For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

[kalei01]

I asked google if cucumber leaves were edible. The answer :



I think I'd avoid them

what about squash and pumpkin leaves and flowers

 

[JoesMum]

what about squash and pumpkin leaves and flowers

Squash
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/viewplants/?plant=627#.WTHRg6fTWEc
TTT says

Squashes are the fruit of the Curcurbita family of plants and while not actually toxic to tortoises, we don't recommend feeding either the leaves or the fruit in any quantity, but the flowers are acceptable in moderation.

Pumpkin
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/viewplants/?plant=229#.WTHR7KfTWEc
TTT says

The flowers and leaves of the Pumpkin plant can be fed sparingly, but we don't recommend feeding the fruit unless your tortoise is a fruit-eating species.

 

[Tom]

what about squash and pumpkin leaves and flowers

All the squash leaves and flowers that I have heard of are good tortoise food. I've grown pumpkin, cucumber, italian squash, summer squash, gourds, crooked neck squash and a few others. I feed out the leaves and flowers, so I seldom see any of the "fruit".

 

[JoesMum]

All the squash leaves and flowers that I have heard of are good tortoise food. I've grown pumpkin, cucumber, italian squash, summer squash, gourds, crooked neck squash and a few others. I feed out the leaves and flowers, so I seldom see any of the "fruit".

Practical information - if Tom's OK with it then so am I

 

[Ed mitch]

All the squash leaves and flowers that I have heard of are good tortoise food. I've grown pumpkin, cucumber, italian squash, summer squash, gourds, crooked neck squash and a few others. I feed out the leaves and flowers, so I seldom see any of the "fruit".

So I can feed them but don't over do it!

 

[Cloverhand]

I have been trying to fix my sulcata's diet. This is very helpful!

 

[Tort baby momma]

Does anyone have experience with RepCal Tortoise Food for leopards and or star tortoises? My local reptile store recommends it over the Mazuri diet and they seem to like it but just want to double check with the forum! Also, how often do you recommend feeding this kind of supplementary diet? I have only been giving it to my babies (Babcockii - 1yr old, Indian Star - 6mo) once to twice weekly but they don't want to go back to their regular diet afterwards.
I'd also like to give a shout out to Tom (the dog trainer) for his wonderful care and feeding sheets. So great!
And last question. I feed them mostly things around the yard from the "safe" foods list, since we don't treat our yard. How often should they get grocery foods?
Thanks everyone!

 

[Tom]

Does anyone have experience with RepCal Tortoise Food for leopards and or star tortoises? My local reptile store recommends it over the Mazuri diet and they seem to like it but just want to double check with the forum! Also, how often do you recommend feeding this kind of supplementary diet? I have only been giving it to my babies (Babcockii - 1yr old, Indian Star - 6mo) once to twice weekly but they don't want to go back to their regular diet afterwards.
I'd also like to give a shout out to Tom (the dog trainer) for his wonderful care and feeding sheets. So great!
And last question. I feed them mostly things around the yard from the "safe" foods list, since we don't treat our yard. How often should they get grocery foods?
Thanks everyone!

I don't like the RepCal food and don't use it. Mazuri is the best one I've found and I recommend it. Once or twice a week is good. You can also mix chopped greens in with it to encourage them to eat more good stuff.

You don't need grocery store foods at all if you are finding or growing enough other good stuff. I keep the store bought greens to a minimum.

 

[Tort baby momma]

I don't like the RepCal food and don't use it. Mazuri is the best one I've found and I recommend it. Once or twice a week is good. You can also mix chopped greens in with it to encourage them to eat more good stuff.
You don't need grocery store foods at all if you are finding or growing enough other good stuff. I keep the store bought greens to a minimum.

Thanks Tom! I'll order the Mazuri diet today! Do you have experience with Repashy Superveggie supplement? According to the reptile store nearby, it is an all natural calcium, vitamin and mineral supplement all in one. (So would replace RepCal, MinerAll and a vitamin supplement.)
In case you haven't used Repashy, then could you tell me how often you use the Minerall and what reptile vitamin supplement do you use once a week?

