I need suggestions please!!

[Amanda81]

Since winter is really creeping up on us here in Tennessee I want to experiment with the grass and weeds available to me while their still available so maybe when winter is here and has killed all my greenery I can still give it to all my torts. I am going to do a couple different experiments but I need the healthiest items I can get for these experiments. I have spent 3 hours searching threads for individual items, no luck. So please, list what u think is the 10 (or however many you can think of) most health items you can feed your sulcata and leopards. Once I get a list of items, I will gather them, do the experiments and let ya know how they turn out. (Hopefully I will return with good results) thanks in advance.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Grape leaves
Rose of sharon leaves
Hibiscus leaves
Pesticide free garden grass
Hay (of the bale type)
Plantain leaves

What are your different experiments? You could probably just gather the above and put in small freezer bags and deep freeze until winter. Pull some out, defrost, wet down and serve. I already have put away some grape leaves like this.

 

[Amanda81]

Grape leaves
Rose of sharon leaves
Hibiscus leaves
Pesticide free garden grass
Hay (of the bale type)
Plantain leaves

What are your different experiments? You could probably just gather the above and put in small freezer bags and deep freeze until winter. Pull some out, defrost, wet down and serve. I already have put away some grape leaves like this.

Ok I can get all those except the grape leaves. I am still working on finding a supply of grape leaves until I can get my own. It's killing me cause grape leaves are like the one thing everyone suggest and that's the one thing I'm lacking and I know my baby's would love some. Lol. I will find me a supplier to he me over till I can plant my own.
Does these items freeze without turning to mush during the defrost process?

 

[Amanda81]

I'm wanting to get as many healthy items as I can, that can be given daily if needed through the winter. Or maybe divide the items, give them certain items on say Monday Wednesday Friday and other items Tuesday Thursday Saturday, or something like this. I just want to make sure it's the healthiest items I'm using. Like I could probably go to neighbors and collect 50 pounds of dandelions right now but the list said use those sparely because the inhibit calcium absorption. So I really want to do health stuff. They eat the clovers like there's no tomorrow but is that a healthy can eat daily item or so they just taste good but aren't real nutritional?

 

[Amanda81]

I have collected some real nice very soft grass which will make up majority of their daily meals if my experiments work. I found a whole patch of grass that is in shade all day, it wasn't real tall yet either, it's the softest grass, I think they will really like it

 

[Tom]

I've never had much luck freezing any of that stuff. It all turns to a wet messy mush for me. Luckily for me winter is our weed season. So about the time all the mulberry and grape leaves drop off and my cactus go dormant, the weeds and wild grasses pop up. I don't even "feed" my tortoises for several months a year. They just graze at will all day.

The reality is that everyone has some part of the year where they are likely to run short on the best foods. I just try to keep it to a minimum. You can use a wide variety of grocery store foods, but it helps to amend them with something more fibrous like blended up grass hay or Tyler's "herbal hay". I also like to favor endive and escarole heavily as I think they are better than most of the other greens. One convenient way to make the grocery store greens better is to use some soaked horse pellets and mix that in with the greens. Just make sure they are the plain grass hay type without all sorts of additives.

Don't forget that its not too difficult to sprout and grow some stuff indoors too. Cactus pads, grasses and testudo mix will all grow in pots indoors.

 

[Amanda81]

I've never had much luck freezing any of that stuff. It all turns to a wet messy mush for me. Luckily for me winter is our weed season. So about the time all the mulberry and grape leaves drop off and my cactus go dormant, the weeds and wild grasses pop up. I don't even "feed" my tortoises for several months a year. They just graze at will all day.

The reality is that everyone has some part of the year where they are likely to run short on the best foods. I just try to keep it to a minimum. You can use a wide variety of grocery store foods, but it helps to amend them with something more fibrous like blended up grass hay or Tyler's "herbal hay". I also like to favor endive and escarole heavily as I think they are better than most of the other greens. One convenient way to make the grocery store greens better is to use some soaked horse pellets and mix that in with the greens. Just make sure they are the plain grass hay type without all sorts of additives.

Don't forget that its not too difficult to sprout and grow some stuff indoors too. Cactus pads, grasses and testudo mix will all grow in pots indoors.

I have been checking out the seed mixes that tortoise supply offers and I defiantly want some of their "herbal hay", I have been scoping out different seeds for a while now cause I want to try and do an inside garden over the winter plus I have the tort garden outside (of course that's getting put on hold till spring) and I would also like to plant in the quads and leopards outside pen. If it's possible I would like to just do this huge variety of things. I took a few days off work and I have had the time to just sit and watch the Sudans, see what they do naturally, and they are serious about some clovers. They prefer to eat clover and grass over almost anything else I offer them. Which my yard is like 80% clover so I'm not short on that by any means and I can get all the dandelions I want and transplant them from the neighbor so I thought I would focus on some different grasses and greens, things I can purchase the seeds. I ran across a thread u did and u had posted some things u were planting and I wrote those down, any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
And in glad u mentioned those horse pellets. Yesterday while at the tractor supply picking up dog, chicken, and goat food I ran across those. They have a couple different types. Now I know I need the kind with no additives, but can I get the "Timothy/oat" pellets? Or do I need to stick to just plain grass pellets? They also had some compressed Timothy/Oat hay bales. U soak it in water, same concept as the Eco earth. I know the baby's probably aren't going to go for it but I was thinking maybe the Sudans would like it.
I have also ran into the issue that apparently the stores around here don't sale endive and escarole. I can get a few pieces of it if I buy a bag if spring mix but as for buying a clump of it by itself, not happening. I am hoping to grow it myself next spring.
I was actually wondering the other day if it was ok to just them graze. The Sudans have my entire yard and like I say, they love the clover and grass, they have full access to 10 hibiscus plants and I figured they would mow them down, nope, the haven't touched them. So they graze all day and every morning I go collect other stuff that's not in my yard, I throw it in a court different places and usually the piles are still there the next morning, I give them a big pile of maurzi food once a week and they gobble that up but that's about the only thing they eat that I give them, other then that they just graze. I guess they are happy with what they have.

