Burmese Star Tortoise (Geochelone platynota) Fact Sheet: Diet & Feeding

Mostly herbivorous

• Mainly eat grasses and other vegetation (Platt et al. 2001, Thanda Swe 2004, cited by Platt et al. 2011; Platt et al. 2011; Platt et al. 2018)
• Feed heavily on newly sprouted grasses (Platt et al. 2011)
• Flowers, fruits, and seeds (Platt et al. 2001; Platt 2001a; Platt et al. 2011; Platt et al. 2018)
• Leaves of succulents (Platt et al. 2018)
• Dipterocarpus tuberculatus may be important during dry season
• Mosses and fungi (Platt et al. 2001; Thanda Swe 2004, cited by Platt 2011; Platt et al. 2018)
• Available during wet season
• Less common diet items
• Earthworms and millipedes (Platt et al. 2011)
• Snails and insects (Thanda Swe 2004, cited by Platt 2001; Platt et al. 2011)
• Carrion (meat scavenging) (e.g., Thanda Swe 2004, cited by Platt et al. 2011; Soe et al. 2016)
• Minerals (Platt et al. 2018)
• May seek sources of concentrated minerals (e.g., calcium in soil or eggshells) (Platt et al. 2001; Platt 2001b)

Burmese Star Tortoises mainly eat grasses and other vegetation.

Image credit: Swann Htet Naing Aung, © WCS/TSA Myanmar Turtle Program. All rights reserved. Used with permission.