Grassland Tortoise Food Changed

TriciaStringer

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2018
Messages
1,186
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana
I like feeding my torts some Grassland Tortoise Pellets. I don’t do it often so my last container lasted almost a year. I bought a new one and upon soaking them, immediately noticed a difference. The old ones would puff up and keep their shape. My Russian eats them this way and my big sulcata could care less how it looks. The new ones start to disintegrate in the water while the middle of the pellet is still rock hard. I contacted Zoomed to find out what changed and they confirmed that they changed the formula and said they suggest I soak it longer and then put it through a food processor. Well, I’m about to find some Mazuri to buy. I’m wondering if they will have some at the reptile show I’m going to this Saturday.
 
Last edited:

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Well that is a bummer. I'm not going to mess with a food processor... They are going to lose their customer base when people figure this out.
 

T Smart

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
461
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, IL
I purchased the diet for the first time last week, and have had the same problem. Even after long soaks, the pellets need to be crushed down. The rest is lost in the water.

Thanks for posting this!
 

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
7,120
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
They better change back to the good old stuff pronto!!!:mad:
 

TriciaStringer

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2018
Messages
1,186
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana
Here is the email [email protected]

Please flood their email asking about the change and letting them know you are disappointed and will be looking for a new supplement.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
10,878
Well that is a bummer. I'm not going to mess with a food processor... They are going to lose their customer base when people figure this out.

That’s why they didn’t have any at the 2017 TTPG Conference this Nov. But I wonder why they didn’t tell us about it ?
 

TriciaStringer

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2018
Messages
1,186
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana
This was the email response I received.
 

Attachments

  • 65A477BF-E98F-48F8-BF34-ADF66BB0AA4F.png
    65A477BF-E98F-48F8-BF34-ADF66BB0AA4F.png
    130.8 KB · Views: 37

Kapidolo Farms

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
5,173
Location (City and/or State)
South of Southern California, but not Mexico
This was the email response I received.
Wow, and they ad pro-biotics which can be damaged by warm water. I wonder where on the range of temp from warm to hot starts to damage the pro-biotics.

I've been using their natural foods for awhile, I've not noticed the change, but I soak over night in the frig, just enough to make them soft, they are not submerged.

I place enough pellets to cover the bottom of a mushroom plastic box, add water that goes half way up the side of the pellet and stack many boxes of these up and place in the frig. make new ones and place on top, use the older ones on the bottom. Some may 'soak' for two or three days depending on how fast I go through it.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
10,878
I don't work for ZooMed. LOL, tell us what they tell you.

No ! I didn’t mean you should tell us . I ment they should have told us at the Nov. conference, that they where changing it . And brag about it . Not just sneak it buy us . Cause you know someone will let it out and how bad it will look !
 

SPILL

Active Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2018
Messages
149
Location (City and/or State)
Illinois
It has to soak quite a while longer. After soaking pinch any harder pieces and roll them between your fingers while holding in the water. Inconvenient for those with a large collection, but it works for mine.
 

Kapidolo Farms

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
5,173
Location (City and/or State)
South of Southern California, but not Mexico
The Label from 2012 as posted here on TFO... https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-zoomed-pellet-challenge.64528/
The label as I did a copy and paste today 11 January 2019... https://zoomed.com/natural-grassland-tortoise-food/

I made the additions to the 2019 ingredients I see in bold text. What appears to have been removed in the italics from the old 2012 ingredients.

