This evening Stump had 4 plates of a bedtime "snack" after his bubble bath. I've started using something lightly scented so the bubbles carry the dirt away a...
It's Aveeno. What I'm doing it two-fold. What protein skimmers have taught me over a couple decades of having saltwater tanks is that dirt is carried away by bubbles (the same way wastes and protein is removed from water) and the Aveeno product is for babies so "no tears" and it has a very light scent which helps him not smell like a farm animal but... the dirt around is shell AND ON THE TUB is easily rinsed because sediment attaches itself to the small bubbles.
Tonight was absolutely ridiculous. He had a large plate with a cup of Mazuri and calcium when he got up today, about 6-8 huge plates worth of grass and weeds outside before he came in and then 4 more for a "snack" after his soak like he hadn't eaten in days. By this fall it HAS to be a couple flakes of hay or just the grass and weeds in the yard. The grocery thing is not sustainable and even if I planted stuff for him to eat, he could eat the whole garden in a few days.
I can't imaging what this one would eat when he is a large growing adult...
I am thankful that I live in Florida. Now that Opo really likes grazing on grass. He has the whole backyard to himself. He spends hrs grazing so I have definitely cut back on the grocery greens. I have planted a few small plots of pasture seed. So I can cut plate fulls for Opo. Also have 6 large cactus plants. With all that plus mazuri and the occasional squash. Opo has plenty of food. I am going to grow some dandelion also. I forgot the hibiscus flowers also. I guess what I am saying is. I spent a lot of money on grocery greens. Now that Opo is bigger. I am not spending much money at the grocery store. 80% of his diet comes from grazing.
I am thankful that I live in Florida. Now that Opo really likes grazing on grass. He has the whole backyard to himself. He spends hrs grazing so I have definitely cut back on the grocery greens. I have planted a few small plots of pasture seed. So I can cut plate fulls for Opo. Also have 6 large cactus plants. With all that plus mazuri and the occasional squash. Opo has plenty of food. I am going to grow some dandelion also. I forgot the hibiscus flowers also. I guess what I am saying is. I spent a lot of money on grocery greens. Now that Opo is bigger. I am not spending much money at the grocery store. 80% of his diet comes from grazing.
While not in Florida for some reason our grass here in south central PA is green year round and I'd say a good 60% of his food is grass and weeds from the yard. Even the little one just under 1lb. gets chopped grass in the greens. The problem here is the routine.
This one would stay in his soft cave until 1:00 or he poops OR gets hungry.
He gets a plate when he gets up, we have hibiscus (7 plants now), cactus plants, chips from Will, etc. that are on his first plate but he needs to go out in the AM rather than 1pm-5pm or so and begin with grass. If my wife puts him out he knows that it's eating only. If I take him out early from her office, he wants to walk... "on the road again"... or to the back yard and he doesn't eat while he's walking. He eats after we come back from walking.
I'm amazed that he doesn't have pee or poop "accidents". He poops in the office daily OR the soak very occasionally now and always pees and urates in the tub during the start of the 2nd fill of hot water. This is 95% of the time.
He'll grow out of the grocery thing and that's good because he will eat 4 bok choi and 2 heads of radicchio at a sitting which is close to $5.
As Opo got older he ate grass more. He used to scratch on the door. So I would bring food out to him. Now he hardly scratches the door. He has found out he doesn't have to beg for food. When he has a back yard full of grass.