 

[Tom]

Timothy/oat pellets are a grass pellet. You can use that. Your babies might not just walk up and eat it, but if you mix up a small amount of a soaked pellet with the other greens the quads will learn to eat it too.

Grazing is great. Grazing on 80% clover everyday and ignoring most everything else is not so great. You've got to find a way to get more other things into them. Might have to exclude them from clover land on some days.

 

[Amanda81]

Timothy/oat pellets are a grass pellet. You can use that. Your babies might not just walk up and eat it, but if you mix up a small amount of a soaked pellet with the other greens the quads will learn to eat it too.

Grazing is great. Grazing on 80% clover everyday and ignoring most everything else is not so great. You've got to find a way to get more other things into them. Might have to exclude them from clover land on some days.

Ok I figured it would be the same thing, just figured I would double check.
As for the Sudans.
I could put them in the baby's outdoor enclosure, it's only 8'x12', for a day here and there and give them other things. There are some clover in that enclosure but it will only take Marv 2 minutes to wipe that small amount clear out. Plus I can move that enclosure around the yard as well. I'm pretty sure if they have no other choice they will eat what I give them, they ain't trying to miss a meal, hahaha. They are machines. Thanks for the advise!!

 

[Amanda81]

The seed pods on my hibiscus are opening so I'm getting ready to collect them and add some to my inside garden, see if I can get them to grow inside. Does anyone know how to or if you can, start a grape vine from a clipping of another vine?

 

[Maro2Bear]

Yep, you can start new grape vines from cuttings. Usually it is best to start from year-old wood. Thers a lot of info out there, this is a good site that will get u going: http://www.bunchgrapes.com/cuttings.html

 

[Amanda81]

So I read that 70% grass 30% weeds was a good ratio for a daily diet. I figured I would use what was available to me from my yard just to run this first "experiment".
5% of each of the following:
- dandelions
-broadleaf plantain
-narrowleaf plantain
- rose of sharon
- grape leaves
- sow thistle
70% grass, plain grass from my yard.
So I weighted out all my items and combine them in my blender, puréed them up, had to use more water then I wanted to get it puréed but ok. My first batch I put in little pans and baked. The baking did dry up some the water and made more of a formed grassie patties but I'm not sure if I'm losing nutritional value by baking it. Let them cool off and served to the very angry, hungry (I only gave them half their normal portion of stuff this morning) quads and leopards. Well I had one quad and leopard take 2 bites and walk away. The others wouldn't even try it. So I take into consideration that their only use to half the items in the mixture and usually it's whole, I just pick it, wash it, and lay it in there for them to eat. So I go back, throw the baked ones in a Baggie and into the freezer. I mix some very finely chopped romaine and the puréed (before I bake it) mixture in a bowl, dish that mixture out into their bowls and set the bowls back in their enclosure. So I have 2 quads eating, one just nibbling, and one that said he would just go to bed hungry and climbed in the hide. I had 3 leopards eating and the other 2 nibbled a minute and went to their hide as well. Now I am attempting to prepare for winter. I seriously don't want them to eat romaine, spring mix, and mauzi chow for 3-4 months while we wait for spring to roll back around. It's enough that they won't get to come out for sun, I would like to, if I can, give them a good diet. You can't freeze the stuff straight out the yard cause it turns to mush when ya defrost it. So I'm thinking I could go ahead mush it all up, then freeze it and when it defrost, it will be soft enough for them to eat. An all natural tortoise chow pellet. So I'm thinking if I just continue to mix this mixture with the romaine or something else they really like and then just reduce the amount of whatever I'm using they like a little about every 3 days till all their getting is the mixture of grass and weeds, this should work for the winter months. I am planning on making 2 different mixtures, same grass, amount as well, but change up the weed selection, that way I can rotate the mixtures out and they don't get use to just those specific weeds. Plus I'm thinking about adding the mauzi chow to one the mixtures, or I will just keep giving it to them like I do now. Haven't decided on that yet. Of course I ain't going to start using this method till I can't get the stuff from the yard, fresh, anymore.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

I have also tried freezing, it just gets all soggy and gross...VERY unappealing!

 

[Amanda81]

Well, complete failure. Apparently no one is going to go for the "all natural tortoise pellet". Lol. The quads said nope, we ain't eating that, the leopards just went and laid back down under their "jungle area". So I said, forget it, I gathered it up and came poured it out for the Sudans. Figured they wouldn't have an issue, they eat all the stuff anyways, nope, Jeff and Peewee smelled it and went back to their box and Marv, oh dear Marv. He smelled it, took one bite (giving me a glimmer of hope) walked right through the pile of green gooh and ate another turd. I figure if they rather eat poo over my creation, I best just stop now. Lol. So now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping my inside tort garden turns out good.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

I mowed my lawn and I put the clippings in a paper bag about 5-6 in . Deep and freeze that and it don't get mushy . I got some that are 2years old and it's still nice


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[Amanda81]

I mowed my lawn and I put the clippings in a paper bag about 5-6 in . Deep and freeze that and it don't get mushy . I got some that are 2years old and it's still nice


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I didn't think about using a paper bag, perhaps it turning mushy has something to do w it being in plastic?? Either way I will defiantly try your way. Thanks for the advise!!