redearslider.com

Since I live in Taiwan, I don't have access to a garden so I can't feed Melon any dandelion greens. I've read its good for tortoises to roam around in a garden and let them eat a whole bunch of plant material. Problem is, I don't know which plants are good for him to eat! Everything is written in mandarin and I don't know how to read it...and my mom doesn't know english so I can't tell her which to buy.

I'm worried Melon might not be getting enough nutrition. Right now he gets some lettuce+banana+pellets, since that's the only things we have in our freezer right now, though we will be going grocery shopping tomorrow.

So, what do I do??

I assume you've found a caresheet online but it's in english right?
If not, here are a few I googled.
http://www.chelonia.org/articles/redfootcare.htm
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-redfoot.htm
Maybe you could try a translation site like freetranslations.com to see if you could explain to your Mom what to buy. Or you can try to find pictures online to show her.

Kevin...This is the feeding schedule that I have Pio on. NO banana and NO lettuce. Here is a seed place. http://seedrack.com/10.html
You can plant dandelion in a small pot on your terrace. It grows anywhere. Also some people feed their tortoises Mazuri tortoise food when they can't get any fresh greens in the winter. You can buy that on line.

UP TO SIX MONTHS
Feed your hatchling this much daily. It should equal about 3-5 grams or .107 oz. to .176 oz. Note how finely chopped. Each redfoot will have their own eating habits so it is important to monitor each one. What we are basically saying is this...When they walk away from the food, that's the amount you feed them. With a good balanced and nutritional diet, this is how they will eat.

Pick those that are readily available for you from these items.. and get them on a good diet habit..

In order of calcium content:
Grape Leaves, Hibiscus(blooms & leaves), Dandelion Greens, Curly Endive(not belgian)/Chicory, Escarole and Collard Greens.




The feeding schedule should be as follows:
Days 1 and 2: Greens only as above..avoid Kale and no Spinach! Why?? Because we said so!

Day 3: Fruits only such as Strawberry, cantaloupe, plum, peach, pineapple, prickly pear cactus(pads and fruit). Avoid citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons..too high acid..especially tomatoes. "Seldom" Bananas!!! One or two bites per month!

Repeat days 1-3

At 6 months the hatchling diet can now be supplemented. This is at about 3" SCL... if he's bigger...it's DIET TIME!!! See "Yearling Diet"

Wow...exactly the vegetables that AREN'T at my supermarket. I really really doubt my mom will let me order ONLINE for dandelion seeds....

I'll probably have to look around more supermarkets....Will he be ok on pellets and greenleaf lettuce for a while?


EDIT: Never mind! My grandma knows where to buy endives!

You two new best friends:
http://images.google.com

http://www.google.com/translate_t

I'd also check out the Tortoise Trust mailing list on Yahoo... it's a very good resource.

LOL, yup I used google images to show my family pictures of the plants, but only the endives were recognized.