Randa Ward
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- Joined
- Sep 18, 2016
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Thank you so much I will try some this afternoon!
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
- Thread starter Tom
- Start date
Thank you so much I will try some this afternoon!
Thank you for the info I have read it over and over because I tend to forget it all.... but my baby is about 1 month old, the mama I got him from has had several hatchlings and has had her mama and papa of our new baby 10 yrs.... she told me feed him every other day romaine lettuce with calcium sprinkled once a week ... but I feel he is always looking for food... after reading your post I went and bought wheat grass and sprinkled the top of lettuce today .... how often and how much should I be feeding him? I know now he needs more grass and plan to keep growing my own to provide for him. I know I have much more to ask but for now that's my big concern... I want to make sure he is fed properly.Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas.
These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From the moment they hatch, until the day they die, grass should be a large part of their diet. Spring mix, romaine, kale and other greens are okay as a small part of a varied diet, but should not be the bulk of the diet. If someone must feed grocery store foods, the pile should be sprinkled with grass clippings or "Salad Style". For those who like the convenience of pre-packaged, easy to handle stuff, "Salad Style" is basically finely blended up grass hay that can be sprinkled over any other food to add bulk and fiber. I got my "Salad Style" from Tyler at tortoisesupply.com.
For those that have a lawn, or access to one: Get a tub, get some scissors, get down on your knees, and go to work! It is so EASY to cut a few handfuls of fresh, green, tender, young grass, and dramatically improve your baby sulcatas diet. Any kind of grass will work. Finely chop it for little tortoises and sprinkle it all over the other food, or feed it by itself in a pile. Do be careful about lawn chemicals and pesticides. If you have a gardener, or its not your lawn, use extreme caution. Live in a condo or apartment complex? Don't do it. Not worth the risk, no matter what they tell you. Just grow your own grass in pots on your patio or window sills. Friends, family and neighbors might be able to help you out here.
For those who still just love the grocery store: Most stores are now selling little plastic pots of live, freshly sprouted, organic wheat grass. You can find it at many pet stores too. This is a great way to add grass to the diet of a young sulcata. Get your scissors, hold the pot over the food pile and chop away. Water it and keep the pot in a window sill, and in a few days, you'll have more. You might need several pots as your baby grows, or you can buy seed from one of our site sponsors (Thank you Carolina Pet Supply) and sprout even bigger trays of it yourself.
Some of you may find that your "grass eating" tortoise wants nothing to do with eating grass. This should surprise no one, since most breeders and most keepers never even attempt to feed actual grass to their grass eating tortoise babies. So sad! I can tell you from first hand experience with literally HUNDREDS of babies, they WILL eat it. It may take a month or more to slowly introduce it, but PLEASE, slowly introduce it.
Other items that are good for babies and young sulcatas:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads
Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard
Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food
When sulcatas get a little older and bigger, usually around 10-12" for me, they will start munching on plain, dry grass hay, all on their own. I like orchard grass hay the best for this, but I also used bermuda grass hay for years too. When they hit this stage, life gets MUCH easier. Just make sure you have drinking water readily available when they start eating hay, and consider soaking regularly if you are not 100% sure your tortoise is drinking enough, or if you live in a really dry area, like me.
I live in a desert and yet there is still green stuff all around me. I beg you to take a walk and learn about all the green stuff around you, INSTEAD of driving to the store again. Instead of a trip to the grocery store, take a trip to a local nursery for some weed IDs, and tips on growing your own stuff. What could be better than stepping out into your backyard and collecting all the free, healthy tortoise food you can carry? Think of the gas savings! Anyone who is a tortoise keeper, ought to be somewhat of a gardener too.
I beg of you... PLEASE stop the grocery store MADNESS!!!
Your baby should be eating as much as it wants of the right foods daily. It should have a big pile to graze on all day.
Romaine is a horrible food. It lacks fiber, it lack nutrition and the calcium to phosphorous ratio is way off. It shouldn't be fed to your baby at all.
