Diet plans

Salad Mix
Many authors have recommended
a ‘salad’ based on a selection of high-calcium greens (collards, turnip
greens, endive lettuce); a handful of ‘approved’ fruits like pineapple,
mango, and strawberries; some sort of meat such as cat kibble or
chicken; and occasional supplements. This ‘traditional’ salad has a few weaknesses- high in carbs with
all of those sweet. wet fruits; high in fats with the open selection of
meats; and not really well-balanced with calcium, fiber, etc. It is not
a bad diet, but can be improved with a few tweaks.

Better salad mix
Suggested by many experts, this is an improvement on the ‘traditional’ salad diet (And note- it does not all need to be served every day, or even every week! You can offer just the greens most days and the other items 1-3 times a week) …

• 8
  parts dark, leafy greens or other plant matter. (try to use
  things like cactus pads, dandelion leaves, grape or mulberry leaves,
  live plants, etc. rather than lettuces when possible).
• 3 parts fruits, mostly those lower in sugars and moisture- cherries, squash, bell pepper, figs, pumpkin, etc. 
• 1 part ‘something interesting’, like a mix and match of any of these…
• mushrooms, especially wild mushrooms or fungi.
• vegetables, like carrots, sweet
  potatoes, etc. for variety.
• sweet, moist fruit, like papaya, mango, strawberries, melon, pineapple, plums, apples, and most tropical
  fruits. Can also include naval oranges, bananas, and grapes occasionally.
• live worms, insect larvae, bugs, or other
  invertebrates.
• live or frozen/thawed young or baby rats and mice
  (‘pinkies’, ‘fuzzies’, and ‘hoppers’)
• other meats- lightly cooked egg, poultry, organ meats, dog or cat fod
• Pinch of calcium supplement.
• Pinch of fiber supplement (long fiber strands, such as chopped hay, etc.).
• Smaller pinch of multivitamins.

“Rotating days” plans

Many sites suggest some plan of rotating days, such as ‘greens, fruits, greens, fruits, greens, meats, fast’ or similar. This is fine as long as you roughly follow healthy ratios of foods. Mix it together, serve it on different days, or serve it in different bowls if you want- whatever works for you!

A good rotation would be something like this:

1. Greens or greens mix and a low-moisture/high-fiber fruit or vegetable (like red peppers or figs)
2. Greens or greens mix
3. Greens or greens mix and one of the items from the ‘Something Interesting’ list above
4. Greens or greens mix
5. Greens or greens mix and a low-moisture/high-fiber fruit or vegetable
6. Greens or greens mix
7. Use up your leftovers, offer something different and interesting, or fast day if the week was kind of ‘heavy’.

An easier rotation plan is to offer greens and green mixes 5-6 days a week, then offer a larger pile of fruits, vegetables and meats on the days you do shopping or gardening 1-2 days a week.

The Tortoise Library plan- the “two bowl” method

We just use two imaginary bowls to fulfill the ‘How Much To Feed’ part of the Basic Tortoise Nutrition 1- Overview page-

• The Shell
  Bowl
  is about the size of the tortoise’s shell, offered every day, and is
  filled with greens, plants, non-sweet fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms
  (the first four items from the ‘Better Salad Mix’ above).
• The Head
  Bowl
  is about the size of the head, offered 1-4 times a week, and is fulled with the sugary fruits
  and/or invertebrates/meats.
• Pinch of ‘Tortoise
  Library Nutrient Mix‘. 

Half and half plan
Even easier than the Tortoise Library Plan above! Besides being
easy to prepare, it also offers a good range of nutrition and flexibility, and follows
the Improper Diet Cascade
recommendations.

• About 1/2 fresh Mazuri Tortoise
  Diet or another good ‘tortoise chow’. (See “Prepared Foods or Natural Diet” for more on this topic.)
  
• About 1/2 mixed green salad with a little fruit,
  varying the ingredients over time. (See the salad mixes above)

The Tortoise Library nutrient mix
There are several good supplements available, such as the excellent TNT (Total Nutrition for Tortoises), but you can
make up an easy-to-use mix of fiber, calcium, and vitamins if you would
rather not buy it.

1. Chop or grind up dried, cubed, or pelleted hay
   (Timothy hay, etc.), until it is like dried parsley.
   The easiest way to break down the cubes is to tap them with a hammer to separate then into thin layers, then just crumple a layer
   up, tossing out any hard bits.
2. Add about
   a heaping teaspoon of calcium powder per cup of hay.
3. Add one crushed human vitamin tablet (or about 1/8th teaspoon of powdered vitamin)
4. Toss or
   stir and store in an air-tight container.