard, turnip, chicory, plantain, sea holly, cactus, hibiscus, carrots, cucumber, celery, red cabbage, bell peppers, kale, pumpkin, butternut squash, and iceberg lettuce.
Combine strawberries with other fruits and increase variety accordingly.
FAQs
1. Can Sulcata tortoises have strawberries?
Sulcata tortoises can have strawberries, but only as a treat because strawberries are high in water content and sugars, and the digestive system of Sulcata tortoises does not digest those.
For feeding, you can combine strawberries with fruits such as bananas, cantaloupe, berries, peaches, apricots, pears, and apples or vegetables like raw carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli, corn, collard, dandelions, escarole, romaine, and kale.
2. Can Russian tortoises eat strawberries?
Russian tortoises can have strawberries, however, just as a treat. The digestive system of Russian tortoises cannot digest heavy sugars like that in strawberries.
Though it should not be a regular food item, you can offer it as a treat with kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, and related grasses.
Contrary to their intolerance to strawberries and tops, Russian tortoises can eat strawberry leaves to supplement their regular food.
3. Can Hermann tortoises eat strawberries?
Experts recommend that a tortoise's diet in captivity should reflect that of the wild and Hermann tortoises do not receive any strawberries in the wild. Hence, never feed them strawberries or, if you want, offer them as a treat only.
You can combine strawberries with broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, carrots, apples, grapes, melons, peaches, or blackberries.
4. Can leopard tortoises eat strawberries?
Typically, leopard tortoises feed on grasses and vegetable stems. Hence, their primary food should consist of collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, flowers, and leaves, respectively.
You can offer them strawberries, but just as a treat, less than 5% of the overall food they eat in combination with other foods such as commercial pellets, tomatoes, apples, papayas, cantaloupe, grapes, bananas, and mangoes.
5. Can red foot tortoises have strawberries?
Red-foot tortoises are omnivores and, since they are a rainforest species, they can have the maximum strawberry percentage from the lot.
Primarily, they can eat strawberries to about 15% of their diet in the hot season, as during summer, a warmer body temperature helps digest sugars, fats, and lipids easily.
Conclusion
Remember that a strawberry diet for tortoises depends on the species and, always consult your doctor before feeding strawberries.
Though small proportions won't cause any harm, overfeeding strawberries will affect the tortoise's health. Hence, it is crucial to exercise caution while feeding strawberries to tortoises.
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Source: https://tortoisepet.com/can-tortoises-eat-strawberry/
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