emysemys said:Hi John:
The best diet for your tortoise is a natural one, that is, grasses and weeds that are growing for him to graze on. It isn't always possible to allow a tortoise to graze, so we go to the next best thing, dark, leafy greens. When we say "dark, leafy greens," we're talking about escarole (lettuce), endive (lettuce), turnip greens, kale, mustard greens, raddiccio, etc.
The lettuces that are in Spring Mix, are also considered dark, leafy greens. But they are in a very young state, picked before the plant could mature.
I feed my babies Spring Mix, but to it I will add mulberry leaves, grape leaves, maybe a handful of clover, or whatever I can find outside this time of year. Its getting harder and harder to find edible growing plants this time of year, but there is a nice variety in the Spring Mix, so I believe its ok.
i did see your statements about santa barbara mix in previous threads i am looking for it here where i live no luck yet cant wait till my torts get bigger and i can just buy the ingredients too these mixes in bulk and mix it my self thanks johnDeanS said:The answer is...SANTA BARBARA MIX from Ready-Pac! It contains endive, escarole and radicchio...the greens that torts thrive on...without any lettuce whatsoever. I'm telling you, within the next couple years, Santa Barbara Mix will replace Spring Mix as the staple in everyone's tort diet! Follow this link and scroll about halfway down the page (it's listed under UNIQUE BLENDS).
http://www.readypac.com/products/index.php?print=y
squamata said:i did see your statements about santa barbara mix in previous threads i am looking for it here where i live no luck yet cant wait till my torts get bigger and i can just buy the ingredients too these mixes in bulk and mix it my self thanks johnDeanS said:The answer is...SANTA BARBARA MIX from Ready-Pac! It contains endive, escarole and radicchio...the greens that torts thrive on...without any lettuce whatsoever. I'm telling you, within the next couple years, Santa Barbara Mix will replace Spring Mix as the staple in everyone's tort diet! Follow this link and scroll about halfway down the page (it's listed under UNIQUE BLENDS).
http://www.readypac.com/products/index.php?print=y
moswen said:hey squamata! i used to use spring mix, but i really have moved away from it as it can contain any number of lettuces "depending on availability" and i really was unsure what i was feeding my babies, and i didn't like that! i'm overly ocd about my torts... ! drives my husband crazy haha. anyway, i just started buying 2 or 3 clumps of mustard/turnip/dandelion greens, kale, escarole.... & etc, and i made my own "spring mix" boxes. i have 2 plastic shoe boxes that fit perfectly in a section of my fridge and i just divide the foods up, and i vary it every time i go to the store. i also grow grape leaves, fig leaves, mulberry leaves, dandelion, hibiscus, clover, a sulcata seed mix of grasses and weeds, a bannanna tree, and of corse opuntia and aloe. all this i feed them, varied from day to day, along with some seasonal fruits or carrots or something.
makes perfect sense, i am sneakin in some mazuri mashed into the spring mix.only one of my torts is a problem here the others will eat anything i offer this one only romaine or the spring mix. ill keep up with this and the mazuri sneak and see if i can put some weihgt on him thanks for your response john
the things with lettuces that i hate is, like everyone said, while they are not BAD for your tortoise, they are not GOOD for him either. there are healthier food sources out there. but the problem is that tortoises LOVE romaien and iceberg and etc, all the bad stuff, just like kids! so i usually just tell most people "oh it's bad, don't feed it" and it kind of scares them away from it, which is good. there are a lot of noobs who sign on here and say "my tortoise won't eat anything but romaine and i just read it's bad!"
i like to equate lettuces to pizza. i'd rather eat pizza every day of my life, but it would clog my arteries, make me gain weight, and i would not be getting every thing i need to maintain a healthy body. i also need fiber and protein and potassium and healthier dairies than cheese.... but if you put a pizza in front of me every day and i love it and i gobble it up, then one day you put a bannana in front of me, i would probably refuse to eat it. for one day, maybe two days... just to see if you'd start giving me that pizza agian. so then new tort owners get worried bc their tort isn't eating and they go back to the romaine, bc at least the tortoise is eating that way. but then you have a problem with a slightly under-nourished tortoise, and not-completely-nourished (i'm trying to stay away from the word "malnourished" haha) tortoise is more susceptable (sp?) to illness. did that make sense?! sorry for the novel!!
Nofx said:Does to much lettuce make tort's beak overgrow?
Nofx said:Does to much lettuce make tort's beak overgrow?