Anyone feed hay?

[acrantophis]

I saw dry Bermuda grass and hay at the feed store. Good/bad?

 

[yazzy1012]

I did feed mine Bermuda hay but only during the winter when the grass is not grown in for him to graze on. You have to soak it or wet it down and depending on the size of your sulcata you may need to cut it down into smaller pieces. Definitely good for them though.

 

[Tom]

Anyone NOT feed hay? In my opinion, grass hay should be a staple for any sulcata of juvenile size or bigger. I have been using bermuda for years, but recently I'm giving orchard grass hay another try and liking it. I feed my sulcatas all sorts of things, plus they can graze on all the stuff growing in their pens, but they always have a pile of hay in there too. Even during the high weed season, that pile slowly disappears. In summer, when the weeds are all dried up, the pile disappears even faster.

You can feed it dry, but make sure they have a shallow, sunk into the ground, water source. Not a bad idea to soak them once in a while too, even as adults. I've tried rehydrating my hay and my tortoises don't seem to care one way or the other.

 

[Missy]

Yep I feed orchard grass hay every other day all winter.

 

[drgnfly2265]

I feed Bowser timothy hay.

 

[acrantophis]

Great! I have a good source nearby. My small 40'x8' patch of grass needs a break every few days to re-grow. This is good news.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I keep a large pile of locally grown grass hay for Bob to eat and sleep in and generally just throw around inside his shed. Bob loves the stuff and he prefers the grass hay to alfalfa.

 

[cemmons12]

I also use Timothy hay. I have not found any bermuda local yet... :/

 

[Morty the Torty]

At what age should we start feeding hay? Morty is 10 months old, should I start now?

 

[Tom]

At what age should we start feeding hay? Morty is 10 months old, should I start now?

You can start anytime. For hatchlings and babies just put some grass hay into a blender or a magic bullet to finely chop it up. Then sprinkle some onto some pre wetted greens and mix it all up. This will get them used to the taste, smell and texture. For older ones I just chop some hay with scissors, rehydrate it by soaking for a bit, and then mix it in with favorite foods. Once they are around a foot long or so, most of them will start eating it plain and dry. Like any other food, some will take to it quicker than others. If they are an indoor tortoise that has been fed nothing but grocery store greens their whole life, they will likely take longer to get used to it. If they have been outside their whole lives and sampling dried up grasses and weeds in their outdoor enclosure for years already, they will likely take to the dry hay much quicker.

 

[Jacob]

Yes you just need to get your tortoise a nack for it
Tom couldnt have explained it any better!

 

[mary t]

You can start anytime. For hatchlings and babies just put some grass hay into a blender or a magic bullet to finely chop it up. Then sprinkle some onto some pre wetted greens and mix it all up. This will get them used to the taste, smell and texture. For older ones I just chop some hay with scissors, rehydrate it by soaking for a bit, and then mix it in with favorite foods. Once they are around a foot long or so, most of them will start eating it plain and dry. Like any other food, some will take to it quicker than others. If they are an indoor tortoise that has been fed nothing but grocery store greens their whole life, they will likely take longer to get used to it. If they have been outside their whole lives and sampling dried up grasses and weeds in their outdoor enclosure for years already, they will likely take to the dry hay much quicker.

Tom did nail it.. I adopted Willie he had never been outside alway feed lettuce for 6 years. I followed Toms advice and he is now outside and gets a variety of greens and weeds, grass and hay. Now I spoil mine with orchard hay. That's his favorite. Sometimes I put a bunch in his bowl w greens sometimes with grass out of the yard other times just with a few flowers to add color. Wet or dry he tears it up... It took me about 4-5 months off adding it slowly like Tom suggested and now no problem at all.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Got hay!