Switching a Sulcata's Diet from Monkey Chow. (Yes, Monkey Chow.)

[shellysmom]

Hi there,

Tubby, aka "Honey Thunder," finally arrived in Florida from New York. He's beautiful, weighs about 50 lbs. The primary diet fed to him previously was monkey chow. Now he has 10 acres to graze on, but I have to ask: Will it hurt him to change his diet suddenly? Should I keep feeding him a little bit of monkey chow for a while, in addition to the grass he gets to eat? I know with dogs you're not supposed to switch them over to a new diet suddenly. I am assuming this might be the same for tortoises. ??? Any info or advice would be appreciated.

 

[Laura]

if he starts eating the grass, I wouldnt bother giving him any chow.
If he really wants it.. try switching to mazuri Tortoise chow.. he may not know the difference!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Erika:

With dogs, when you change food, it usually causes diarrhea. It might be a good idea to have some monkey chow on hand for the first few days and slowly wean him off it.

 

[Tom]

I doubt anything really bad will happen if he quits cold turkey, but I'd do it gradually over a few weeks just to be safe, if it were my tortoise.

 

[DeanS]

Hi there,

Tubby, aka "Honey Thunder," finally arrived in Florida from New York. He's beautiful, weighs about 50 lbs. The primary diet fed to him previously was monkey chow. Now he has 10 acres to graze on, but I have to ask: Will it hurt him to change his diet suddenly? Should I keep feeding him a little bit of monkey chow for a while, in addition to the grass he gets to eat? I know with dogs you're not supposed to switch them over to a new diet suddenly. I am assuming this might be the same for tortoises. ??? Any info or advice would be appreciated.

If he's grazing...it will not hurt him to drop the monkey chow. Is it Mazuri? Because...the ingredients are roughly the same...just tweaked here and there to make it more suitable from one species to the next...Mazuri for primates, elephants and hoofstock smell exactly the same as Mazuri for tortoises...makes you think, huh?!?!?

 

[ADVANceNA]

10 acres ?! awesome ! oh man he'll probably forget all about the chow shortly haha. pics by any chance ?