I like to sprinkle a tiny pinch of calcium on the food pile twice a week for a growing baby.
Any other advice you received from this seller is also suspect. Please read these for proper care of your baby:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Omg thanks for everything I just got a baby sulcata (dream come true) and I'm learning as I go I'm still having a few issues but I have a few questions. I feed Goliath radishes and yellow squash tiny hibiscus leaves and sometimes kale soke him every few days and as treats I give him prickly pear pads, any outher tips please tell me as soon as possible.
) and I'm learning as I go I'm still having a few issues but I have a few questions. I feed Goliath radishes and yellow squash tiny hibiscus leaves and sometimes kale soke him every few days and as treats I give him prickly pear pads, any outher tips please tell me as soon as possible.
Omg thanks for everything I just got a baby sulcata (dream come true
Hello and welcome. So in this thread you've seen all the things to feed, so now read these for proper care instructions:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Most of the info out there is old, out-dated and incorrect. Babies should be soaked every day, for example. Are you keeping him warm at night? Simulating monsoon season heat and humidity?
As in all things they need to be fed in moderation.
Spring mix is what it says - variety in a packet - so better than spinach alone.
Spring mix contains salad leaves that are low in fibre, however.
Spring mix can be part of the diet, but other foods are needed to give fibre.
My baby tortoise is obsessed with the alfalfa hay that we get our bunny. Is that okay for him? (Going with "him" for now)
Alfalfa is a legume like peas and beans - it is high in calcium which is good and protein which isn't. The Tortoise Table Plant Database has it as "Do Not Feed" and I would go with their recommendation.
Timothy Hay would be better.
A little spinach once in a while is good. Too much or too often is not good.
Spring mix is okay as a small portion of the diet once in a while, but the bulk of the diet should be grasses, weeds, leaves, flowers and cactus pads.
I don't like to feed alfalfa hay to babies because its too hard and stemmy. I worry about them choking on it or a stem getting stuck in their throat. I grow my own fresh alfalfa and it makes up a small portion of their diet. The soft new growth is great for babies.
As long as your tortoise is well hydrated, plant protein is very good for them, contrary to what we used to think in the old days. In the past it was incorrectly believed that protein caused pyramiding. It doesn't. Too much protein can cause issues, and lack of hydration can cause issues, but a little protein boost in a well hydrated growing baby is very beneficial. I use alfalfa, green beans, peas, clover, and Mazuri to meet my tortoises protein needs.
Protein is not the enemy. It is a necessary part of any tortoises diet.
What about Timothy hay
I thought that he ate alfalfa but then I checked the package and it said Timothy.
Is that ok for him?
In theory it is fine, but I find Timothy hay to coarse and stemmy for anything but large adults. Remember, our tortoises don't have teeth.
I find that bermuda grass hay or orchard grass hay work the best for larger sulcatas. For babies and small ones, real grass is best. You can buy those little plots of sprouted wheat grass at some grocery stores and pet stores. If you keep it watered and in the window sill, you can get 8 or 9 cuttings from one of those little $2 plots. I've never tried repotting it, but I bet that would make it last even longer.
Well it looks like you've got a tortoise that eats something that's good for it then
The obsession word you used suggests that might be all your tort wants to eat. Your tort still needs those leafy greens, but otherwise the hay is just fine.
My baby sulcata likes wheat grass I have a small pot that I got at the pet store. I want it to have time to grow before I use it all up. What's a another grass or type of weed I can find or purchase in the meantime. I want to grow his/her food but, I'm still waiting on the seeds to be shipped I live in an apartment complex at the moment so I do not trust their grass.
Chevy Brinkley
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- Oct 25, 2016
- Messages
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What about wheatgrass? The organic kind they sell in Petco?
Buy multiple plots of the wheat grass. I kept it in a window sill with morning sun and watered as needed and I got about 8 or 9 cuttings from mine.
