I can't tell you how glad I am to find this forum. I've been flying solo for over thirty years at this and now I've discovered several hundred friends to help me out
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A sad story for everyone to learn from first and then my question. My first chelonian was a Western Box Turtle, Tommy Turtle, purchased from a pet store in 1979. I was 7, he was an adult. Following the pet stores advice, we put him in a 20 long aquarium with blue aquarium gravel, a little water dish and a hot rock. We fed him iceberg lettuce and occasional tomato, per their instructions. When he got so sick that he barely moved and couldn't open his eyes, we took him to the vet. This was the clinic that would become Dr. Mader's clinic there on Rosecrans Ave., but I don't remember if he was there in 1979. The vet told us we needed, absorbent bedding("like cat litter"), a bigger water bowl for soaking and... wait for it... "mighty-dog dog food, because they are an omnivore". My mother, who was a nurse, was instructed on how to give him vitamin shots daily for two weeks. He got better almost immediately. He lived this way for years. i think what kept him alive was that frequently I took him out in the front yard and let him roam in the sunshine and eat worms, snails and dandelions.
The point of the story is this: Even knowledgeable people with the best possible intentions and the latest, cutting edge info, can still give bad advice. Sadly(for me), as an impetuous teenager, I gave Tommy Turtle to another little boy who hopefully has his own stories to tell now.
Now my question: May I please have the latest, cutting edge info from our resident experts on proper adult sulcata diets? When I got my first sulcatta in 1993, the latest info was: "A wide variety of leafy greens and veggies from the super market and NO animal based protein, as that causes pyramiding." Gradually, over the years, I've evolved their diet into its current form. Now I feed: Bermuda hay and Timothy Hay always available, lots of weeds(I'll cover those species in another post), fresh grass clippings (or just fresh grass, when it grows wild), spineless opuntia, occasional organ pipe cactus (with the spines cut off), fresh mulberry tree leaves, occasional rose petals and very rarely some salad fixin's like leafy greens, cucumber, carrot, etc...
Please hit me with both barrels, I can take it. Please correct anything that needs improvement. I am here to learn.
. A sad story for everyone to learn from first and then my question. My first chelonian was a Western Box Turtle, Tommy Turtle, purchased from a pet store in 1979. I was 7, he was an adult. Following the pet stores advice, we put him in a 20 long aquarium with blue aquarium gravel, a little water dish and a hot rock. We fed him iceberg lettuce and occasional tomato, per their instructions. When he got so sick that he barely moved and couldn't open his eyes, we took him to the vet. This was the clinic that would become Dr. Mader's clinic there on Rosecrans Ave., but I don't remember if he was there in 1979. The vet told us we needed, absorbent bedding("like cat litter"), a bigger water bowl for soaking and... wait for it... "mighty-dog dog food, because they are an omnivore". My mother, who was a nurse, was instructed on how to give him vitamin shots daily for two weeks. He got better almost immediately. He lived this way for years. i think what kept him alive was that frequently I took him out in the front yard and let him roam in the sunshine and eat worms, snails and dandelions.
The point of the story is this: Even knowledgeable people with the best possible intentions and the latest, cutting edge info, can still give bad advice. Sadly(for me), as an impetuous teenager, I gave Tommy Turtle to another little boy who hopefully has his own stories to tell now.
Now my question: May I please have the latest, cutting edge info from our resident experts on proper adult sulcata diets? When I got my first sulcatta in 1993, the latest info was: "A wide variety of leafy greens and veggies from the super market and NO animal based protein, as that causes pyramiding." Gradually, over the years, I've evolved their diet into its current form. Now I feed: Bermuda hay and Timothy Hay always available, lots of weeds(I'll cover those species in another post), fresh grass clippings (or just fresh grass, when it grows wild), spineless opuntia, occasional organ pipe cactus (with the spines cut off), fresh mulberry tree leaves, occasional rose petals and very rarely some salad fixin's like leafy greens, cucumber, carrot, etc...
Please hit me with both barrels, I can take it. Please correct anything that needs improvement. I am here to learn.
