Amount of Food for Baby Sulcata

[cwharris911]

Hey guys, First post here as I am now the proud owner of a new baby sulcata. I got him Saturday but he does not seem to be eating very much, I can get him to eat a couple of pieces of Kale greens but I was under the impression they eat a lot. Is there anything in particular that I should look at to get him to eat more? He has a shallow water dish as well as a humid hide so I do not think he is dehydrated, any insight from someone more experienced than me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jpmcclure]

I'm still new here and learning myself but I do know that if you go to the "stickies" tab above, there's a wealth of info on babies in there. Welcome aboard!!

 

[Zamric]

Alot? That relative to size! If he's a little guy, "alot" could be a couple of pieces of kale.... Have you tried other leafy greens? cactus? Dandilions?

check this link out....
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies#ixzz24nrtioak

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-AFRICAN-SPURRED-TORTOISE-SULCATA-CARE-SHEET#ixzz24ns9pYpf

 

[wellington]

Feed him a wide variety diet. Spring mix, dandelion greens, endive, cactus, hibiscus flowers, rose of Sharon flowers, roses, clover, grasses, Mazuri tortoise diet, just to name a few. Also, if you haven't, check out the threads at the bottom of my post a great way to raise a healthy smooth sulcata.

 

[cwharris911]

Thanks, I have read all the what to feed him posts, just did not see much on the lines of how much and was worried because the second day I had him be barely ate anything, but today he finished most of his Kale and some of his cactus. I currently have Thomas grass hay and fresh Kale greens with some cactus pads chopped up as well as some cucumber thrown in for good measure but he doesn't seem to like the cucumber.

 

[BigD9]

My tortoise is a year && a half && his favorite is Romain lettuce && squash, maybe try that?!

 

[Dizisdalife]

Welcome and glad that you are here. Keep offering as much variety of foods as you can. Healthy babies will not starve themselves. When my sulcata was a baby I noticed that one day he wouldn't eat kale and the next day it seemed to be his favorite food. It was really frustrating trying to get him to eat what I was offering. Be patient. The guideline I was given was that they would eat a pile of greens about equal to their size. Babies don't seem to be interested in hay of any sort. Maybe it is an acquired taste. Now that he is 2 1/2 years he eats some hay and lots of grass.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking spot and night? They lose their appetite if temps are not right.

Kale is not a great food for babies and neither is cucumber. Try some Costco spring mix or some red and green leaf lettuce. Try some Mazuri. Ask the breeder what he was eating before you got him. The best foods are weeds and fresh, finely chopped grass from outside. Try mallow, dandelion, clover, filaree, hawks bit, prickly lettuce, wild onion and garlic, wild mustard, sow thistle, etc....

Find some tender young grass shoots and chop them up super fine with scissors. Sprinkle this on top of everything else. You can also try hibiscus, mulberry and grape leaves. Just make sure all your outside sources are free of chemicals like pesticides and weed killers.

 

[cwharris911]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations, Sheldon seems to be eating much better now. I am feeding him fresh Bermuda grass clippings mixed in with misc greens and always a couple of slices of cactus for the high calcium and he really seems to love them. I have ordered some of the powdered weeds mix from Carolina pet supply to help supplement the lack of weeds available to me.

His temps are about 85 all day with a basking spot of about 100, at night it dips to around 75 since I am only using a light for heat at the moment but have ordered a thermostat and ceramic heat emitter to keep it up a little higher at night, especially with winter coming up and the ambient temps will be going down in the room he stays in.

He is eating, pooping, and wandering around aimlessly much more now than when I first got him 2 weeks ago.