manouria hatchling feeding

[algoroth1]

What experience have people had with feeding their emys babies? Mine loves Mazuri but if that option is available he won't touch anything else. If I withhold Mazuri he'll eat romaine lettuce, shredded yellow or green squash, mushrooms and cooked sweet potato but won't touch other greens like dandelion or collard.Wondering if this is a balanced enough diet. Also, he won't eat anything that has powdered calcium on it. He is about six weeks old and weighs 44 grams. Thanks for any input.
Ron

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Ron:

I pick leaves off the mullberry tree, grape vine and a new pad from the opuntia. I wash it all off, and chop it up into tiny pieces. Then I chop up a zucchini, some cooked banana squash and some escarole, endive and raddiccio. If the opuntia has fruit (which is does this time of year), I'll also chop up a couple of the tunas off the opuntia. I mix this all together. Occasionally I'll add soaked Mazuri to the mixture.

I feed this mixture to all my baby tortoises (YF, berlandieri, box turtles, leopards and Manouria). When I put it in the baby Manouria habitat I've discovered that I have to place it at the opening of her hiding place, as she won't come out to eat. All my babies eat this mixture and there are never any left-overs.

 

[algoroth1]

Hi Ron:

I pick leaves off the mullberry tree, grape vine and a new pad from the opuntia. I wash it all off, and chop it up into tiny pieces. Then I chop up a zucchini, some cooked banana squash and some escarole, endive and raddiccio. If the opuntia has fruit (which is does this time of year), I'll also chop up a couple of the tunas off the opuntia. I mix this all together. Occasionally I'll add soaked Mazuri to the mixture.

I feed this mixture to all my baby tortoises (YF, berlandieri, box turtles, leopards and Manouria). When I put it in the baby Manouria habitat I've discovered that I have to place it at the opening of her hiding place, as she won't come out to eat. All my babies eat this mixture and there are never any left-overs.

Hi Yvonne,
Great information! thanks. If you've been having success with that mixture, it proves that its not necessary to look for plants that are specifically rainforest species for manouria. I haven't seen much opuntia in Florida, but I suspect there are some other locally grown plants that I could use. Unfortunately, I don't know my botany well enough to recognize what's safe in my yard and what's not. Maybe when he's bigger I'll let my guy walk around and see what he likes! Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated. All the best and thanks again.
Ron

 

[Alan RF]

Hi Ron:

I pick leaves off the mullberry tree, grape vine and a new pad from the opuntia. I wash it all off, and chop it up into tiny pieces. Then I chop up a zucchini, some cooked banana squash and some escarole, endive and raddiccio. If the opuntia has fruit (which is does this time of year), I'll also chop up a couple of the tunas off the opuntia. I mix this all together. Occasionally I'll add soaked Mazuri to the mixture.

I feed this mixture to all my baby tortoises (YF, berlandieri, box turtles, leopards and Manouria). When I put it in the baby Manouria habitat I've discovered that I have to place it at the opening of her hiding place, as she won't come out to eat. All my babies eat this mixture and there are never any left-overs.

Can I quickly ask what type of mulberry leafed plant they can have? My mum says that i can have her mulberry leafs but she has a variety that kills silkworm so would it not effect a tortoise?

 

[ingrid02]

Since she was a baby mine eats lamb's lettuce, plantain, dandelion, Calisia repens, Schlumbergera, fruits (plum, raspberry, banana, grape, mango ...) alocasia frog, beef heart, mushrooms,...

 

[Itort]

As Yvonne points out, they eat better with a hide near the food. Mine never were very picky about food but they also were kept in subdued light. In Florida I check out nurseries for Opuntia ficus-indicus, Hibiscus, and allocasia/collicasia for planting outside. All mulberries are safe, silkworms just don't like black or red types which is important if raising for silk. As a point of interest my MEPs came from St. Augistine Florida.

 

[Yvonne G]

I have a 3 year old MEP that I raised from an egg. There was an alocasia in a pot right next to her habitat. One of the leaves was hanging over the edge of little Emmie's habitat. One day I noticed that the leaf had been eaten right down to the stem. She pulled it into her habitat and ate the whole thing. It was about a foot and a half long and 8" or more wide. The next day she was climbing that side of the habitat trying to grab a ginger leaf from a potted plant on that side. The bigger ones ate a small banana tree right down to and including the roots. I don't have banana leaves to feed anymore, but that's something you can incorporate into their diet too.

 

[harris]

I have a 3 year old MEP that I raised from an egg. There was an alocasia in a pot right next to her habitat. One of the leaves was hanging over the edge of little Emmie's habitat. One day I noticed that the leaf had been eaten right down to the stem. She pulled it into her habitat and ate the whole thing. It was about a foot and a half long and 8" or more wide. The next day she was climbing that side of the habitat trying to grab a ginger leaf from a potted plant on that side. The bigger ones ate a small banana tree right down to and including the roots. I don't have banana leaves to feed anymore, but that's something you can incorporate into their diet too.