 

[kalei01]

Thanks Tom! I'll order the Mazuri diet today! Do you have experience with Repashy Superveggie supplement? According to the reptile store nearby, it is an all natural calcium, vitamin and mineral supplement all in one. (So would replace RepCal, MinerAll and a vitamin supplement.)
In case you haven't used Repashy, then could you tell me how often you use the Minerall and what reptile vitamin supplement do you use once a week?

a great place to buy mazuri is at a feed store that is where I got a 25 lb bag smallest I could get other than 50 lb bag

 

[Tom]

Thanks Tom! I'll order the Mazuri diet today! Do you have experience with Repashy Superveggie supplement? According to the reptile store nearby, it is an all natural calcium, vitamin and mineral supplement all in one. (So would replace RepCal, MinerAll and a vitamin supplement.)
In case you haven't used Repashy, then could you tell me how often you use the Minerall and what reptile vitamin supplement do you use once a week?

I don't know the Repashy brand. Calcium interferes with the absorption of other minerals and trace elements. Zinc for example. I don't see how an all-in-one supplement can be effective. I'm no reptile nutritionist, chemist or scientific studier of this issue, but from what I've read and understand, that sort of all-in-one supplement looks good on paper and sounds good, but I don't see how it can work.

I like the Rep-Cal calcium supplement and the Herptivite reptile vitamin supplement.

I only use Mineral to stop rock or substrate eating. With the varied weedy, grassy diet that I feed, I really don't use much supplementation at all anymore, except occasional Mazuri.

 

[Tort baby momma]

I don't know the Repashy brand. Calcium interferes with the absorption of other minerals and trace elements. Zinc for example. I don't see how an all-in-one supplement can be effective. I'm no reptile nutritionist, chemist or scientific studier of this issue, but from what I've read and understand, that sort of all-in-one supplement looks good on paper and sounds good, but I don't see how it can work.

I like the Rep-Cal calcium supplement and the Herptivite reptile vitamin supplement.

I only use Mineral to stop rock or substrate eating. With the varied weedy, grassy diet that I feed, I really don't use much supplementation at all anymore, except occasional Mazuri.

Thanks Tom! My 1 yr old Leopard is starting to chew on rocks, so I'll get the Minerall. Can I bother you one more time to ask how often you recommend adding it to his/her diet?

 

[Tom]

Thanks Tom! My 1 yr old Leopard is starting to chew on rocks, so I'll get the Minerall. Can I bother you one more time to ask how often you recommend adding it to his/her diet?

If you have a current rock eating problem, I'd use it 3 times a week for about a month. Then cut back to once or twice a week for maintenance. Don't use more than one supplement per day. Don't mix them in other words.

 

[kalei01]

If you have a current rock eating problem, I'd use it 3 times a week for about a month. Then cut back to once or twice a week for maintenance. Don't use more than one supplement per day. Don't mix them in other words.

The lighter color scutes seem to be disappearing and he is turning all dark is this normal or could it be a vitamin deficiency I attached a picture

 

[Tom]

The lighter color scutes seem to be disappearing and he is turning all dark is this normal or could it be a vitamin deficiency I attached a picture

That looks like normal healthy growth to me.

 

[kalei01]

I was watching my tort outside and when I saw him do his business I noticed something in it and to my surprise a huge piece of white plastic like that from a bag was in the dung which means I need to watch him more closely to make sure he isn't eating things that aren't food eye opener for me

 

[Izzy's mom]

Warm side Cool side This is an excellent resource thank you!
Right now my 8 week old Sulcata, Izzy gets a handful of spring mix daily in his enclosure along with having grass and plantain growing in there. This is his munching inside food. Every day, he spends 2-8 hours outside where he grazes on grass, clover (leaves and flowers), dandelions, and plantain. Once a week he gets mazori grassland tortoise feed soaked and mixed in with chopped grass and weeds. Twice a week he gets calcium sprinkled on his spring mix. He gets soaked once daily for 20-30 minutes, has a water bowl in his indoor enclosure. His open top enclosure has a small sand area, a grass area, a cypress mulch area, and an organic coconut noir potting mix about 1-1 1/2 inch thick over cypress mulch. I mist his open top enclosure daily and he has an enclosed humid hide (a cool whip container) with wet paper towels under coconut noir and a half log hide in between the hot and warm side. The humid hide is under his basking spot, buried in the coconut noir.
Izzy seems to be very happy and healthy. I call him busy Izzy because he's always doing something except when he's sleeping. But I will always bow to the experts opinions and would like to know if there is anything anyone would suggest to improve his diet or living conditions.
I have included a photo of his indoor enclosure, After reading this, I am going to change out his heat bulb to a white one like I have for the red eared sliders. Any constructive criticism. I want Izzy to have the best and healthiest life possible.

