Saint Augustine Grass

[Anovick5]

I've searched through past threads and it seems like Saint Augustine Grass is considered a good choice for feeding Sulcutas, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience feeding it to young tortoises. Saint Augustine grass seems a bit tougher than some other grasses, and I'm worried when I feed it to my 3" sulcata that it just goes in one end and out the other. Is it perhaps too tough for young tortoises to digest? When I soak him, his feces look a lot like the way the food looked going in. So, I worry that he's not gaining any nutrition from the food. I don't want to be starving him by feeding him food too tough for his little stomach. I've seen pictures of the poop of wild sulcatas and understand that their healthy feces often contain visible pieces of grass, but with my tortoise, it's almost all visible pieces of grass. What do you think? Am I being overly concerned or should I ease back on the amount of Saint Augustine grass I give?

While I'm at it, my 11 inch Sulcata's diet is about 80% Saint Augustine Grass and another 10% hay. Is that too much grass and not enough veggies?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I don't have Sulcata. So I can't say for certain, but I've read many threads about their poop looking like hair because if the plant fibers not being broken down enough.
I'm also in South Florida and I've planted Bermuda in my Red foot pens.
There are many other options to try.
If you haven't already been there...Griffs Western feed store in Davie is the place to get your hay!

 

[tortdad]

My sulcatas diet is 99% St Augustine grass and the weeds from my yard

 

[Merrick]

You may want to try a different species of of st. Augustine

 

[rearlpettway]

When Kendall was a hatchling we chopped the St.Augustine grass with scissors, blended it in a blender into a paste and mix it with blended Timothy hay, orchid hay and Bermuda hay.

This a variation of what we did. To the following recipe add the St. Augustine grass instead of spring mix
Training a Sulcata to eat hay:

Here is how we got Kendall to eat hay when she was 1 month old.
1. We cut up Timothy hay and orchard hay with scissors into very small pieces.
2. Placed the chopped hay in a blender and blended until it is a powder.
3. Soaked the blended hay in water for 10 minutes.
4. Drained off the excess water.
5. Chopped up "Spring Mix" greens or any greens that you have available with scissors into very small pieces. Chop the greens as small as possible so that the Sulcata can't pick the greens out of the hay.
6. Mixed the chopped hay with the chopped "Spring Mix" greens or any greens that you have available. Mix very well.
7. Give it to your tortoise.
One day I put the soaked hay in the enclosure before I added the greens and Kendall ate the entire pile of hay. With that said, it works very well at getting a Sulcata to eat hay.

 

[DeanS]

When Kendall was a hatchling we chopped the St.Augustine grass with scissors, blended it in a blender into a paste and mix it with blended Timothy hay, orchid hay and Bermuda hay.

This a variation of what we did. To the following recipe add the St. Augustine grass instead of spring mix
Training a Sulcata to eat hay:

Here is how we got Kendall to eat hay when she was 1 month old.
1. We cut up Timothy hay and orchard hay with scissors into very small pieces.
2. Placed the chopped hay in a blender and blended until it is a powder.
3. Soaked the blended hay in water for 10 minutes.
4. Drained off the excess water.
5. Chopped up "Spring Mix" greens or any greens that you have available with scissors into very small pieces. Chop the greens as small as possible so that the Sulcata can't pick the greens out of the hay.
6. Mixed the chopped hay with the chopped "Spring Mix" greens or any greens that you have available. Mix very well.
7. Give it to your tortoise.
One day I put the soaked hay in the enclosure before I added the greens and Kendall ate the entire pile of hay. With that said, it works very well at getting a Sulcata to eat hay.

That's a WHOLE lotta work...but well worth it! I've done that with ALL babies whether I mix in Mazuri or not! Only difference is I use alfalfa (instead of Timothy) and I use a little less water in step 4...as I don't want to lose any nutrients with runoff!

 

[DeanS]

I've searched through past threads and it seems like Saint Augustine Grass is considered a good choice for feeding Sulcutas, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience feeding it to young tortoises. Saint Augustine grass seems a bit tougher than some other grasses, and I'm worried when I feed it to my 3" sulcata that it just goes in one end and out the other. Is it perhaps too tough for young tortoises to digest? When I soak him, his feces look a lot like the way the food looked going in. So, I worry that he's not gaining any nutrition from the food. I don't want to be starving him by feeding him food too tough for his little stomach. I've seen pictures of the poop of wild sulcatas and understand that their healthy feces often contain visible pieces of grass, but with my tortoise, it's almost all visible pieces of grass. What do you think? Am I being overly concerned or should I ease back on the amount of Saint Augustine grass I give?

While I'm at it, my 11 inch Sulcata's diet is about 80% Saint Augustine Grass and another 10% hay. Is that too much grass and not enough veggies?

There's no such thing as too much grass...but you might need a calcium supplement. Given that you're in FL...you should have reasonable access to opuntia...prickly pear cactus. Mulberry (and/or grape) leaves are also a huge plus. Their calcium to phosphorous ratio is more than ideal for your sully!

 

[dmmj]

Mine loves it, and digests it well.

 

[DawnH]

Mine loves it as well and when he was bitty I would put it (and other grasses/greens) in a hand held food chopper (I'm lazy) so the pieces were smaller for him. Easy peasy!

 

[rearlpettway]

That's a WHOLE lotta work...but well worth it! I've done that with ALL babies whether I mix in Mazuri or not! Only difference is I use alfalfa (instead of Timothy) and I use a little less water in step 4...as I don't want to lose any nutrients with runoff!

DeanS,
Your point is well taken.
I never thought about loosing the nutrients in the run off.

 

[Tom]

While I'm at it, my 11 inch Sulcata's diet is about 80% Saint Augustine Grass and another 10% hay. Is that too much grass and not enough veggies?

I would use much more variety.

Check this out for lots of ideas:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/