Mazuri food?

[Donatello]

Hi i heard this food is great for fiber. I give my russian all sorts of greens. But i never gave him this food. Should i buy it and just put a little next to his greens? Or do you think the greens alone are best?

 

[Tom]

You can use it if you want, and its good, but you don't have to. I hardly ever give it to my russians. They've only seen it a couple of times in their whole young lives, but they love it. They will be fine without it too.

 

[Donatello]

Ok ty tom. Ive been giving him mostly dandelion, spring mix, endive, collard greens and escarole.I try to find a new green everytime i go to the store. I heard timothy hay is good too. But i heard it can get stuck in their throat and choke them to death? Also is this supplement good ive been givin him? Its good for my leopard gecko. I looked up the ingredients and i think its fine. But i would rather be safe then sorry and ask u guys. Thanks .

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Panther gecko*

 

[Tom]

Russians are not grass eaters, so hay, dried grass, is not really a food I would offer them by itself. Mixing blended grass hay into grocery store greens is a good way to add some fiber, but just feeding it plain is not something I would do for a russian.

That supplement looks fine. Once or twice a week ought to do it.

Do you offer cuttlebone, or another calcium source?

 

[HJ1983]

Russians are not grass eaters, so hay, dried grass, is not really a food I would offer them by itself. Mixing blended grass hay into grocery store greens is a good way to add some fiber, but just feeding it plain is not something I would do for a russian.

That supplement looks fine. Once or twice a week ought to do it.

Do you offer cuttlebone, or another calcium source?

Hey Tom,

I'm glad you mentioned this. I have orchard and Timothy hay that I cut up and I sprinkle it onto his food then wet it with a spray bottle so it sticks. Should I do this every day or alternate? Or ahould I give him Timothy one day and orchard the next?

Thanks, Haydee

 

[Laura]

mine don't touch it.. but the sulcatas wolf it down!

 

[T33's Torts]

My Russians will eat it straight. I only offer it once a week, though. Mostly leafy greens (75% weeds) are what they like.

 

[Tom]

Hey Tom,

I'm glad you mentioned this. I have orchard and Timothy hay that I cut up and I sprinkle it onto his food then wet it with a spray bottle so it sticks. Should I do this every day or alternate? Or ahould I give him Timothy one day and orchard the next?

Thanks, Haydee

Its not critical. I'd offer one or the other or both daily with grocery store bought greens. It won't hurt to skip it once in a while

 

[Donatello]

I offer the bone but he will not touch it at all. I keep it in his enclosure tho just incase he decides to have some one day. Yeah i read you can mix the hay in with the food not by itself. I just saw on a youtube comment some one said their russian had a piece stuck in the throat. Usually put a little calcium powder on the food twice a week like you said.Ill just order some of that stuff on the tortoise supply website that has the flowers and stuff mixed in. I am just trying to give him variety. I try to give him two to three differnet greens cut up in his dish once a day . Also i give him a carrot every other day to keep his beak down since he doesnt chew on the bone. Do you have any other reccomendations?

 

[Tom]

I wouldn't do the carrot that often, if ever.

Never seen a russian with hay stuck in their throat, but I guess anything is possible,

The herbal hay stuff from tortoisesupply.com rocks. I love that stuff and so do my tortoises. Start with just a tiny bit at first. Then you can gradually add more as time goes by. I just sprinkle it on top whenever I feed them store bought greens. They eat it all up and don't even leave any crumbs.

 

[HJ1983]

I offer the bone but he will not touch it at all. I keep it in his enclosure tho just incase he decides to have some one day. Yeah i read you can mix the hay in with the food not by itself. I just saw on a youtube comment some one said their russian had a piece stuck in the throat. Usually put a little calcium powder on the food twice a week like you said.Ill just order some of that stuff on the tortoise supply website that has the flowers and stuff mixed in. I am just trying to give him variety. I try to give him two to three differnet greens cut up in his dish once a day . Also i give him a carrot every other day to keep his beak down since he doesnt chew on the bone. Do you have any other reccomendations?

I'm not too sure about tortoises but as a rabbit owner I know that carrots are too sweet. It's like giving them candy. I haven't given my tortoise any carrot at all because of the sugar content. And I'm not 100% sure but I think crunchy greens will help with the beak. And I took suggestions from the people here and serve him his food on shale so that when he reaches for it his beak scrapes the rock and will stay nice. I've been implementing the same method to feeding my tortoise as I have my rabbits which is that when I go to the store I buy no less than 5 items on the list and feed this until it's finished. The next grocery trip I will do the same but switch out whatever it is it says to feed occasionally to something else. For the tortoise I've been keeping the staple spring mix and giving him at least 3 other greens each day, with the hay and now mazuri (which I won't give every day). I have given him the crunchy bottom part of green leaf lettuce so he has something to crunch on a few times. The calcium supplement I give on Wednesday and Saturday. And he has his untouched cuttlefish bone that I keep on his food rock. I throw food on top of it and it's flakes land on the food and maybe he unknowingly scrapes at it. I haven't given him any fruit other than an apple treat once. And since he had worms I gave him pure canned pumpkin once a week while he had his treatment since I hear it immobilizes the worms and they're easier tosame with the tortoise.

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Ok phone app went stupid and I couldn't see what I was typing. I was saying I have him pumpkin once a week during treatment to help with the worms. Also with my bunnies I know variety in the diet is the key so I'm assuming it's the same with the tortoises. This is the only way to know that they are getting all their nutrients. Different plants offer different vitamins and nutrients. And they depend on their diet for this, and we are responsible to providing them with it.

 

[Donatello]

Awesome. I will order some. I am not sure what to do about keeping the beak down. Maybe just a carrot twice a week? I cant think of anything else hard enough to chew on .

 

[HJ1983]

Awesome. I will order some. I am not sure what to do about keeping the beak down. Maybe just a carrot twice a week? I cant think of anything else hard enough to chew on .

I ordered the herbal hay and can't wait for it to come.

 

[Donatello]

Ok i will stop the carrot. I did not try to put the bone in his food dish with his food. I dont know why i didnt think of it before. Maybe he will try a bite of it.

 

[HJ1983]

Anything is worth a try with that cuttlefish bone. I used to keep it on the substrate but it got gross looking. Good luck to you and your tort. If you can't find any shale or slate petco and Petsmart sell it in the fish section.

 

[Donatello]

I work at pet supplies we may sell.it. Not sure. I am always in the grooming department. Ill check.