For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

Tom

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nuzul arief

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The ingredients say its coco coir. That would be my second choice to fine grade orchid bark.

You'll need a thick layer and you'll need to hand pack it down. Its quite messy, but it settles in after a couple of weeks.
ok noted Tom. thanks
 

kalei01

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My tortoise is on the extreme small size he or she is 407 grams at 10 months he grazes for about 2 hours when get off work and then gets Mazuri mixed with grass and zoomed gourmet meal for tortoise
 

Tom

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My tortoise is on the extreme small size he or she is 407 grams at 10 months he grazes for about 2 hours when get off work and then gets Mazuri mixed with grass and zoomed gourmet meal for tortoise

That's really not small for a 10 month old, and certainly not extremely so. Sure, there have been s a few that were bigger by that age, but bigger is not the goal. Healthy is the goal, and I'll bet yours is healthy. Most 10 month old sulcatas out in the world are well under 400 grams. You are doing fine.
 

kalei01

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That's really not small for a 10 month old, and certainly not extremely so. Sure, there have been s a few that were bigger by that age, but bigger is not the goal. Healthy is the goal, and I'll bet yours is healthy. Most 10 month old sulcatas out in the world are well under 400 grams. You are doing fine.
Thanks for the reassurance my little guy shows no signs of pyramiding as of yet other a little rough growth where extra scute is he also lives in high humidity enclosure and I take him out for walks every day for 2-3 hours
 

christykindness

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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!!! :D
 

christykindness

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wow! goats head was a shocker! We have so much of that right now, you would think the goats head spikes would choke them.
 

Tom

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wow! goats head was a shocker! We have so much of that right now, you would think the goats head spikes would choke them.

I only feed the goat head plant when its immature. Once those seed heads start to harden up, I don't go near it, much less feed it to my tortoises.

It is native to Africa, so I particularly enjoy feeding it to African tortoises, although its a good food for any species.
 

christykindness

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yes those things are a devil! I will try them next season when they are young, see how the kids like them!
 

Tom

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yes those things are a devil! I will try them next season when they are young, see how the kids like them!

Most of the time, tortoises seem reluctant to try new and unfamiliar foods. Every time I've put down some fresh green goat head plant, they all mack it down like candy. Same thing with African hibiscus. Something about those two plant species is just very appealing to every tortoise species.
 

christykindness

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I am originally from the east coast- I didn't know what a goat head was until I stepped on one. Now I know.
 

saginawhxc

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I apologize if this has been brought up before, but I see two things on your good weeds list that I thought were items to be avoided. Aren't wild onions and wild garlic both from the allium family, and isn't anything of that sort supposed to be avoided?

I recently told someone to avoid them, and then they cited this list as a place that specifically lists them as okay. So I'm curious if you know more on the subject, or if it just something that has been maybe missed all of this time.
 

Damien Szkatulski

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I would just like to say that I took some advice from another thread that said to wet the grass and chop it up with other greens. That worked like a charm! Adding a little more grass each time and a little less grocery store greens should do the trick.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using TortForum mobile app
Ill start that. Hes already attached to his grocery stuff.
 

Tom

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Im guilty of feeding him grocery store stuff for a couple days.
Most people do. Just be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of any food item you are offering to your tortoise, and take steps to compensate, as needed. A pile of endive with some chopped grass mixed in is a great tortoise meal for a sulcalta, for example.
 

Ezarate

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This is really good info, I've know about this since day one, on our trip from California we frequently stopped at places with green grass and grabbed handfuls for him to snack on while one the trip. Unfortunately it's winter here and there is no green grass for 4-6 months. During this time I've been feeding him an assortment of kale, romaine lettuce, and every now and then some spinach. As soon as I see green patches of grass I'll be feeding him grass. Next winter I'm going to buy pots of grass to grow indoors.
 

Bee62

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This is really good info, I've know about this since day one, on our trip from California we frequently stopped at places with green grass and grabbed handfuls for him to snack on while one the trip. Unfortunately it's winter here and there is no green grass for 4-6 months. During this time I've been feeding him an assortment of kale, romaine lettuce, and every now and then some spinach. As soon as I see green patches of grass I'll be feeding him grass. Next winter I'm going to buy pots of grass to grow indoors.
@Ezarate
Lambs lettuce and endive is a great tortoise food too. My sullies love it.
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nathanlevi

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Actually, this is completely applicable to South African leopards. My 12 inchers are already readily munching on orchard grass hay, and thank goodness, because they are total pigs and eat a ton every day...

For regular leopards, or testudo, just skip the grass part, but the rest of the list is all good. I feed CDTs a fair amount of grass too, but not like a sulcata.
By clovers in your thread do you mean three leaf clovers
 

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