I first learned about Mazuri on this board. Most tort owners seem to use it.

But is it really any good? I just posted the list of ingredients in a thread on the leopard forum. I have to say, nothing in the list sounded good to me. Preservatives, chemicals I can't even pronounce, soybean hulls and corn...

I'm sorry, but this junk sounds like some over-priced dog food that has a bunch of fillers that are not beneficial to the animal's health.

Correct me if I'm wrong. I can take criticism. But I am seriously challenging giving our pets this kind of food. I'm very picky about what I feed my animals.

Most on here that feed it does so only a couple times a week. Not used as a Main food source. It is good for rounding out a diet that may not be as it should be. However, it is not something that has to be fed. If you don't want to, don't. If your tort gets a well rounded natural grazing diet, it's not needed. If you have to feed a lot of store bought greens and not much natural grazing, it would be a good thing to feed, but not nessicary.

I have read here that it is good to feed, but not a a main diet. It is used in the zoo's also. I don't see it doing any harm to my sulcata. And I haven't heard anything bad about it. So I will continue using it myself.

I'm just wondering why it's so popular among tort owners here after looking at the ingredients. To me, and I am no expert, it seems like tortoise junk food.

Molasses? Really? That's one of the top ingredients. And #1 is ground soybean hulls. Is that good? I dunno. The tort loves it, but I love cheeseburgers. And I know it's not because they're good for me.

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The top ingredients after molasses are all soy, corn, and oat products. This is not what they'd be eating in the wild. To me it sounds like fillers. Like how cheap dog food companies put things like this in their food to up the bulk.

I would like to get more input on this.

I don't have an in depth understanding of the ingredients and which ingredients are beneficial and in what way, so I can only offer my explanation as to why I choose to feed it. Obviously the ingredients don't match up to any wild tortoises diet as far as I know, but that doesn't mean it can't be beneficial for them. A lot of what we do and offer to our tortoises isn't what they experience in the wild, and for the better I think.

Despite the ingredients, the nutritional value it offers to a tortoise is really second to none in terms of commercial products. Balanced Calcium and phosphorous as well as protein to name a couple of the benefits. Mazuri isn't just something created in some guys basement, you know what I mean? The product was developed by people who know what the specific animals require to maintain their health...and that is what I trust along with the opinions of others who have been using the product for several years that I respect and trust.

I have yet to see or hear of any adverse affects of any kind from a tortoise being fed Mazuri...whether as part of a varied diet or when fed exclusively. I have only heard of and experience positive benefits by including Mazuri in a tortoises diet.

(10-06-2012 11:01 AM)mightymizz Wrote:  Only experience I have is that they would never return my calls, nor could I ever get them to answer. This was a few different times, over a number of years.

I wasn't impressed.

Try to upload a picture when you can.

(10-06-2012 03:48 PM)Neal Wrote:  I don't have an in depth understanding of the ingredients and which ingredients are beneficial and in what way, so I can only offer my explanation as to why I choose to feed it. Obviously the ingredients don't match up to any wild tortoises diet as far as I know, but that doesn't mean it can't be beneficial for them. A lot of what we do and offer to our tortoises isn't what they experience in the wild, and for the better I think.

Despite the ingredients, the nutritional value it offers to a tortoise is really second to none in terms of commercial products. Balanced Calcium and phosphorous as well as protein to name a couple of the benefits. Mazuri isn't just something created in some guys basement, you know what I mean? The product was developed by people who know what the specific animals require to maintain their health...and that is what I trust along with the opinions of others who have been using the product for several years that I respect and trust.

I have yet to see or hear of any adverse affects of any kind from a tortoise being fed Mazuri...whether as part of a varied diet or when fed exclusively. I have only heard of and experience positive benefits by including Mazuri in a tortoises diet.

I guess that makes sense, but I still can't help but be skeptical about some of these ingredients.

#2 is ground corn. Now I know for a fact that this is a filler in dog food and I don't buy those brands for my pooch (corn makes him itch). Corn is just something to make it weigh more. Is it different in this case?

I've had better luck w/ Marion Tortoise Sticks, a very similar "tortoise kibble" product, made with quite a few of the same unlikely ingredients. Chemically/nutritionally, they seem to be equally useful, in that 2-3X a week, mixed w/ chopped greens and/or cactus, they make a healthy meal for tortoises, iguanas, and similar primarily vegetarian reptiles.

Main difference is that my tortoises were indifferent to Mazuri, but come galloping for Marion.