Diet over winter

[kirsty Johnston]

Hello Everyone!
As per the advice of my good friends on the TFO I am going to overwinter Beastie this year. As I have just moved home he is a little stressed and I don't want to make things worse by hibernating him - especially when the prep is due to start soon.
I do have some concerns though - winters in Scotland are cold and there's only around 6(ish) hours of sunlight a day - I want to make my preparations now so things go as well as possible.
My biggest concern is that all the weeds and flowers are dead! I have ordered a weed growing kit online and will try to make some from home but I'm sure that won't be sufficient for the whole winter. Is there any recommendations on what I could feed him? I don't want to be giving him things that aren't healthy- I worked really hard when I got him to get him off supermarket food and dry pellets.
Any help would be appreciated!

 

[dmmj]

in the States is called spring mix over there I believe it called rocket salad makes the good food source for winter time would it be possible to grow some weed inside your house? Also please remind me what species are we talking about

 

[Prairie Mom]

Start digging up and potting weeds and flowers now. Make yourself a pot of dandelions and other weeds your tortoise likes to eat. Do your best to leave the roots in tact. You could also dig up clumps of grass and pot them. Place them in a sunny window or use fluorescent grow light tube.

If you have access to grape or mulberry leaves, you could pick them, dry them, and save them to be crumpled and mixed into your tortoises other greens or pellet food.

Also, grass is super easy to grow indoors. Get any kind of plain lawn grass seed that isn't fertilized. You will have an easier time if you can get lawn grass seed that is made for shady areas. I have a bag that is simply labeled "shade grass." -These can be grown in trays of potting soil and clipped and fed to your tortoise. You can also order organic wheat and barley seeds online on Amazon. They grow nice nutritious grass blades of grass very quickly. All of these seeds do great in a bright window. The lawn grass will continue to grow and can be clipped as needed. The wheat and barley seeds will need to be reseeded when feed them.

I grow A LOT of food for my tortoise over the winter, so feel free to get in touch if you need help or suggestions for more food. I also have supplemented with lettuces like dmmj suggested as well as soaked Mazuri pellets.

 

[kirsty Johnston]

in the States is called spring mix over there I believe it called rocket salad makes the good food source for winter time would it be possible to grow some weed inside your house? Also please remind me what species are we talking about

Sorry beastie is a Greek Ibera.
I ordered a weed growing kit today however every time I try to grow them I fail miserably so want to have contingencies in case I am unsuccessful again. Yes I know what rocket is and I'll add it to my list which is building quickly thanks very much!

 

[kirsty Johnston]

Start digging up and potting weeds and flowers now. Make yourself a pot of dandelions and other weeds your tortoise likes to eat. Do your best to leave the roots in tact. You could also dig up clumps of grass and pot them. Place them in a sunny window or use fluorescent grow light tube.

If you have access to grape or mulberry leaves, you could pick them, dry them, and save them to be crumpled and mixed into your tortoises other greens or pellet food.

Also, grass is super easy to grow indoors. Get any kind of plain lawn grass seed that isn't fertilized. You will have an easier time if you can get lawn grass seed that is made for shady areas. I have a bag that is simply labeled "shade grass." -These can be grown in trays of potting soil and clipped and fed to your tortoise. You can also order organic wheat and barley seeds online on Amazon. They grow nice nutritious grass blades of grass very quickly. All of these seeds do great in a bright window. The lawn grass will continue to grow and can be clipped as needed. The wheat and barley seeds will need to be reseeded when feed them.

I grow A LOT of food for my tortoise over the winter, so feel free to get in touch if you need help or suggestions for more food. I also have supplemented with lettuces like dmmj suggested as well as soaked Mazuri pellets.

This is really helpful! Thanks for your help. Unfortunately I can't get Mazuri in the UK - it costs a lot of money for the product and because it needs to get shipped in from the states the price doubles again - i do know you can buy dried out weeds though online - what's your thoughts on these?
I will definetly order some organic wheat and barley seeds as well and start growing them now. I am also going to start bringing my plants inside and try to keep them alive over winter - thanks again

 

[Prairie Mom]

This is really helpful! Thanks for your help. Unfortunately I can't get Mazuri in the UK - it costs a lot of money for the product and because it needs to get shipped in from the states the price doubles again - i do know you can buy dried out weeds though online - what's your thoughts on these?
I will definetly order some organic wheat and barley seeds as well and start growing them now. I am also going to start bringing my plants inside and try to keep them alive over winter - thanks again

Sorry to hear about the Mazuri. -Maybe it's for the best any way.

