Leopard's first salad

[Levi the Leopard]

My leopard is 8months old. His diet has always been natural grazing on grasses and weeds with the occasional store bought greens. When I feed him in his indoor enclosure I always make him "bushes" by clipping the leaves in a chip clip and burying it in the substrate. This is the first time I cut up leaves for him, the first time I served him a commercial pellet diet (zoo med grassland tortoise food) and his first time eating Opuntia cactus fruit..

the pellet soaking

the opuntia cut up and some dandelion from the pen

creating the salad. this was fun and cute to do. i felt like i was cooking for another member of my family, lol

i didnt have a food dish or any slate or tiles so i used his water dish. now that i plan to do this more often i'll get something just for this..

dinner time...

more please??

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

Haha, very nice

 

[jtrux]

I used to think it was cute to cut the food up but now that mine is bigger and just plows through whatever I place in his enclosure I certainly don't miss cutting food up lol.

 

[NudistApple]

What a cutie! Instead of getting something dedicated as a food dish, why don't you give him that, and get a bigger what dish? It looks like he is just about to outgrow that one anyway. (-:

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I used to think it was cute to cut the food up but now that mine is bigger and just plows through whatever I place in his enclosure I certainly don't miss cutting food up lol.

Oh I could not imagine doing this regularly!! I have very much enjoyed the 8months of no food prep

**honestly I was getting jealous that everyone's leopards were growing so much faster than mine in the same humid conditions! The only difference I noticed was the others were fed Mazuri or ZooMed. So I thought I'd try and jump on the band wagon and see if I like the results of the supplementing. We'll see

What a cutie! Instead of getting something dedicated as a food dish, why don't you give him that, and get a bigger what dish? It looks like he is just about to outgrow that one anyway. (-:

Thank you I think he is a cutie too!

He has 2 of the large sized saucers in his outdoor pen. For now, I keep the small one in the indoor enclosure because he is only in at night or on cold days. The more room for him to roam when inside the better! But I'll consider your idea, thanks!

 

[wellington]

Well, it seems he loves your prep work. It looks great too.

 

[Zamric]

Dont let the faster growth rates distract you from your regiment. Mine are 17 months and 11.5 months old and the oldest hasn't even broken the 100 gm mark yet. (the youngest, Eros , is however at 122 gm)

 

[jtrux]

Geez, maybe mine is just big-boned lol.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Zamric, your leos helped keep me sane. When I kept hearing these huge growth rates I started to doubt myself. When you posted your size and weights in another thread it put me back at ease.
I will keep my conditions and routine the same except now add grassland tortoise mix maybe a few times a week. I figure it can't hurt

 

[JenniferAnn]

You have a beautiful little tort!

 

[TortoiseWorld]

You have a nice looking tortoise and a nice enclosure setting, makes me want to join him

 

[Zamric]

Zamric, your leos helped keep me sane. When I kept hearing these huge growth rates I started to doubt myself. When you posted your size and weights in another thread it put me back at ease.
I will keep my conditions and routine the same except now add grassland tortoise mix maybe a few times a week. I figure it can't hurt

The key to Diet in these guys is variety! in other words.... a little Grasslands wont hurt at all!

 

[Katherine]

Your tortoise is stunning! I find Mazuri to be an exponential growth accelerant and am sure people feeding this as a larger portion of the tortoises diet will see a greater increase in weight per age. Although I haven't personally witnessed any negative health consequences from rapid growth in my own tortoises, it doesn't seem natural and it isn't something I strive for. I don't mind if other people's tortoises get bigger faster, as long as mine are healthy and happy

 

[Zamric]

Your tortoise is stunning! I find Mazuri to be an exponential growth accelerant and am sure people feeding this as a larger portion of the tortoises diet will see a greater increase in weight per age. Although I haven't personally witnessed any negative health consequences from rapid growth in my own tortoises, it doesn't seem natural and it isn't something I strive for. I don't mind if other people's tortoises get bigger faster, as long as mine are healthy and happy

Ditto!

 

[Neal]

Looks delicious.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Your tortoise is stunning! I find Mazuri to be an exponential growth accelerant and am sure people feeding this as a larger portion of the tortoises diet will see a greater increase in weight per age. Although I haven't personally witnessed any negative health consequences from rapid growth in my own tortoises, it doesn't seem natural and it isn't something I strive for. I don't mind if other people's tortoises get bigger faster, as long as mine are healthy and happy

Ditto!

thank you both