Both! I grow my own grass and mix it with the Testudo mix myself. I have lots of plots of the testudo mix growing and it is FANTASTIC stuff. A 4x4' plot will fill a 5 gallon bucket every two weeks in summer here.
Advice on transitioning a 3 month old sulcata to grass.
- Thread starter edricivan
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Both! I grow my own grass and mix it with the Testudo mix myself. I have lots of plots of the testudo mix growing and it is FANTASTIC stuff. A 4x4' plot will fill a 5 gallon bucket every two weeks in summer here.
AZSid
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Tom has the Testudo listed on the food list for babies so I bought that and then bought the grassland to mix in and make a bigger variety.
AZSid
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I also ordered them from Ebay for far cheaper!
edricivan
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For the exact same stuff? Cheaper than their site?
You will be astounded and probably a little afraid. Many sulcata owners have a little mini panic attack as their baby grows and reaches about 10". They momentarily freak out when they consider how they are going to feed this monster for the next few decades... They can eat a lot. This is where lots of grass and grass hay becomes very valuable. Its really good for them, and it makes a lot of bulk too. They can eat a pile of greens twice their own size.
edricivan
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As of the moment I'm fortunate enough to be able to watch him (or get someone to watch) in the morning for his daily stroll+uv+graze. He's been eating the frog grass in our garden. I let him eat as much as he can before he starts to just walk around. After his soak I put him back and also place grass in his enclosure so he can nibble throughout the day. Is this ok? I'm basically letting him eat at will.
I just ordered a bag of testudo and african grass seed mixes. I won't be getting them for a couple of weeks so until then I'll be planting carabao grass, bermuda and wheat grass.
This is ideal. They should be able to graze freely all day long, whenever they want, especially if they are getting a good grassy weedy diet like the one yours is getting.
The one in the rear looks like Spathyphyllum or another aroid. I would not leave it in the enclosure.
I till my soil with a shovel in the area I want to plant. If the soil needs amending, I add that in and mix it all up thoroughly. Then I smooth it all out with a sand rake. I sprinkle my seeds around by hand, then cover them with about a quarter inch of loose soil. Finally, I water it a bunch and I keep the soil wet for several days while the seeds germinate and begin to sprout. In summer in my hot dry climate this means I have to water every couple of hours some days. Once they get started I can back off and water more normally.
If you are doing this inside the tortoises pen, it would be a good idea to block it off so the tortoise does not have access to it until the plants gain some size. Sulcatas can mow down vegetation at amazing rates.
If you are doing this inside the tortoises pen, it would be a good idea to block it off so the tortoise does not have access to it until the plants gain some size. Sulcatas can mow down vegetation at amazing rates.
I think they will sprout just fine in coco peat, but I'm not sure there is enough nutrient content to support much growth. I'm no expert in this area, so give it a try and see how well it works for you.
I have tried to plant in coco peat before. I found that the plants all sprout really well and fast, but they dont get very big. I dont think there is enough nutrients in the soid to support growth past the sprout phase.
franz_see
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Hi @edricivan , you can try some of the local pet shops that keep tortoises as well (we have those in PTE), some of them sell mazuri. However, might be shortage right now. As you know, we have some port congestion going on right now.
Luckily, december is right around the corner. Lots of friends and families would be flying back for the holidays
You can have a close friend/family checked it in (if you have seeds, just dont declare them hehe )Hard to say when a keeper is overfeeding his/her tortoise. But definitely, they cant be overfed if they're mainly grazing
I'd love to see how you grow them
I tried cocopeat, and it grew really well first 3 weeks. But after that, nutrients gets depleted and new seeds planted on it dont grow to well
franz_see
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@edricivan here's how i used to put grass inside my sullies enclosure (now, I can't keep up with them ) https://www.facebook.com/iseetort/posts/1030799213597867
I plant the seeds in trays containing cocopeat, then after 2-3 weeks, I put them inside the enclosure so that my sullies can graze on them
Also, if you have a yard/garden, you can cut up some grass and store them for feeding later on I actually bought a blender/chopper so that I can put the grass in there to be cut down finer. That way, if I mixed it with other stuff (like mazuri or whatnot), they'll have a hard time picking just want they want
https://www.facebook.com/iseetort/posts/1054587374552384
) https://www.facebook.com/iseetort/posts/1030799213597867
I plant the seeds in trays containing cocopeat, then after 2-3 weeks, I put them inside the enclosure so that my sullies can graze on them
Also, if you have a yard/garden, you can cut up some grass and store them for feeding later on
I actually bought a blender/chopper so that I can put the grass in there to be cut down finer. That way, if I mixed it with other stuff (like mazuri or whatnot), they'll have a hard time picking just want they want https://www.facebook.com/iseetort/posts/1054587374552384
edricivan
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@edricivan here's how i used to put grass inside my sullies enclosure (now, I can't keep up with them
I plant the seeds in trays containing cocopeat, then after 2-3 weeks, I put them inside the enclosure so that my sullies can graze on them
Also, if you have a yard/garden, you can cut up some grass and store them for feeding later on
https://www.facebook.com/iseetort/posts/1054587374552384
Where do you buy those trays for the grass to grow in? Do you just use coco peat?
franz_see
Active Member
Office supply shops
they're like pen holders or something I just used cocopeat in those photos. It worked for the first batch of seeds, they grow really fast within the first 3 weeks. But after harvesting those grass (or after being grazed on), if you plant additional seeds, the growth becomes slower. And it goes slower and slower as you reuse the same cocopeat because nutrients are getting depleted. I havent figured out how to make it sustainable though. I have a black thumb
hehehe
edricivan
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I bought organic soil (with compost) and put them in these containers. I then added testudo mix and african grazer seeds from tortoise supply. Plus another half inch of soil on top. This is 6 days after. So stoked for these to flourish so I can start feeding them to Nicco.
This is fantastic. Every tortoise should be so lucky to have an owner like you!
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