These-
There are about a million plants that can be mistaken for 3 leaf clovers. These have the white poofy flowers.
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
- Thread starter Tom
- Start date
These-
There are about a million plants that can be mistaken for 3 leaf clovers. These have the white poofy flowers.
nathanlevi
Member
Thanks
The most common are white clover and crimson clover. And yes, they each have three leaves. Unless you find a four leaf clover...
luvanimals
New Member
Im in texas an easy access to thornless cactus. They love it. Have a green house. An yard with lots of grass. Just ordered more seeds from your website. But I do mix it store greens an murzuri also...I hate eating the same stuff over an over. Lol. Love this site
CarolM
Well-Known Member
In the care sheet by Misty Corton for Angulata Chersina she says that the white clover is good to feed except when it is dry, then it becomes toxic.
I got my baby sulcata for Christmas, it's is frozen over here with snow and ice and nothing green until you get past Colorado lol...I have been buying him the 50/50 spring mix...but I'm wondering can he eat kale? Yellow squash or zucchini vegetables ? His absolute favorite food is red swiss chard..thanks all .
Bambam1989
Well-Known Member
I think you will find this to be a very handy website. Remember, variety is important.
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/index.php#.WmeCOkOIbqA
Raina Dildy
New Member
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have been only feeding my tortoise romaine lettuce with occasional kale but I noticed he has not grown much or poop much.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!!!
Okay I just bought another tortoise from a pet shop supposed to be 1 year same clutch as other tortoise and weighs about 52 grams and my other one is 2.5 lbs pet shop told me I am over feeding
They also told me not to feed the timothy/alfalfa mix I feed
If you haven't already figured this out: Pet shops are usually full of all sorts of bad advice.
A sulcatas that is 52 grams at one year old has been housed, carded for and fed all wrong. It is likely to die.
Is your timothy/alfalfa mix hay, or is it cubes or pellets that you soak and then mix with greens? I wouldn't bother with hay for a little baby, but soaking cubes or pellets and mixing in the mush is a good way to add fiber to grocery store greens.
They are cubes the small one I put with big one thought may help him get acclimated better it did walk all around area it is a 3ft by 8ft table with 70% humidity if it is really 1 year I agree it is not going to last I was going to start with a long soak tonight maybe it will help or maybe too late they said they incubate with high heat to provide more female than male
The big one and small one should not share an enclosure. Tortoises should never be kept in pairs and the size disparity could be dangerous for the little one.
Is it even possible to over feed sulcata tortoises?
Possible? Maybe, but I don't see how.
Perhaps if the enclosure is much too small and the tort can’t exercise? But since sulcatas are always growing(unless it’s an adult, of course) it would be hard to do.
My 3.5 inches leopard is the same. But i was using wood chips substrate as recommended by the pet shop at that time. I changed to coconut husks - Kritters krumble, course type.. n Happy stopped spending so much time in the corner. She just burrows in to the husks.
Tatum as in Channing