2012, 2019

Suncured Oat Hay, Suncured Timothy Hay
Suncured Timothy Hay, Wheat Middlings
Soybean Hulls, Almond Hull Meal
Wheat Middlings, Miscanthus Ground Grass
Suncured Alfalfa Meal, Suncured Alfalfa Meal
Whole Ground Wheat, Ground Wheat
Escarole, Calcium Carbonate
Endive, Escarole
Calcium Carbonate, Endive
Monocalcium Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate
Dicalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate
Yeast Culture, Dried Dandelion Greens
Dandelion Greens (dried), Sodium Bicarbonate
Sodium Bicarbonate,
Soy Lecithin,

Direct-Fed Microorganisms (heat stable cultures of Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product
Lactobacillus acidophilus, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product
Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Dried Bifidobacterium bifidum Fermentation Product
Enterococcus faecium, Aspergillus oryzae), Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product

Yeast Extract, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate
Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate, Hydrolyzed Yeast
Garlic Extract, Brewers Dried Yeast
Anise Extract, Yeast Culture
Cassia Extract (Chinese), Garlic Extract
Ginger Extract, Anise Extract
Horseradish Extract, Chinese Cassia Bark Extract
Juniper Extract, Ginger Extract
Natural Flavoring, Horseradish
Marigold (petal extract), Juniper Extract
Yucca schidigera (whole plant powder), Yucca schidigera Extract
L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of stabilized Vitamin C), L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of stabilized Vitamin C)
Zinc Methionine Complex, Vitamin E Supplement
Selenium Yeast, Zinc Methionine Complex
Vitamin E Supplement, Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative)
Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract
Rosemary Extract, Ascorbic Acid
Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid (a preservative)
Citric Acid, Lecithin
Lecithin, Silicon Dioxide
Silicon Dioxide, Choline Chloride
Choline Chloride, Vitamin A Supplement
Vitamin A Supplement (Retinyl Acetate), Vitamin D3 Supplement
Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin Supplement
Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate (source of Vitamin B5)
d-Calcium Pantothenate (source of Vitamin B5), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity)
Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2)
Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1)
Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6)
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Biotin
Biotin, Folic Acid
Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement
Vitamin B12 Supplement, Zinc Oxide
Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide
Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate
Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Chloride
Tribasic Copper Chloride, Calcium Iodate
Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite
Sodium Selenite.

Of the top few ingredients .......
Oat hay out - Timothy hay in,
Soy hulls out - Almond hulls in
- Miscanthus Ground Grass in (link is to wikipedia, nothing I found about it in Feedipedia)

I'm glad to see what may be more calcium carbonate.

I see that after I posted this TFO editor messed it up. The comma in each line is the separation of 2012 from 2019, more or less.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I tried to figure out how to save the format, but no matter if I save it as a photo or as a document, once it's posted to the Forum, it comes out like yours, even though it is 'saved' on my computer in your original format. I guess it takes more computer savvy than mine to figure out this one. Sorry, William.
 

TriciaStringer

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2018
Messages
1,186
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana
Wow, and they ad pro-biotics which can be damaged by warm water. I wonder where on the range of temp from warm to hot starts to damage the pro-biotics.

I've been using their natural foods for awhile, I've not noticed the change, but I soak over night in the frig, just enough to make them soft, they are not submerged.

I place enough pellets to cover the bottom of a mushroom plastic box, add water that goes half way up the side of the pellet and stack many boxes of these up and place in the frig. make new ones and place on top, use the older ones on the bottom. Some may 'soak' for two or three days depending on how fast I go through it.
I’m going to try that. Thanks.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
10,878
Thank you Will
The new seams to have a lot of sodium in it witch I don’t like . And I noticed the posting is missing the sodium content :IMG_3078.jpg
 

g4mobile

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2018
Messages
208
Location (City and/or State)
Fort Lauderdale, FL
I like feeding my torts some Grassland Tortoise Pellets. I don’t do it often so my last container lasted almost a year. I bought a new one and upon soaking them, immediately noticed a difference. The old ones would puff up and keep their shape. My Russian eats them this way and my big sulcata could care less how it looks. The new ones start to disintegrate in the water while the middle of the pellet is still rock hard. I contacted Zoomed to find out what changed and they confirmed that they changed the formula and said they suggest I soak it longer and then put it through a food processor. Well, I’m about to find some Mazuri to buy. I’m wondering if they will have some at the reptile show I’m going to this Saturday.
I had the same experience, so only using Mazuri now.
 

New Posts

Top