Grass and Hay for Tortoises

Some tortoises should eat grass as the bulk of their diet. Others should barely touch it. Getting this backwards is one of the more consequential mistakes a keeper can make, and it happens constantly because most advice online does not distinguish between the two.

Which tortoises are grass adapted

The five grass and hay records in our database all follow the same pattern: regular for grazing species, moderation for everyone else.

• Grass (Poaceae spp.)
• Timothy (Phleum pratense)
• Couch grass (Elymus repens)
• Barley grass (Hordeum spp.)
• Wheat grass (Triticum spp.)

Prickly pear pads (Opuntia spp.) behave the same way. High-fibre forage, rated regular for grazing and arid species and moderation for the rest. Remove the spines and glochids before feeding.

Sulcata and leopard tortoises

For these two, grass and hay are the diet rather than a component of it.

The Tortoise Trust puts mixed grasses and meadow hays at roughly 70 to 75% of total intake for both species, with weeds and flowers making up the remainder.

Practical implications:

• Hay should be available constantly, not offered as a meal. These are continuous grazers, not animals that take a feed and retreat.
• Untreated lawn grass is genuinely good food and the cheapest you will find.
• Hay is not a winter substitute. It is normal food all year, which matters in Britain where outdoor grazing runs from roughly late spring to early autumn only.
• Salad displaces hay. A Sulcata filling up on supermarket greens is one not eating fibre.

See Sulcata tortoise diet and leopard tortoise diet. Indian star tortoises are also grass-adapted, covered in their own guide.

Why Testudo species are different

Mediterranean tortoises evolved on herbaceous scrub, not grassland. They will nibble grass, and a little does no harm, but they handle it poorly in quantity.

The reason is silica. Grass fodder is high in it, and Testudo species are not equipped to process it the way a savannah grazer is. Their diet should be built on weeds, leaves and flowers instead, with the Royal Veterinary College putting weeds above 70% of intake.

So if you own a Hermann’s or a Horsfield’s, a grassy pen is fine as an environment and useless as a feeding strategy. Plant it with weeds and flowers. See best weeds for tortoises.

The one thing Testudo keepers should take from grazing advice is dry fibre. Wild Testudo graeca eat a mixture of fresh and dry vegetation, including dried flowers and seed heads, and captive diets typically run far below wild fibre levels. Dried forage helps, even where grass hay is not the answer. The reasoning is in Mediterranean tortoise diet.

Choosing hay

Buy from the rabbit or horse trade, not the reptile aisle. It is the same product, usually better quality and considerably cheaper by weight. Buy in bulk and store it dry.

Mix two or three types. It keeps a selective feeder interested and evens out the nutrition.

The alfalfa disagreement

Alfalfa is where sources genuinely conflict, so it is worth being explicit.

Veterinary guidance warns against feeding predominantly alfalfa hay, on the grounds that its protein and oxalate content is associated with bladder stone formation and kidney damage. Some experienced keepers use it without apparent problems and dispute the concern.

Our position is the cautious one. Renal disease and bladder stones are leading causes of death in captive tortoises, grass hays do the same job, and there is no benefit that justifies the argument. If you want to use it, use it as a small part of a mix rather than the base.

Introducing dry fibre

A tortoise raised on soft, wet food will often refuse hay at first. That is a transition problem, not a verdict.

• Mix it in gradually with fresh greens rather than switching outright.
• Try different types. Orchard grass and softer timothy cuttings are more palatable than coarse first-cut hay.
• Dampen it slightly if it is being ignored entirely.
• Offer it constantly rather than at feeding time, so grazing becomes habitual.
• Give it weeks, not days. Appetite for fibre builds slowly.
• Juveniles need softer material. Young jaws cannot manage coarse stalks, so lean on fresh grass and softer cuttings until they grow into it.

What to avoid

• Lawn clippings from a mower. They heat, ferment and spoil quickly. Let the tortoise graze, or cut fresh by hand.
• Any lawn treated with weed and feed, herbicide or moss killer. This rules out most tidy lawns.
• Grass from verges or field margins. Vehicle pollution, spray drift and fertiliser runoff.
• Dusty or mouldy hay. Respiratory risk. It should smell sweet and look green, not grey or yellow.
• Alfalfa as the base, as above.
• Straw. It is bedding, not food, and has little nutritional value.

Do tortoises eat grass? The short version

Yes for Sulcata, leopard and Indian star tortoises, where it should be most of the diet. Not really for Mediterranean and forest species, where it is a minor food at best and weeds should be doing the work.

To check any specific plant against your species, the tortoise food checker holds 105 records with verdicts by group. The complete banded list is in the tortoise food chart, and tortoise diets by species explains which group your tortoise belongs to.

Ratings follow our own food records, built from the Tortoise Trust, the British Chelonia Group, The Tortoise Table and published veterinary sources, and checked as described in our sources and review policy. Where sources disagree, as they do on alfalfa, we say so. This is husbandry information rather than clinical advice. See our veterinary disclaimer.

Last reviewed: September 2026.