1 Year Old Sulcata Tortoise

jus3472

New Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Bayside, New York
Hi everyone, I bought my Sulcata tortoise about a year ago. So far he has grown only an inch and is now 4 inches old. I was concerned that he/she hasn't been growing as much due to the diet I've been giving him. I heard that a 1 year old Sulcata should be around 6 - 8 inches if kept healthy and well. To be completely honest, I've only been feeding him romaine lettuce for the most part; although I do bring him outside to the yard every day to eat grasses and dandelions. Occasionally I feed him watermelon too. Are there any other foods I should be feeding him? I started to grow prickly pear cactus, but they seem to thick for him to chew through at the moment.
 

Srmcclure

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Mar 10, 2020
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1,791
Location (City and/or State)
Oklahoma city
Read through this ?
And this

That'll help you out a whole lot
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
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Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hi everyone, I bought my Sulcata tortoise about a year ago. So far he has grown only an inch and is now 4 inches old. I was concerned that he/she hasn't been growing as much due to the diet I've been giving him. I heard that a 1 year old Sulcata should be around 6 - 8 inches if kept healthy and well. To be completely honest, I've only been feeding him romaine lettuce for the most part; although I do bring him outside to the yard every day to eat grasses and dandelions. Occasionally I feed him watermelon too. Are there any other foods I should be feeding him? I started to grow prickly pear cactus, but they seem to thick for him to chew through at the moment.
Hello and welcome. Most of the care advice given for this species is wrong. Read what srmcclure linked for you, and then feel free to ask lots of questions.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
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Clovis, CA
Think about this: when a human wants to go on a diet, he turns to eating a lot of lettuce. So you want your sulcata to grow, but you've only been feeding him a food item with little to no nutrition.

There are lots of different things you should be feeding your little guy. Choose several from this list:

Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food
 

mastershake

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Jan 19, 2018
Messages
585
Location (City and/or State)
Florida
The main thing romaine has is water content. Def need better diet as said above
 

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