Red-footed Tortoise at Jungle Park: Diet and Fun Facts

24 de September de 2026

At Jungle Park, you can get up close to a wide variety of animal species and discover fascinating facts about their diet and care. Today, we want to introduce you to one of them: the red-footed tortoise, also known as the yellow-footed tortoise or morrocoy tortoise.

It is a terrestrial reptile native to the savannahs and tropical forests of South and Central America.

What does a red-footed tortoise eat?

In the wild, the red-footed tortoise’s diet mainly includes fresh vegetables, wild grasses and plants, flowers and ripe fruit. Occasionally, they also consume animal-based sources of protein, such as insects or carrion.

Did you know that red-footed tortoises need a good source of calcium?

Red-footed tortoises require a good source of calcium and, among other foods, they can eat whole land snails.

By breaking and eating the snail’s shell, they receive a direct and concentrated source of calcium carbonate.

The red-footed tortoise diet at Jungle Park

At Jungle Park, we prepare a selection of a wide variety of vegetables and fruit every day for our red-footed tortoises.

Their diet varies throughout the week to avoid dietary monotony. We also supplement their diet with fresh branches and flowers, which we cut from the shrubs and trees around the park.

From early in the morning, we serve their very own “gourmet salad”, with everything they need to enjoy the rest of the day.

Meet the animals at Jungle Park

Diet is just one part of the daily care provided to the animals at Jungle Park. Through this work, our team strives to provide each species with care adapted to its characteristics and needs.

If you would like to get up close to these fascinating tortoises and discover many more interesting facts about the animals at Jungle Park, you can visit Jungle Park in Tenerife and experience it for yourself.