Arcadia Optimised52 Tortoise Food

[LudusPlus]

Hi, I just heard about this tortoise food from Arcadia which I think is pretty new.

Has anyone tried this food? If it looks good I may try it. My tortoise is actually not fussy but he will not touch other dried food ive offered so im not sure if itd be worth a shot.

This appears to be cheaper than me getting weeds shipped and I'm yet to start my own forage/home grown food so any advice appreciated. I know arcadia make decent hardware (I have their light holders) but not sure on food.

 

[LudusPlus]

Sorry if this was already asked. Nothing was suggested but I do see a similar thread asking how to make a tort eat this food and it seems suitable.

Could this be a substitute diet if I mix with store bought greens only?

 

[wellington]

Looks good to me. But always make stuff like that a part of the diet, not the whole diet.
Anything you feed that he doesn't want to eat has to be slowly tricked into his diet. You add small amounts of the new item, soaked or chopped up small. Mix it into chopped up regular diet and spritz with water so everything sticks together. Slowly adding more and more of the new stuff and less of the regular stuff. Once he starts eating all of it together and not avoiding the new stuff, you can then just feed as normal. It takes patience and some time, maybe weeks, but it usually always works.

 

[Ink]

My leopard likes it. Soak the food and add it with greens. This is what I do.

 

[Tom]

Hi, I just heard about this tortoise food from Arcadia which I think is pretty new.

Has anyone tried this food? If it looks good I may try it. My tortoise is actually not fussy but he will not touch other dried food ive offered so im not sure if itd be worth a shot.

This appears to be cheaper than me getting weeds shipped and I'm yet to start my own forage/home grown food so any advice appreciated. I know arcadia make decent hardware (I have their light holders) but not sure on food.

I've never used this food, but it looks like it would be a good way to add some fiber and variety to the diet when used periodically.

The other dried foods you offered are probably also fine as part of a varied diet, but as Wellington explained, you need to soak those items and introduce them gradually over time. Tortoises are creatures of habit. They eat what they've eaten before. It takes time to introduce new foods, even when the new food is a good food. Start with tiny tiny amounts of the new stuff, and gradually add more over a period of weeks or months.

 

[PollyAda]

What species of tortoise do you have?
I bought some to try my testudo species on and offer it mixed in with fresh foods, as other members have mentioned.

Pre Alpin Testudo Original is also a good choice for upping fibre intake. I mash a few soaked pellets of Nutrazu (European equivalent of Mazuri) in with either to tempt my tortoises. My yearlings seem to dislike the longer strands in the fibrous mixes, but we are making progress!

 

[LudusPlus]

What species of tortoise do you have?
I bought some to try my testudo species on and offer it mixed in with fresh foods, as other members have mentioned.

Pre Alpin Testudo Original is also a good choice for upping fibre intake. I mash a few soaked pellets of Nutrazu (European equivalent of Mazuri) in with either to tempt my tortoises. My yearlings seem to dislike the longer strands in the fibrous mixes, but we are making progress!

Hi, I have a Russian (I think that's also testudo?)

The only thing that isn't fresh that I've tried is Komodo fruit & flower (meh) & dried flowers but no luck so far.

I think I'll definitely be ordering this one from Arcadia and taking everyone's advice. He isn't picky on fresh at all- he tries new safe foods almost every day (his old diet was just lettuce so lots of room to experiment lol).

 

[Ink]

I purchased mine from @Kapidolo Farms with other items.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

I purchased mine from @Kapidolo Farms with other items.

Thank you.

 

[LudusPlus]

Thank you.

Do you ship to the UK or US only?

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Do you ship to the UK or US only?

I do ship to the UK, for whatever reason the price becomes prohibitive. You might try some Amazon, Arcadia is a UK company, It might be an even better price there.

 

[LudusPlus]

Went ahead and ordered this. Just incase anyone was curious what it looks like.

This is 1/2 a portion for duncans size so I can serve with greens and get him to try it. (He doesn't eat out of this leaf bowl it was just a decent size and had edges to hold the water).

 

[WillB]

I have trouble feeding my Star with this. He just sticks to Mazuri Original pellets although the arcadia one looks much healthier/organic. I even tried mixing the two together but he just won't touch it... He wouldn't touch his normal fresh greens if I were to mix it with the arcadia food..

Let me know if you had any lucks with your tortoise.

Best,
Will

 

[quatre5]

ive tried it with mine and both couldnt care less for it. Even mixed in mazuri they wont touch it, but eat wild weeds and grasses happily. Same with the herbal hey stuff, wont touch it but no problem eating flowers.

 

[Tom]

I have trouble feeding my Star with this. He just sticks to Mazuri Original pellets although the arcadia one looks much healthier/organic. I even tried mixing the two together but he just won't touch it... He wouldn't touch his normal fresh greens if I were to mix it with the arcadia food..

Let me know if you had any lucks with your tortoise.

Best,
Will

ive tried it with mine and both couldnt care less for it. Even mixed in mazuri they wont touch it, but eat wild weeds and grasses happily. Same with the herbal hey stuff, wont touch it but no problem eating flowers.

You are both trying to move too fast. There should be so little of the new stuff to start with that the tortoise can't even tell its there. If you are mixing it half and half, or enough that there are large visible pieces and clumps of the new stuff, the tortoise isn't going to eat it. You want just the equivalent of a tiny pinch mixed in with a whole pile of chopped favorite greens. The process of gradually adding more takes weeks or months in some cases. This is what Wellington meant when he said you have to "trick' them into eating it at first. Very very tiny little amounts at first.

 

[WillB]

I've given up on trying to feed em the mix because of exactly that. I'll try just adding a miniscule amount now and see if that works. thanks for the suggestion Tom!

 

[Tom]

I've given up on trying to feed em the mix because of exactly that. I'll try just adding a miniscule amount now and see if that works. thanks for the suggestion Tom!

Let us know how it goes and what you learn.

If there is so little of the new stuff that it is hardly there, the tortoise won't refuse to eat its food. I think most people, myself included before I learned all of this, expect to put out a new great food and have a tortoise eat it on day one. Like giving a hot dog to a dog. They just know its food and eat it, but tortoises don't work that way. Most people start with way too much of the new food and give up after a few days or a few tries, incorrectly concluding that the tortoise does't like it or won't eat it.

It took me two months to introduce ZooMed Grassland the first time I tried it. I don't know why I didn't just give up, but I'm glad I didn't. In time those tortoises grew to love it and would literally lick the crumbs off the plate.