Help Needed, How Much Mazuri Do You Feed Your Hatchling Tortoises?

[Vegas_Leopard]

Hey, what's going on Tortoise Forum?

I have a couple questions regarding Mazuri Tortoise Diet.

1.) I plan on feeding my tortoise every other day, how many times a day do you feed yours?

2.) How many Mazuri pellets do you use for every dish?

Thanks in advance,
SulcataDud3

 

[Chucky]

Hey, what's going on Tortoise Forum?

I have a couple questions regarding Mazuri Tortoise Diet.

1.) I plan on feeding my tortoise every other day, how many times a day do you feed yours? I feed my hatchlings once every day but just enough to what they will eat in one sitting. If they walk away from food, you're giving them too much.

2.) How many Mazuri pellets do you use for every dish? I feed my older Sulcatas 2-3 pellets every other day each and I feed the hatchlings 1/2 pellet every other day. Their staple diet is grass which they get every day.

Thanks in advance,
SulcataDud3

 

[Vegas_Leopard]

Hey, what's going on Tortoise Forum?

I have a couple questions regarding Mazuri Tortoise Diet.

1.) I plan on feeding my tortoise every other day, how many times a day do you feed yours? I feed my hatchlings once every day but just enough to what they will eat in one sitting. If they walk away from food, you're giving them too much.

2.) How many Mazuri pellets do you use for every dish? I feed my older Sulcatas 2-3 pellets every other day each and I feed the hatchlings 1/2 pellet every other day. Their staple diet is grass which they get every day.

Thanks in advance,
SulcataDud3

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it.

 

[Yvonne G]

Why do you plan to only feed every other day? In the real world a tortoise wakes up in the morning and goes out of his burrow, suns for a bit, then wanders around eating for an hour or so...a bite here...several bites there...you get the picture. Then he goes back into his burrow and rests until evening, when he goes out and eats some more. In the real world he eats as much as he wants to, not just every other day.

In my opinion, you would try to imagine what your tortoise's actual stomach looks like size-wise. Then imagine what that glob of food you've put on his plate looks like all mushed up. The size of the mushed up food should be around the size of the stomach. If he eats it all and still looks hungry, it wasn't enough. If he eats then goes away and leaves quite a bit, it was too much. No one can tell you how much to feed your tortoise. You have to figure that out by watching him.

Yvonne

 

[Vegas_Leopard]

Why do you plan to only feed every other day? In the real world a tortoise wakes up in the morning and goes out of his burrow, suns for a bit, then wanders around eating for an hour or so...a bite here...several bites there...you get the picture. Then he goes back into his burrow and rests until evening, when he goes out and eats some more. In the real world he eats as much as he wants to, not just every other day.

In my opinion, you would try to imagine what your tortoise's actual stomach looks like size-wise. Then imagine what that glob of food you've put on his plate looks like all mushed up. The size of the mushed up food should be around the size of the stomach. If he eats it all and still looks hungry, it wasn't enough. If he eats then goes away and leaves quite a bit, it was too much. No one can tell you how much to feed your tortoise. You have to figure that out by watching him.

Yvonne

I was planning on feeding my hatchling every other day because that what I read on Russ Gurley's book on Sulcata's. I don't want to over feed it & cause over growth. I see what your saying though. Thanks for the information though.

 

[Isa]

I was planning on feeding my hatchling every other day because that what I read on Russ Gurley's book on Sulcata's. I don't want to over feed it & cause over growth. I see what your saying though. Thanks for the information though.

You should feed your hatchling every day, it will not cause over growth if you feed him the right food for him.

 

[Vegas_Leopard]

I was planning on feeding my hatchling every other day because that what I read on Russ Gurley's book on Sulcata's. I don't want to over feed it & cause over growth. I see what your saying though. Thanks for the information though.

You should feed your hatchling every day, it will not cause over growth if you feed him the right food for him.

I plan to feed my Sulcata, a different type of green after it's been finished. This week I'm starting off with Dandelion & with every dish I'm using Mazuri, Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3 & Rep-Cal Herptivite Multivitamin.

 

[Chucky]

Wow! That sounds like an awful lot of supplements. You do not have to give them all of that if you feed them the correct food and lighting. I do believe that too much supplements can cause pyramiding and other problems.

 

[Vegas_Leopard]

Wow! That sounds like an awful lot of supplements. You do not have to give them all of that if you feed them the correct food and lighting. I do believe that too much supplements can cause pyramiding and other problems.

Those are all supplements that are proven & have been used by many tortoise keepers. Depending on how much & how often you give it to them will determine the out put. That's what how I look at it.

 

[Chucky]

Well, I took it that you said your giving them those supplements with every meal. I don't know all the breeders or tortoise keepers but the ones I know have never said to give them at every meal. I'm not at all an expert so I'm just stating what I have learned to believe. Also, I'm not saying some of those are not any good, just that it seems to be a lot.

 

[dcoolguy68]

I give my sulcatas pure calcium everyday

 

[Crazy1]

D3---careful this vit. can cause problems if given too much and/or if your tort gets enought sun or UVB and it is also use highly as a supplement.
do a search on hypervitaminosis D3
This is just one thing I found on it;
Hypervitaminosis D3 leads to higher levels of blood calcium, calcification of soft tissues and impeded of joint movement, malformed bones with external calcium deposits ("bunions"), impaired nerve function, impaired flexibility of the valves of the heart, and destruction of the kidney's nephrons. This condition is very rarely the result of UVB exposure; rather, it comes from the excess administration of vitamin D3 itself.