 

[Tom]

I was watching my tort outside and when I saw him do his business I noticed something in it and to my surprise a huge piece of white plastic like that from a bag was in the dung which means I need to watch him more closely to make sure he isn't eating things that aren't food eye opener for me

I've seen lots of things like that. I had a 12" sulcata poop out an entire plastic Doritos bag. I don't eat Doritos, so I can only guess the bag blew into the enclosure on the wind.

This is a primary reason I tell people not to let their tortoises roam loose. They will eat anything, and no, they don't know better.

 

[Tom]

Any constructive criticism. I want Izzy to have the best and healthiest life possible.

I see a few things that I would do differently, but over all not a bad effort given the conflicting info out in the world for this species.
1. You already mentioned getting rid of the red bulb, and that is great, but in addition to the white basking bulb, you also need a heat source for night for this topical species. I like to run a CHE set on a thermostat. This will hold the temp above 80 at all times, day and night.
2. Open topped sweater boxes are the worst possible way to house a baby tortoise because there is no way to hold in heat and humidity with those low sides. You need a large closed chamber.
3. No sand. None at all. It is an impaction risk and a skin and eye irritant.
4. FIne grade orchid bark works best as a substrate for this species.
5. Babies should not spend more than an hour or two outside. My general rule of thumb is one hour of sunshine access per inch of tortoise.
6. The diet seems pretty good, but I would still try to add more variety. Instead of spring mix every time, use endive and escarole more. Add in lots of others too like collard, mustard and turnip greens, cilantro, carrot and celery tops, grape vine leaves, mulberry leaves hibiscus leaves, etc…

More info here:
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/

 

[Izzy's mom]

I see a few things that I would do differently, but over all not a bad effort given the conflicting info out in the world for this species.
1. You already mentioned getting rid of the red bulb, and that is great, but in addition to the white basking bulb, you also need a heat source for night for this topical species. I like to run a CHE set on a thermostat. This will hold the temp above 80 at all times, day and night.
2. Open topped sweater boxes are the worst possible way to house a baby tortoise because there is no way to hold in heat and humidity with those low sides. You need a large closed chamber.
3. No sand. None at all. It is an impaction risk and a skin and eye irritant.
4. FIne grade orchid bark works best as a substrate for this species.
5. Babies should not spend more than an hour or two outside. My general rule of thumb is one hour of sunshine access per inch of tortoise.
6. The diet seems pretty good, but I would still try to add more variety. Instead of spring mix every time, use endive and escarole more. Add in lots of others too like collard, mustard and turnip greens, cilantro, carrot and celery tops, grape vine leaves, mulberry leaves hibiscus leaves, etc…

More info here:
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/

Thank you for the advice. You're not kidding about all the different information out there. I don't think I've found any corresponding information, from the breeder, different websites, caresheets, even different posts on this forum; except that they get big and need a lot of room Food, temps, enclosures, substrates, etc. are all so different.

The room he is in, has been above 80 since we've had him, there is a thermostat in the room, we don't have central air so it's a warm room which is why I don't have a night time heat source right now. currently the heat bulb is set on a timer, it comes on at 6 am and shuts off at 10 pm. Izzy spends very little time on the warm side of the enclosure, so right now I don't think he's feeling uncomfortable at all. I will add the ceramic heat lamp with thermostat now though if you think it's best.

Until I can get to walmart to get a different enclosure, I could put the lid on the box and cut holes for the lights if you think that would help.

I will remove the sand tomorrow.

I do feed grape leaves, hibiscus leaves, collard greens, and mulberry, I also have given him christmas cactus and mother in laws tongue which i found on the tortoise table site as okay in moderation. He also gets rose petals, rose of sharon leaves(no flowers yet) and purple coneflower leaves and petals, and anacharis from the pond. We have a lot of it growing on the property. We also have fruit trees; apple, cherry, peach, and pear, as well as lilac and lavender that I wondered if I could give him leaves from, but couldn't find anything about them if they were safe are any of them okay?

He loves it outside but I will begin to limit his outside time. I've noticed if it's in the 80's he's fine and very busy, but above 90 and he'll eat a bit then just sleep in his hide or under the tall grass. Which surprised me because I thought he'd enjoy the hotter temps but it really slows him down. He also gets some supervised floor time in the evenings so he gets plenty of exercise.

Again, I appreciate your help and suggestions and will do my best to improve his current situation. In addition to my above questions, any other suggestions or critiques are welcomed.