Baby sulcata eating right food?

[Stevieturtlelady]

I feed my baby sulcata at 6 PM every day I feed him lettuceevery day and once a week, I'll feed them all chopped up Bellpepper. And hibiscus flowers not too often once every two weeks maybe. Is this an OK diet ? The lettuce is a spring mix .

 

[Maro2Bear]

Hhmmmm, @Tom has some really good posts about what to feed baby Sulcatas. It doesnt sound like you have found those links yet. Weeds, grass, dandelions, hibiscus and rose of sharon flowers, plantain, cactus pads, aloe. In Texas, you should have plenty of weeds, grass, etc to provide a good variety of "stuff" for your Sully. Regular old lettuce doesnt provide much. Same with bell pepper.

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

Ok. Thank you!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Also, if you have a " baby " you might want to provide food and have food available more than just at 6 pm. Have food available your sully is out and active. Our 3 year old comes out early, has a snack. Takes a nice nap, comes out to bask in sun, has a nap, grazes, has a nap, grazes some more, then looks for dinner, snack, grazes, then time for a nap. You get the point.... You will want to have a wide variety of food, mazuri, grasses, weeds, available all the time, including small chopped grass, weeds.

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

OK I had heard from the breeder tell me if you did once a day,but thank you I will do that .

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

The breeder lied!!lol. I do get them snacks during the day but I do a big feeding at six .

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

my tortoises 3 inches could you give me a suggestion of how old you think he is?thanks!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Try to upload a pix of your Sully. Three inches or so is pretty young.

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

Ok!here are some pics!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Looks pretty young, less than a year for sure. Provide good heat, humidity, a good hide, sunshine/lighting, and a good balanced diet with good variety. Cuttke bone every so often. Soak daily.

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

Ok thanks!

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

Does His shell look good?

 

[Tom]

Is this an OK diet ?

No. It is lacking in fiber, low in calcium and has a low calcium to phosphorous ratio. Here is what to feed sulcatas:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Here is some more care info:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

There is no way for us to know the age. If its a slow grower, it could be three years old. If its a fast grower, it might be 4-6 weeks old.

The breeder isn't wrong to say: "Feed the baby once a day." That is the same thing as saying feed the baby every day, which is what I say. But I don't think 6 pm is a good time for that. The baby should have its food in the morning, so it can graze at will all day long.

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

I also have a calcium supplement spray I put on every other day

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

I'll buy weat grass. To sprinkle on the spring mix I feed him

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

WOW! Weat grass is expensive. I'll try to give him more different kinds of flowers, and I'll keep adding the supplement spray just not every day

 

[Stevieturtlelady]

Can I use tapwater to bath him in?warm tap water?

 

[KODY CORDUAN]

Hi,
I've just got a new little guy myself, about a half inch smaller. I haven't seen any evidence to suggest tap water is bad...**however** noone tells us it is bad for us and it is (shh conspiracy theory). It's pretty cheap to just go get RO water from the water stores... typically 25 cents per gallon and use that. They do put a lot of chemicals in our water and it's just plain safer to keep their (our) diet as natural as possible. Just my 2 cents anyways!!