Hi everybody! I have an almost 4 month old hatchling... set up literally almost word for word like Tom suggests. My baby is definitely thriving! My question is about water in the diet. I have read that you want to watch the water content in what you are feeding. I know they are a grass and hay species. But to restrict maybe the salad that you put together. I have also read the more romaine and salad mixed w the hay and grasses the better. High fiber obviously but what is the thought on the water content? And why or why not more water? Thank you!
Leopard torts... water in their diet
- Thread starter clynnlak
- Start date
Welcome to the forum. Where did you get the information about watching water in the diet?
I rarely see my leopard drink, from his dish or when he is being soaked, but I always soak his food before feeding.
During winter he has to have shop bought salads etc but I try to get the darker leaves with radicchio, and add things like pak choi, lambs lettuce, kale etc. I use a product called Readigrass to add fibre. he won't eat it if I give him a handful, so I grind it up finely in a blender and mix it in so that it stick to the wet leaves. Thankfully weeds are much more available now and he does graze on grass when he is outside in the warmer weather.
I don't worry about too much water in the food because they'll just wee it out and it's important they are well hydrated to avoid bladder stones etc.
Where did you read about restricting water content?
The only thing mentioned here about water in the food us that a lot of greens is mostly water content, not fiber, nutrients, etc. So grocery greens can be added but with better foods
Babies usually won't eat hay and grass so do not make that a main item. That's for when they are older you can try orchard hay and you can try adding grass now, but don't be surprised if he doesn't eat it.
Babies usually won't eat hay and grass so do not make that a main item. That's for when they are older you can try orchard hay and you can try adding grass now, but don't be surprised if he doesn't eat it.
Thank you! Facebook groups... reading things online as far as care goes. I do understand about mis-information. Which is why I am asking. It doesn't make logical sense to me, but there could also be something I don't know.
I don't have Facebook however I would stay with the forum for information. Many experts. That's why you followed @Tom directions. @Kapidolo Farms has different natural foods for your tortoise. I use them for mine.
Thank you! I offer a huge variety of different things mixed in every day. I cut up the hays and grasses and mix in with the "salad" so that he doesn't have a choice but to eat it. Sprinkle w flowers and things of that nature. Soak mazuri ls and crumble on top... along w the arcadia diet. Moisten. Which is why I was concerned with reading about water content. I spritz his food with water to get it all combined. Plus the water content of whatever store bought greens... mostly romaine, red and green leaf lettuce, Or radicchio.
Yes! Absolutely agree. I also get most of my things from @Kapidolo Farms Thank you!
Are you worried he's getting too much water? Babies should be soaked daily for 15 minutes or so, and whatever water's on and in the food adds to his hidration. I doubt that's too much. And he'll urinate it out when he's full.
I suppose I wanted to know why or how they could get too much water. It didn't make sense to me. From the info I am getting here it just seems that info is wrong. I do soak everyday for sure! Thank you!!
Leopards are not a grass and hay species. Not regular leopards anyway... South African Leopards, yes, but not regulars.
That information, like most of what you find on FB, YT, and the rest of the internet is absurdly wrong. The more water the better. If they take in more water than they need, they will pee the excess out. It does not harm them in any way. I suppose that if you put a stomach tube in and pumped gallons of water into a tortoise all day long that you could at some point give them too much water, but feeding lettuce soaked in water and then sprayed with water, and served in a bowl of water, is not "too much" water, and that could never hurt your tortoise.
Regular leopards eat a HUGE arty of plant matter in the wild. Here in the southwest we have about 3000 different species of plants. Where leopard tortoises come from there are more than 22,000 species of plants. A relatively large percentage of those are succulents with a high water content. Another large part of the diet of wild leopards is "mammal feces". The study didn't indicate what mammals, but I would fathom a guess that its mostly ungulates. Grass makes up only a small part of their diet in the wild, and only at certain times of the year.
What does this all mean for captive care? Feed a wide variety. Lettuce lacks fiber, calcium and nutrition. Lettuce is a great delivery vehicle for added fiber, calcium supplementation, and variety when mixed with dried leaf options. There is nothing wrong with feeding lots of lettuce to tortoise AS LONG AS you are adding amendments to make up for the deficiencies.
And soak babies daily. This does not "upset their water balance" or harm them by making food pass through too quickly. Those are ridiculous unproven/disproven myths. Soaks keep the tortoise hydrated and help the carapace grow smoother. If too much soaking and too much water does harm, then why do 100% of my babies that I hatch thrive and grow up to be healthy, fit, reproducing adults?
