What Should a Hermann’s Tortoise Eat?
Everything you need to know about feeding a healthy Hermann’s tortoise.
Hermann’s tortoises (Testudo hermanni) are one of the most popular Mediterranean tortoise species kept in the UK. If you’ve searched for “What should a Hermann’s tortoise eat?”, “What do Hermann’s tortoises eat?” or “Best food for a Hermann’s tortoise”, you’ve come to the right place.
Everything you need to know about feeding a healthy Hermann’s tortoise.
A Simple Answer
Hermann’s tortoises (Testudo hermanni) should eat a diet based primarily on a wide variety of high-fibre weeds, leaves and edible flowers. Their digestive system has evolved over millions of years to digest tough, fibrous plants growing in the dry grasslands and scrubland of southern Europe.
The closer we can recreate that natural diet, the better we support their long-term health, natural behaviour and overall wellbeing.
What Do Hermann’s Tortoises Eat in the Wild?
Wild Hermann’s tortoises spend much of their day slowly browsing through their habitat, selecting a wide variety of seasonal plants as they move.
Their natural diet includes many different wild weeds and flowers, including:
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Dandelions
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Plantains
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Sow thistles
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Hawkbits
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Mallows
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Campanulas
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Dead-nettles
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Chickweed
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Hibiscus flowers
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Many other seasonal weeds and edible flowers
Rather than eating the same food every day, Hermann’s tortoises naturally enjoy an ever-changing diet, providing the fibre and variety their digestive system has evolved to use.
Why Fibre Matters
Fibre is one of the most important parts of a Hermann’s tortoise’s diet.
Wild plants are naturally high in fibre and relatively low in sugars and protein. This helps support healthy digestion and reflects the type of food Hermann’s tortoises have evolved to eat over thousands of years.
Providing plenty of natural variety is just as important as providing the right foods.
How We Feed Our Hermann’s Tortoises at The Tortoise Hotel®
At The Tortoise Hotel®, we base our feeding around the same principles found in nature.
Fresh weeds and edible plants form the foundation of our Hermann’s tortoises’ diet whenever they are available. When fresh forage becomes limited, we continue to provide a high-fibre, natural diet by using Manuel’s Choice High Fibre Meadow Forage, our complementary feed developed to support a weed-based feeding programme throughout the year.
To encourage natural browsing behaviour and provide even more variety, we often add a small amount of Manuel’s Secret Blend, a carefully selected mix of edible dried flowers.
Our feeding philosophy is simple:
Fresh weeds whenever possible. High fibre every day. Natural variety all year round.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Hermann’s tortoises eat fruit?
Fruit is not considered a natural part of a Hermann’s tortoise’s regular diet. Their digestive system is adapted to a high-fibre, low-sugar diet based on weeds, leaves and edible flowers.
Can Hermann’s tortoises eat dried flowers?
Yes. Suitable edible dried flowers can provide additional natural variety and encourage browsing behaviour as part of a balanced, weed-based diet.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
How We Feed Ours at The Tortoise Hotel®
At The Tortoise Hotel®, we base our Mediterranean tortoises’ diet on fresh weeds and edible plants whenever they’re available. However, we know that this isn’t always possible throughout the year.
That’s why we developed Manuel’s Choice High Fibre Meadow Forage as a complementary feed to support a natural weed-based diet when fresh forage is limited. We often add a small amount of Manuel’s Secret Blend dried flowers to encourage natural foraging behaviour and provide additional variety.
Our approach is simple: fresh weeds first, complementary feed when needed, and plenty of variety over time.
If you’d like to feed your tortoise the same way we feed ours, you can learn more about the Manuel’s Choice range here.
We developed Manuel’s Choice High Fibre Meadow Forage & Manuel's Secret Blend of dried Wildflowers to support a natural weed-based diet…
Discover Manuel’s Choice High Fibre Meadow Forage
Discover Manuel’s Secret Blend Mediterranean WildFlowers