I don't know anything about online sources and the quality of their dried weeds, BUT I am currently drying my own grass/weed clippings from my yard. I also grow a vegetable garden and am clipping and drying the greens from plants that I know are good tortoise food. My tortoise really likes pumpkin vines, squash vines (Zucchini, yellow, spaghetti squash), watermelon vines, and snap pea vines. I'm saving and drying all the leaves from these plants. I also grow very young squash plants from seed all winter long and feed them to my tortoise. Do you know anyone with a garden who will let you get some leaves? Squash and melon seeds are easier and faster growing than a number of weeds, you really should give it a try. The plant won't live long, but you can feed the young healthy green sprouts to your tortoise.

Many people on the forum also grow hibiscus plants inside as a bright house plant/ tortoise food. Maybe Father Christmas needs to bring you one of those early this year

 

[Prairie Mom]

Sorry beastie is a Greek Ibera.
I ordered a weed growing kit today however every time I try to grow them I fail miserably

I just wanted to mention that some weed seeds grow better if you don't bury them. For example: dandelion & chicory seed grow far faster and in greater numbers if you just drop the seeds on top of the soil and mist them with a water bottle so they always stay wet.

 

[kirsty Johnston]

Sorry to hear about the Mazuri. -Maybe it's for the best any way.

I don't know anything about online sources and the quality of their dried weeds, BUT I am currently drying my own grass/weed clippings from my yard. I also grow a vegetable garden and am clipping and drying the greens from plants that I know are good tortoise food. My tortoise really likes pumpkin vines, squash vines (Zucchini, yellow, spaghetti squash), watermelon vines, and snap pea vines. I'm saving and drying all the leaves from these plants. I also grow very young squash plants from seed all winter long and feed them to my tortoise. Do you know anyone with a garden who will let you get some leaves? Squash and melon seeds are easier and faster growing than a number of weeds, you really should give it a try. The plant won't live long, but you can feed the young healthy green sprouts to your tortoise.

Many people on the forum also grow hibiscus plants inside as a bright house plant/ tortoise food. Maybe Father Christmas needs to bring you one of those early this year

That's a great idea with the hibiscus... I'll add it to my Christmas list lol
My gran does go vegetables in her garden and I use the carrot tops just now to feed beastie, only problem is it's very seasonal here and we can't grow anything over winter because it reaches the minus temperatures in the winter so anything I get will need to be done indoors
How do you dry your weeds? I'm going to give it a try!

 

[kirsty Johnston]

I just wanted to mention that some weed seeds grow better if you don't bury them. For example: dandelion & chicory seed grow far faster and in greater numbers if you just drop the seeds on top of the soil and mist them with a water bottle so they always stay wet.

Lol that's probably where I went wrong - they start growing and then die a few days later

 

[Prairie Mom]

That's a great idea with the hibiscus... I'll add it to my Christmas list lol
My gran does go vegetables in her garden and I use the carrot tops just now to feed beastie, only problem is it's very seasonal here and we can't grow anything over winter because it reaches the minus temperatures in the winter so anything I get will need to be done indoors
How do you dry your weeds? I'm going to give it a try!

My weather is the same. I neglected to mention that I grew my food under grow lights-sorry! Everything that I previously mentioned can be done in sunny windows also.

I am drying my lawn clippings in the exact same way that Turtulas-len taught in this thread that he wrote. So far so good.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-young-sulcatas-winter-diet-worked.115259/

 

[Yvonne G]

In the UK quite a few tortoise-keepers use Komodo Dragon Food.

 

[kirsty Johnston]

My weather is the same. I neglected to mention that I grew my food under grow lights-sorry! Everything that I previously mentioned can be done in sunny windows also.

I am drying my lawn clippings in the exact same way that Turtulas-len taught in this thread that he wrote. So far so good.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-young-sulcatas-winter-diet-worked.115259/

Thanks very much - I appreciate it
Would you mind if I contacted you through the winter period of i have any concerns or need advice with something regarding his diet?

I'm really lucky to have loads of weeds and flowers during the whole year except winter - that's a totally different story and worried I can't give him the variation of nutrients he requires but you have eased mind quite a lot and I have saved down everything you asked me to so hopefully should be ok!
Thanks again

 

[Prairie Mom]

I'm happy to help. Get in touch any time