[Feylin]

This is something I've had to think about for a long time now. My pet eats a diet that I personaly find unhealthy and actually quite gross. I firmly believe that all pets (and their humans!) should get whatever nice fresh foods are most appropriate for their needs. However, I can't do that here.

Lois, my Red Footed tortoise, is an ominivorous scavanger. Her species lives on the floor of the rainforest and literally eats anything that holds still long enough for them to get a bite. She LOVES rotten fruit and vegetables. If I give her a choice between a nice crisp kale leaf and a smashy, black, rotten pear she will devour the pear and ignore the kale. Kale is something she would like to eat normally! I know tortoises don't "run", but she comes as fast as she can when I clean out the fridge every now and then...and the smells of rotten produce come wafting out. She stands on her toes, squeaks excitedly, tries to shove me out of the way, and she'll climb right into the fridge if I let her.

She requires a small amount of protein in her diet. If she had her way, she'd get to snack on whatever is left over outside from the night's predators. When we go out side, I have to sweep for any remains of prey animals. She can smell them and makes a beeline for the remains of some poor rabbit. I had to do a lot of research and ended up following the reccomendations of the zoo where I adopted her from. Lois gets 2 or 3 pieces of high quality dog food and 2 or 3 1 oz chunks of raw (organic) chicken each month.

Decomposing protein would be ideal, but luckily I can get away with raw protein for her!