Hay

[fleebinflarbin]

I was wondering, can a sulcata eat just normal horse hay? I have two horses so hay is of abundance. And should it be about 70%-85% of their diet? Thank you.

 

[DanaLachney]

How old are they?

 

[Weda737]

What's in horse hay? If I'm not mistaken, I think I read something somewhere, lol probably here, that sullys do need some protein and it's not quite the big deal people thought it was. Not animal protein, but plant.

 

[Laura]

babies wont eat it.. adults might, some have to be trained to know its food..
but Yes,, horse, grass hay is fine. Much cheaper if you can buy it by the bale..

 

[Tom]

Grass hay is a great food for adult sulcatas. I prefer the bermuda hay, but timothy and orchard grass hay work too.

 

[Jacob]

That hay will work, if they don't eat it right away you can try soaking it in warm water, chopping it, and mixing it with there greens and or food

 

[Traveller]

Definitely yes you can feed horse hay to torts.
We buy 8 foot bales for our horses and my older leopards eat it no problem. I did have a concern at first because my hay provider uses
an inoculate when baling, can't remember the name at the moment but I did get in touch with the company that makes it and they assured me that it was safe to use with torts.
I'll see if I can't find the name.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi fleabinflarbin:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

What would you like us to call you?

...and may we know where in the world (appx.) you are?

Most sulcatas won't even try to eat hay until they get quite a bit bigger. I sometimes put a flake of orchard grass hay in with my 100+lb sulcata, but he just walks through it. I suppose if he were really hungry, he might sample it. If you can get your tortoise to eat hay, that's a good thing...however, a steady diet of alfalfa hay isn't a good thing. Grass hay is the way to go.

 

[fleebinflarbin]

How old are they?

They're about 6 months old.

 

[fleebinflarbin]

babies wont eat it.. adults might, some have to be trained to know its food..
but Yes,, horse, grass hay is fine. Much cheaper if you can buy it by the bale..

What should a baby (Neonate) be fed then?

 

[fleebinflarbin]

also It's bermuda hay.

 

[Jacqui]

Did you just get him? If so, congrats! Many people start the little ones on spring mix (lettuces) and add in other greens, weeds, and some Mazuri. Babies seem to like their grasses in the more tender green stage rather then the tougher dry hay stage. You can start working him towards eating the hay, as he grows by adding a bit to his diet and slowly as he accepts it, adding more.

 

[hlester22]

I trained my baby to eat hay by chopping it up small and adding it to puréed pumpkin and letting it sit for a couple hours before feeding it to him. Over time I added more hay and less pumpkin. He now eats it just mixed in with his regular greens.