I LOVE your stories of baby Emmie. Boiled corn on the cob. That is crack to the Manouria. I think they love it better than a fat, juicy nightcrawler.

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't boil it, I just wash the ears, peel back the green part (leaving it attached to the stem) and toss the whole, un-cooked cob into the pen. You're right...they LOVE corn on the cob!

 

[chris_m90731]

Man, makes me wish I didn't sell my Burmese Brown several years ago. Might have to hit up Vic Morgan again!

 

[algoroth1]

I don't boil it, I just wash the ears, peel back the green part (leaving it attached to the stem) and toss the whole, un-cooked cob into the pen. You're right...they LOVE corn on the cob!

Wow! I just returned to this thread to discover how much information everyone has shared. Ponce, our emys emys, is now going to have a much wider selection of food. Incredibly helpful. Thanks.

I'm going to start another thread on Manouria and sunlight. Hope you'll all post your experiences there too. All the best,
Ron

 

[algoroth1]

As Yvonne points out, they eat better with a hide near the food. Mine never were very picky about food but they also were kept in subdued light. In Florida I check out nurseries for Opuntia ficus-indicus, Hibiscus, and allocasia/collicasia for planting outside. All mulberries are safe, silkworms just don't like black or red types which is important if raising for silk. As a point of interest my MEPs came from St. Augistine Florida.

Hi Larry,
Thanks for your input! If your torts come from St. Augustine I have to assume they came from Vic Morgan as did mine. How long have you had your mee's or mep's and how old and big are they? All the best,
Ron

 

[algoroth1]

Learning from near tragedy

I left my emys emys hatchling (Burmese Brown Mountain) with someone while out of town for a week. At that time Ponce was 8 weeks old and weighed 52 grams.
One week later, at 9 weeks old, because he had not been soaked or misted properly and was also eating less, his weight had dropped to 44 grams. After soaking and eating (he drank and drank) his weight went within one hour from 44 grams to 52 grams! 12 hours later, after morning feeding, his weight was up to 54 grams.
Although one would never do this as an experiment on purpose, I find it striking that the undigested food and water consumed by a hatchling represents some 25% of his body weight.
Does this sound right to others?
Below are two photos of Ponce in his clear soaking dish earlier today. Comments appreciated!
Ron

 

[Itort]

Hi Larry,
Thanks for your input! If your torts come from St. Augustine I have to assume they came from Vic Morgan as did mine. How long have you had your mee's or mep's and how old and big are they? All the best,
Ron
[/quote]

Sorry for the slow response. My MEPs are about 5 years old and about 7.5 to 8 inchs long. They just came in for the winter and presently watching me type (I think they waiting for treat). They have become very dog-like.

 

[emysbreeder]

Hello guy's,there has been some good infornmation here on food. Couple of things I have noticed as babies they seem to want to tair off a bite from a big pease of greens and need some resistance to pull it off. On little peases I have seen them waving it around having a hard time getting it down. Sometimes they use their foot to hold it down to tear off a mouthfull. The top of their tongue is yellow (unless ill or cold) and has, for lack of a scientific term sticky/little grabber things that hold the food idem tightly. Adults like to start a train of food going down causing the food coming in to push what they started going down. It looks like me eating BBQ. I have found big tortoises with a big bite of a hard pear or Sweet Potato stuck in its mouth. Very tricky to pry it out. I'm planting Winter ry grass now. Not only does it look great but they also love it. It is very easy for them to digest in cool weather. BEWARE of the pumkin your getting ready to feed this month because of Halloween. Keep in mind glue can be made from the seeds. It is also VERY hard for them to digest. You ever smell a rotton Pumkin? Well you dont want that in their gut when the Nov cold weather sneeks up on you. They love it and will eat it until they fall a sleep and then continue the next morning. Didnt mean to SPOOK you! Vic

 

[Yvonne G]

That's why I chop up my babies' food into very tiny pieces. I don't stop chopping until they're about 4 years old.

Interesting picture you've placed in my mind about the "food train!" And I love your very scientific term for the papillae on the tongue's surface! We use a lot of those types of scientific terms here on the forum...terms like slimey, gooey white stuff, poop, etc.

 

[DesignerGenes]

I put lentil seeds in dishes and grow sprouts on them for our Uromastyx who loves it, would that be something I could try for our sulcata and Burmese? Also, what is your opinion on frozen veggies, i prefer the fresh stuff but i've heard of others who use it.