UK Tortoise Food Brands Compared

Brands matter less than product categories. A hay-first botanical mix and a grain-based pellet are different propositions even when they carry the same logo, and most manufacturers sell both.

So this page compares what is actually in the bag rather than ranking names.

Comparison methodology

• We do not test tortoise food and do not claim to.
• We compare published compositions and guaranteed analyses, as declared by the manufacturer.
• We read ingredient lists in order, since they are listed by weight.
• We assess species fit, because arid and forest formulas are not interchangeable.
• We check claims against specialist and veterinary guidance, and report where they conflict.
• We take no payment for coverage. Commission is disclosed in our affiliate disclosure.

Compositions change. Figures below were correct at the time of writing and the bag in your hand is the authority.

What to compare

Brand-by-brand overview

Arcadia

The EarthPro Optimised52 range is a pressed botanical mix rather than a conventional pellet. Composition is a grass and botanical mix averaging 52 species, plus timothy hay, dandelion, nettle, plantain, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry leaves, red clover, rose and marigold flowers, with added probiotics and bee pollen. Arcadia states it uses no filler waste products such as maize, nut shells or soya bean husks, and that it is pressed in small batches in the UK. It is rehydrated with water before feeding.

On botanical variety and absence of grain fillers, this addresses the main structural criticism levelled at the pellet category.

One thing to check before buying: the range includes added vitamin D3 as cholecalciferol and vitamin A as retinol. That is a deliberate design choice, and Arcadia states the format is intended for tortoises kept under optimal UV lighting. It matters because oral D3 bypasses the self-limiting mechanism that makes UVB-derived D3 safe, and preformed retinol accumulates in a way that dietary beta-carotene does not.

If you feed this alongside a calcium-with-D3 powder and a reptile multivitamin, the animal is receiving D3 from three sources at once. Read every label and treat the total. See calcium and supplements.

Mazuri

Widely stocked in the UK and used by zoological collections. Two formulas matter here.

Tortoise Diet LS declares crude fibre not less than 18% and not more than 22%, protein not less than 12%, dietary starch not more than 7%, with timothy grass hay as the first ingredient and added probiotics. Aimed at arid-zone and grass-eating species. Note that the feeding guidance suggests the diet should provide 80% or more of daily intake, which sits outside both Tortoise Trust and mainstream veterinary positions.

Tortoise Diet (original) declares protein not less than 15% and crude fibre not more than 18%, with ground soybean hulls, ground corn, dehulled soybean meal, ground oats, wheat middlings and cane molasses leading the ingredient list. In the UK it is marketed for tropical and omnivorous species.

The LS formula is the stronger of the two for grazing and Mediterranean species on every measure that matters here.

Komodo, HabiStat and Pretty Pets

All three are stocked in the UK across pellets, dried botanical mixes and supplements.

We have not yet verified current compositions for these ranges, and we would rather say so than publish an analysis assembled from retailer listings. Apply the comparison table above to whichever product you are considering, and check the species named on the packaging.

Zoo Med

Natural Grassland Tortoise Food declares crude fibre 26% maximum and protein 9% minimum, with suncured oat hay, suncured timothy hay, soybean hulls, wheat middlings and suncured alfalfa meal as the first five ingredients. On declared fibre and protein it is the strongest conventional pellet in this comparison, though UK availability is patchier than Mazuri’s.

What the Tortoise Trust says

Worth knowing because it is the most critical voice in the category and it names brands.

The Tortoise Trust recommends avoiding mass-market pelleted products, naming Mazuri, Komodo, Arcadia, Pro Rep and Zoo Med among them, on the grounds that they are too high in digestible energy and too far removed from a natural diet. The Trust regards the Pre-Alpin and Pro-Alpin Testudo range more favourably, citing broader plant diversity and the absence of grain derivatives.

We report that position rather than adopting it wholesale. Our own reading is that the category is not uniform: a pressed 52-species botanical mix and a corn-and-molasses pellet deserve to be judged separately, even where the same critique applies to both in outline. The full argument is in tortoise pellets.

Species suitability

UK availability

Most of these ranges are sold through specialist reptile retailers, tortoise suppliers and the larger online pet shops rather than supermarkets. Arcadia is UK-manufactured. Mazuri is American and widely imported. Zoo Med availability in Britain is less consistent.

For hay, buy from the rabbit or horse trade rather than the reptile aisle. It is the same product, fresher and cheaper by weight. See grass and hay for tortoises.

When a brand review deserves its own page

We will publish individual product reviews when two conditions are met: we have genuinely used the product over a meaningful period, and there is real reader demand for that specific review.

Publishing brand pages before either is true would mean assembling opinions from retailer copy, which is what most of the search results for these terms already do. We would rather have fewer pages that are worth reading.

For the wider picture see tortoise food products, best tortoise food in the UK, dried tortoise food and fresh tortoise food.

Product figures are taken from manufacturer-published compositions and analyses. We do not test products, do not accept payment for coverage, and disclose commission in our affiliate disclosure. Sourcing standards are in our sources and review policy. This is husbandry information rather than clinical advice. See our veterinary disclaimer.

Last reviewed: September 2026.