Freezing / Frozen greensgreens

[BriGuy31]

I received my first tortoise today. I have a pellet diet as back up/ occasional feeds. After shopping at my local market I found a decent amount of suggested greens. I spent $7 and have a mountain of food for my 1.5 inch hermanns. Will these greens freeze and thaw well enough to supply a great nutritious diet for my new little guy? Here is some pics of my first tortoise, a Dalmatian Hermanns. After a soak and nap, he is already basking in his new home.

 

[Yvonne G]

Let's send a shout out to @Prairie Mom She's got a thread about freezing greens going and maybe she can point you in the right direction. If all else fails, you can always become a salad eater.

 

[Prairie Mom]

I think most of what you have there will become pretty flabby and soft once thawed. I've frozen and served thawed dandelions and collard, but not the others. When you thaw these, feed them immediately and since these will change quite a bit, I'd mix them in with some fresh food and maybe even soaked Mazuri tortoise diet (not Mazuri LS--just plain Mazuri that has been soaked in warm water until it is soft.) The texture of what you have there will change considerably once thawed, but it's still worth trying out.

Here's my thread about some greens that I tested out and freeze and thaw really well for tortoise food: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/these-can-be-frozen-thawed-and-retain-good-texture.128563/ -Maybe you'll get some other ideas for viable tortoise food for your little guy.

Also--if your tortoise will actually eat these once they thaw, the thawed greens will go bad very quickly. If it were me, I would freeze them in smaller portions to be fed in the same day OR flash freeze them. --- To flash freeze them...Lay the chopped greens on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer. Once they're frozen, you can bag them, and then they'll pour out in crumbles of your desired amount instead of freezing together in one big block. Also, remember to squeeze all the air out of your bags! Air makes a difference!

Post back and let us know if these worked for your tortoise!