Sulcata tortoises are strictly herbivores. They thrive on grass and hay from the the first days after hatching until they die. Sulcatas need a high fiber diet that is low in fat and proteins. An improper sulcata tortoise diet can cause shell deformities (like pyramiding) obesity, metabolic bone disease and other health problems.
Yes, you can feed them grocery store greens, but this should not be their primary diet. Grocery store greens should be a small portion of a varied diet. Greens should make up about 10% of a sulcata tortoise’s diet.
Offer a variety of grasses and weeds. When fresh grass is not available, like during a drought or winter, offer hay. Grasses, hay and weeds should make up about 80% of a sulcata tortoise’s diet.
Treats, like flowers and cactus pads, should be no more than 10% of a sulcata’s diet.
Be very careful of where you harvest your grass. Public places often use pesticides and lawn chemicals. You do not want your tortoise to ingest. If you aren’t sure, it’s best to not pull it.
Baby Sulcata Diet
For baby and young sulcatas, offer fresh, tender grass. Newly grown grass is not as tough and easier for smaller tortoises to eat. You may have to bring your scissors outside to trim, but it’s worth it.
Baby sulcata tortoises don’t often take to hay right off the bat. You can soak hay to tenderize it. Chop it up and mix it with foods that the tortoise will eat. Offer softer hays, like orchard hay.
No sulcata tortoise is too young for a healthy diet of grasses.
Grass for Sulcatas
- Bermuda grass
- Fescue grass
- Kentucky blue grass
- Oat grass
- Orchard grass
- Rye grass
- Timothy grass
- Wheat grass
Weeds for Sulcatas
- Broadleaf plantain
- Cats ear
- Chickweed
- Clovers
- Dandelion
- Filaree
- Goat head weed
- Hawksbeard
- Hawksbit
- Hensbit
- Mallow
- Milk thistle
- Narrowleaf plantain
- Nettle
- Prickly sow thistle
- Small sow thistle
- Trefoil
Other Foods for Sulcatas
- Chia
- Gazanias
- Geraniums
- Grape vine leaves
- Hibiscus leaves (African hibiscus, Blue hibiscus)
- Honeysuckle
- Hostas
- Mache (corn salad)
- Moringa
- Mulberry leaves
- Purslane
- Rose leaves
- Rose of Sharon
- Spineless opuntia cactus pads
Grocery Store Greens for Sulcatas
- Arugula
- Chicory
- Collard greens
- Endive
- Escarole
- Green oak leaf
- Kale
- Mesclun lettuce
- Mustard greens
- Radicchio
- Red leaf lettuce
- Turnip greens
Tortoise Pellets for Sulcatas
You can offer pellets, like Mazuri, Zoo Med Grassland and hay pellets, 1-3 times a week. Commercial pellet diets can be a great additive.
Soak pellets to moisten them for younger tortoises. Or grind up the dry pellets and add them to the top of your tortoises’s food, like a salad topper.
Supplements for Sulcata Tortoise
A varied diet should ensure that your tortoise is consuming a variety of vitamins and minerals. But, you want to supplement with calcium and a vitamin dust to ensure that your tortoise is getting what he needs.
Give your tortoise with calcium 2-3 times a week, and a vitamin supplement once a week. Sprinkle the reptile supplement on top of his normal food.
Some sulcatas will gladly eat cuttle bone, which is a good source of calcium. You can leave a cuttle bone in the enclosure at all times, and the tortoise will eat it as he wants. It’s good to continue to supplement with calcium powder.
