What their eating

Gerri

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My 18 month old sulcatas walk around on my lanai, (SW Florida) and eat all the lizard poop and dead bugs, they love it, so I got them some dried worms as a treat, and they are just eating it up like crazy and they seem to be growing like crazy they still eat the lettuce and all the healthy stuff for them but is it okay if they eat this? I mean I guess they would be eating it in the wild, they don't seem to have any problem, the only problem I have is since now they're eating meat their poop stinks to high heaven, LOL
 

EllieMay

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My 18 month old sulcatas walk around on my lanai, (SW Florida) and eat all the lizard poop and dead bugs, they love it, so I got them some dried worms as a treat, and they are just eating it up like crazy and they seem to be growing like crazy they still eat the lettuce and all the healthy stuff for them but is it okay if they eat this? I mean I guess they would be eating it in the wild, they don't seem to have any problem, the only problem I have is since now they're eating meat their poop stinks to high heaven, LOL

I have not heard of this before so I can’t give you an answer... but I have questions:) you said SulcataS plural... so do you have clutchmates? How do you keep them? Will you post a picture of them? Mine are only 5-1/2 months
 

Big Charlie

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Sulcatas are opportunistic eaters. Occasionally they will find carrion in the wild and eat it. I don't believe meat should make a significant part of their diet. There was a discussion about this in the debate section of the forum about a year ago, I believe. I wouldn't let them eat poop from any animal. They could catch some disease that way.

Do you soak your sulcatas daily? That enclosure looks very dry.
 

TammyJ

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Welcome to this site, Gerri!

Lettuce will not give them much nutrition. Please check the care and specific diet sheets for sulcatas. They look dry, and their shells are pyramiding from lack of humidity.

I would not allow them to eat lizard poop, which may have parasites etc.

All the best!
 

Minority2

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Your enclosure's walls are way too low. A couple months and those sulcatas may be able to climb over them. Is this their only enclosure?

Also it is generally not recommended to house tortoises in pairs. Tortoises will fight each other for food, heat, and shelter. Tortoises are moody and territorial. A tortoise will often bully or harass another in a small enclosed space until the weaker one no longer is able to fight back.
 

Tom

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Gerri, please forgive the lecture, but everyone here wants what is best for tortoises and you are making several grave errors. We don't want to upset you, but we do want to help you avoid mistakes that may kill your tortoises.

Most tortoises are opportunistic feeders, but its up to us to feed them the correct foods. Some bugs are toxic. Many insects are dead because they were poisoned by someone else in your area. Under no circumstance should you be allowing your tortoises to eat dead bugs outside. This is likely to result in their death.

Similarly, eating feces from wild reptiles is likely to introduce parasites and pathogens. This should never intentionally be allowed.

Sulcatas need a diet high in fiber. They are grazing plant eaters. Not insectivores. While I might like ice cream covered in whipped cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles, I am not an ice creamivore, and ice cream isn't the best diet for me. The small size of a tortoise and their extremely long GI tract makes them even less able to deal with inappropriate foods than a large omnivorous primate like me. Like wise, lettuce is not an appropriate food either. Here is what you should be feeding your sulcatas: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Tortoises should never be housed in pairs. Groups of juveniles can sometimes work, but not pairs. One always loses and it is chronically stressful on both of them.

Your tortoises are mildly pyramided and a quarter of the size an 18 month old should be. I would separate them, take fecal samples to a local reptile vet, treat them for parasites if needed, and start feeding them the correct foods for this species.

Here is some care info to offer more explanation and hopefully discover and correct any other errors that may be occurring.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
 

Gerri

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Gerri, please forgive the lecture, but everyone here wants what is best for tortoises and you are making several grave errors. We don't want to upset you, but we do want to help you avoid mistakes that may kill your tortoises.

Most tortoises are opportunistic feeders, but its up to us to feed them the correct foods. Some bugs are toxic. Many insects are dead because they were poisoned by someone else in your area. Under no circumstance should you be allowing your tortoises to eat dead bugs outside. This is likely to result in their death.

Similarly, eating feces from wild reptiles is likely to introduce parasites and pathogens. This should never intentionally be allowed.

Sulcatas need a diet high in fiber. They are grazing plant eaters. Not insectivores. While I might like ice cream covered in whipped cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles, I am not an ice creamivore, and ice cream isn't the best diet for me. The small size of a tortoise and their extremely long GI tract makes them even less able to deal with inappropriate foods than a large omnivorous primate like me. Like wise, lettuce is not an appropriate food either. Here is what you should be feeding your sulcatas: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Tortoises should never be housed in pairs. Groups of juveniles can sometimes work, but not pairs. One always loses and it is chronically stressful on both of them.

Your tortoises are mildly pyramided and a quarter of the size an 18 month old should be. I would separate them, take fecal samples to a local reptile vet, treat them for parasites if needed, and start feeding them the correct foods for this species.

Here is some care info to offer more explanation and hopefully discover and correct any other errors that may be occurring.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
 

Gerri

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Welcome to this site, Gerri!

Lettuce will not give them much nutrition. Please check the care and specific diet sheets for sulcatas. They look dry, and their shells are pyramiding from lack of humidity.

I would not allow them to eat lizard poop, which may have parasites etc.

All the best!
This is not their normal enclosure, it's rainy season here in Southwest Florida and one storm can have them floating away, and I do not let them purposely eat lizard poop but when they walk around they just seem to go and eat it so now I sweep all the time before they go walk around, I only have a pair of them because I am a nurse and the people next door to my patient I guess thought they would be cute to have and then decided they were moving back to Massachusetts and kind of left them with me and moved. they eat very good stuff the healthy greens and grape leaves, cactus flats, hibiscus, everything a tortoise should have, but keep info coming, I appreciate it.
 

TammyJ

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This is not their normal enclosure, it's rainy season here in Southwest Florida and one storm can have them floating away, and I do not let them purposely eat lizard poop but when they walk around they just seem to go and eat it so now I sweep all the time before they go walk around, I only have a pair of them because I am a nurse and the people next door to my patient I guess thought they would be cute to have and then decided they were moving back to Massachusetts and kind of left them with me and moved. they eat very good stuff the healthy greens and grape leaves, cactus flats, hibiscus, everything a tortoise should have, but keep info coming, I appreciate it.
Good for you for taking them in! Thanks on their behalf.
 

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