Food for Sulcata

Suzanne

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 13, 2014
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Houma, Louisiana
Good afternoon all. Been reading & learning from yall for years. MANY thanks for sharing your expertise. 2 questions -1) Ive got a mulberry & 2 hibiscus shrubs that I'd like to dehydrate for my 8yo sulcata. He grazes all day for 3 seasons but I'd like to have some browse for late fall. If I dehydrate the leaves will that give him sufficient nourishment overwinter? i give him branches full of leaves 3-4x a week with some cucumber, tomato & red cabbage. He's about 40lbs, about the size of a big seeded watermelon. 2) I soak him 3x a week in the tub, inside early morn so he's placid. However, he's 40 lbs now & I won't be able to pick him up much longer. Suggestions about outside pool?
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
My sulcata is about 110lbs, and I have a large lid off a garbage dumpster for his waterer. He drinks when he needs to, and he sits in the water when he wants to. I don't soak him anymore.
 

Maggie3fan

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
8,046
Location (City and/or State)
PacificNorthWest
I run the sprinkler in the pen for my 30 lb Sulcata
100_0316.JPG
I have 10 Rose of Sharon bushes which are a Hibiscus hybrid that will go dormant thru our winter and avoid freezing. I also grow grapes for the leafs as Mulberry trees don't grow here.
100_8198.JPG
100_0281.JPG
100_0177.JPG I feed the ros blooms and the grape leafs thru out the season. But I also collect some and spread the leafs and the blooms out flat on a baking sheet and stick them in the freezer, when the individual leafs and blooms are frozen I stack them flat one on top of the other, stick them in a freezer bag and another freezer bag and set'em in the freezer. They last pretty good that way. I don't know how to dehydrate anything...
 
Last edited:

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Good afternoon all. Been reading & learning from yall for years. MANY thanks for sharing your expertise. 2 questions -1) Ive got a mulberry & 2 hibiscus shrubs that I'd like to dehydrate for my 8yo sulcata. He grazes all day for 3 seasons but I'd like to have some browse for late fall. If I dehydrate the leaves will that give him sufficient nourishment overwinter? i give him branches full of leaves 3-4x a week with some cucumber, tomato & red cabbage. He's about 40lbs, about the size of a big seeded watermelon. 2) I soak him 3x a week in the tub, inside early morn so he's placid. However, he's 40 lbs now & I won't be able to pick him up much longer. Suggestions about outside pool?
Will @Kapidolo Farms can best answer your question about dehydrating the leaves. I use WIll's dehydrated leaves all year long as a mix-in with other greens, and it work beautifully. I don't know about using only dried leaves and nothing else.

Cucumber has little nutrition, tomato isn't a great tortoise food, and go easy with the cabbage too.

The primary diet for a 30 pound sulcata should be grass or grass hay when grass isn't available. Orchard grass hay is best, and Bermuda hay works too. I don't care for Timothy because its too stemmy. You could get some endive or escarole and mix in the dehydrated leaves over winter. If you did that on top of a pile of grass hay, you'd have a happy tortoise. Opuntia pads are great too. They really add moisture and hydration, as well as lubricity, when feeding a lot of dry grass hay. There are easy to grow. Look for some that are growing near you and start from cuttings. You can also buy it online or find it at some grocery stores.
 
Last edited:

Suzanne

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 13, 2014
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Houma, Louisiana
Will @Kapidolo Farms can best answer your question about dehydrating the leaves. I use WIll's dehydrated leaves all year long as a mix-in with other greens, and it work beautifully. I don't know about using only dried leaves and nothing else.

Cucumber has little nutrition, tomato isn't a great tortoise food, and go easy with the cabbage too.

The primary diet for a 30 pound sulcata should be grass or grass hay when grass isn't available. Orchard grass hay is best, and Bermuda hay works too. I don't care for Timothy because its too stemmy. You could get some endive or escarole and mix in the dehydrated leaves over winter. If you did that on top of a pile of grass hay, you'd have a happy tortoise. Opuntia pads are great too. They really add moisture and hydration, as well as lubricity, when feeding a lot of dry grass hay. There are easy to grow. Look for some that are growing near you and start from cuttings. You can also buy it online or find it at some grocery store
 
Top