So, I've been curious. Reading some of the threads, I've noticed folks have many different ways of feeding their torts. I'd like to share mine. Whenever I feed my maginated tortoises and my one Greek tortoise, I feed them whole leaves. This is either provided by way of access to a grazing area in which I've grown various plants from seed (this year, I've planted lamb's lettuce, red clover, sow thistle, milk thistle, hawksbit, dichondra, various mallow, English plantain, collard greens, romaine lettuce, chickory, chickweed, purslane and dandelion; I planted everything toward the tail end of January, so things are coming along very nicely in all of the grazing pens). Whenever I do feed artificially, I offer whole leaves of mulberry, optunia cactus pads (always whole, except for babies, which is diced into thin strips so they still have to work for it), grape leaves, hibiscus leaves and flowers, and chinese lantern leaves and flowers. When it comes to artificial feeding, I feed all of my torts over a piece of floor tile, one per tortoise per enclosure. I always place the food tray next to the water tray in the shade of whatever tree is planted nearby, to encourage drinking and to ensure food and water tray doesn't readily dry out in the sun. I don't know if this keeping the food alongside the water is effective at encouraging the torts to drink more, but if it is, I'm all for it.
I used to provide cuttlebone, but this year, I've started using the calcium cake recipe on the forum (which is simply awesome, especially when the tortoises go through as much calcium as they do). I feel that all of these measures ultimately ensure that the tortoises feed in a manner most natural. In the past, I've adopted so many tortoises with overgrown beaks that looked as though they'd been fed a diet of mush. I always hate this, given that after cutting, the tort's beak has a flat edge or jagged edge, as opposed to a naturally worn, slightly sharp one. And this takes over a year to normalize.
T.G.
I used to provide cuttlebone, but this year, I've started using the calcium cake recipe on the forum (which is simply awesome, especially when the tortoises go through as much calcium as they do). I feel that all of these measures ultimately ensure that the tortoises feed in a manner most natural. In the past, I've adopted so many tortoises with overgrown beaks that looked as though they'd been fed a diet of mush. I always hate this, given that after cutting, the tort's beak has a flat edge or jagged edge, as opposed to a naturally worn, slightly sharp one. And this takes over a year to normalize.
T.G.