peanut butter

Question
QUESTION: can peanut butter hurt my yellow-footed tortoise

ANSWER: Hi Julienne,

YES!  Peanut butter is not good for your tortoise.  It won't kill him or anything, but there is stuff in it besides just peanuts that is not good for him.  For example, sugar.  It can make him feel sick.

Also, there isn't much research done on food allergies in animals, but any time a person or animal eats food that its ancestories haven't been eating long enough, there is a risk that an allergic reaction can occur because the food proteins can look foreign to the body.  Allergic reactions can be as serious as anaphylactic shock or as mild as someone feeling tired or sick.  Either way, not good.

But, if your tortoise just ate some one time I wouldn't worry about it.  Make sure he has a water dish available if he needs to wash it down :)

Thanks for your question,
Amanda


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What are some good "treat" foods for a tortoise? I have a book but the only real thing it said was a strawberry but that over time the tortoise may not eat that. We feed him lettuce and land turtle pellets and we also take him outside and he eats grass but we do like giving him a treat sometimes. Also what are some other nutritious food for him?

ANSWER: Sorry for the delay....

(taken from sulcuta-station.org)

(OPTIONAL) Vegetables

Use these only as special treats for your tortoise. This means you can feed these items in SMALL quantities, and only once per week at most. These items are NOT necessary, but they can serve as a nice treat for your tortoise, or a way to get them to eat calcium and vitamin supplements:

Dark leafy greens such as:


Romaine Lettuce

Arugula

Mustard Greens

Collard Greens

Turnip Greens

Dandelion Greens

Chicory


As discussed above, many dark leafy greens do contain significant levels of oxalic acid that can inhibit calcium absorption. This is why these items are listed as OPTIONAL, and why they should only be given in small quantities as treats.

Pumpkin -- Used occasionally, this is a beneficial food since pumpkin contains mannitol, a natural deworming compound. We use canned pumpkin puree as a way to get calcium supplements into our tortoises. Each tortoise receives a couple of spoonfuls of canned pumpkin mixed with a heaping spoonful of calcium carbonate once a week as a treat.

Whole pumpkins are a good seasonal food. When the pumpkins ripen in the fall, purchase a small one for your tortoise. You don't need to cook it or peel off the rind before giving to your sulcata, but you should remove the seeds beforehand. Cut the pumpkin into small chunks, and give a few to your tortoise. Freeze what you don't use immediately; even though the chunks tend to get stringy after being thawed, your tortoise will still love them as an occasional treat, rind and all.

PLANTS THAT CAN MAKE UP 25% of the diet
Dandelion -- both the yellow flowers and the leaves

Prickly Pear Cactus pads (Opuntia species) -- You can scrape off the needles with a sharp knife or burn them off by holding the pad over the flame of a gas or propane camp stove.

Broadleaf Plaintain or Buckhorn Plantain (Plantago major or Plantago lanceola)

Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea grossulariaefolia) -- flowers and leaves

London Rocket or Tumble Mustard -- leaves only; they tend to reject the flowers

Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) -- flowers and leaves

Hollyhock (Alcea rosea) -- flowers and leaves

Roses (Rosa species) -- flowers only

Sowthistle

Chickweed

Hibiscus (Hibiscus species) -- flowers and leaves

Mulberry (Morus species) -- leaves only; give the mulberry fruit to box turtles.

Geranium (Pelargonium species) -- leaves and flowers

Grape -- leaves only; give the fruit to box turtles or make wine!



There are also tortoise treats you can buy at the store.  I could never get my tortoise to eat these, even though they look good.  I thought about tasting it but I didn't (I swear).

More treats:

Carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, and alfalfa sprouts....

I let my tortoise have fruit about once a month, and I sometimes buy cactus in the vegetable section at the local grocery store (it is kept in the "special" vegetables section) I just scrape the thorns off first.  She also really likes dandelian leaves and flowers.

-Amanda



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ok what if I have been giving him fruit multiple times a week? And I saw on one website that you are supposed to feed him meat? The only reason we have been giving him fruit so much was because when we first got him he wouldn't eat anything we tried and the guy at the pet store said give him strawberries.

Answer
Julienne,

I am so sorry!  My expertise is box turtles, not tortoises.  Maybe in the future I will decline tortoise questions and have them ask another expert.  I apologize for causing you confusion...

Apparently yellow-footed tortoises eat fruit more than other tortoises, and even meat.

I would suggest contacting another expert, Mark, because his expertise is tortoises I think.  

Again, I apologize...