mazuri tortoise diet

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moswen

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hey everyone! i'm new! so, let me tell you my story:

last summer i decided i wanted a sulcata. in november i worked out a payment plan with a guy who was selling an ivory sulcata and two female hets, and i got them about 3 weeks ago! during the summer, right after i decided i wanted a sulcata, i was at the pet store and they were clearancing out a "tortoise kit" and it had cage cleaner, 75w heat bulb, calcium powder, mazuri tortoise diet, and a booklet on keeping tortoises all for cheaper than they were selling 75w basking lamps by themselves! ever the one looking out for a bargain, i bought the last two.

i researced a lot about sulcatas and their requirements and got all their stuff ready for them to be here, i bought some sulcata seed and began growing that under a uv bulb in january, i ordered some opuntia cacti from a guy in california, and now my babies are here!

i've been soaking about 1/4 cup of orchard grass and timothy hay (blended together like a salad mix) and a few pellets of mazuri in hot water for 15 minutes, and then cutting about 1/8 cup of grass clippings from the sulcata seed mix, and cutting up one slice of opuntia cactus and shaking that up in a bag with calcium powder (so that there's not calcium powder everywhere- it sticks to the opuntia and that's what the little guys go for first!) and i feed them that every day.

the problem:

i've recently become concerned with mazuri tortoise diet. i've read a couple of places that say pelleted or manufactured food like that is very bad to feed your tortoise, but i've been taking that as a "main staple" or the only thing to feed them is bad. they usually leave that stuff alone anyways and they probably only eat it when it's in too close proximity to the food they're trying to get at. so, what do you guys think? i don't like wasting so i don't want to just throw the food away, but if it's bad for my babies i will NOT sacrifice their health for my reservations about wasting food. that would be like saying i'm going to feed my child stale chips instead of a carrot because i won't throw the chips away! i just want to know what you guys think about giving three hatchlings probably less than 2 tablespoons of soaked mazuri tortoise diet every day? thanks for taking the time to reply!
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Moswen (Newsom??):

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to the forum!!!

May we know your name?

I use Mazuri once a week just to be sure that my grazing tortoises are getting the nutrients they need to be healthy. My grazing tortoises don't get anything else to eat besides what they can find to graze on in their pens, and I don't know how nutritious the grass and weeds are, if the soil is depleted, so I feed Mazuri. They love it. It was manufactured for tortoises and they are continually upgrading it. There isn't anything wrong with using it. However, it should be used as a supplement to the healthy greens you are feeding, and not used as a mainstay.

I'd love to see pictures of your special sulcatas. Did you get them from Jerry Fife?
 

Greg T

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You will always find the person who says to "only feed their native foods" however, you will find many, many more who have fed mazuri for years and years and have very healthy and happy torts. I use it and my guys love to eat it along with other sensible foods.

It is a fine product that is healthy and nutritious to feed your torts. Your menu sounds great for a growing tort, so keep it up. :)
 

kimber_lee_314

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Mine get Mazuri once a week too. I actually like another product called Sulcata Gold better, but due to manufacturing problems, it's really hard to get right now.
 

spikethebest

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I feed Mazuri to all my tortoises. Mazuri Tortoise food was originally designed for Galapagos tortoises, so if its good for them, then its good for mine! My local zoos (Los Angeles and San Diego) buy it by the truck load for ALL their tortoises.
 

moswen

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oh yes, sorry, my name is Rebekah. moswen is my ivory, safina is one of my hets and ayana is the other one. i looked through a book of african names for them! i also have had a greek for several years now, her name is tula.

good to hear all the posative feedback about the mazuri! i've gotten really worried about it lately!! and no, i origionally contacted fife about the ivories, but his are so expensive! probably because, he is the best and he can! there was a guy on kingsnake that i found advertising them, his name is gerardo martinez. he was one of the first to get an ivory from richard when he introduced them to the public. he is amazing! i will do all my business with him in the future, if i ever want anything else haha! sulcatas are quite a handful though. i think he said he has leopards too.

anyway, if i can ever figure out how to get a picture up on here of them, i definately will post! my daughter is taking a bath now so maybe i can find time to try it again. thanks so much everyone!

here is a picture of the three of them. they aren't still long enough to get good shots!
 

BethyB1022

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They are beautiful! It sounds like your diet is excellent for your new buddies. I wouldn't worry about the mazuri, I got scared too when I read some negative things online, but I figure if it works for others on the forum who I know take good care of their torts then it must be alright. Hope to see more photos of your torts soon! :)
 

Yvonne G

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Rebekah: They are beautiful!! Please keep showing pictures of them as they grow. We're all interested in seeing the ivory sulcata especially as it grows and changes. Very nice!!
 

moswen

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thank you all for your interest and quick replies! i'm going to like being a part of this forum! i've asked a few questions on yahoo over the years, some about my greek tort, but i always get replies like people think i'm stupid or something! this forum is MUCH better! and i LOVE my torts, so if you asked for it, i'll be posting updates on here all the time! my husband just rolls his eyes when i talk about them, he doesn't understand how awesome they are haha! thank you everyone again!
 

tortoisenerd

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Welcome to the forum! I would feed the majority of the diet as hay, weeds, and grass and less Mazuri, but others out there use even 100% Mazuri and produce beautiful torts. It is all personal preference. I don't see any bad foods on your list. Variety is key in my opinion, so starting your yard with graze now is great. Wow, what are you going to do with 3 full grown Sulcatas? How much land do you have? Want to share more about how you are caring for them and their housing? We love photos of enclosures too. Will they get some outside time this summer? Pretty torts. :) Take lots of photos as they grow up very fast. I wish I had heard the advice earlier to outline your tort on a piece of paper and mark it by month or whatever as I think that would have been very cool. My little guy (Russian) is a big guy (maybe girl) now though. Best wishes.
 

TortieGal

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I really like your ivory tort, very neat looking. She looks like she has a really cute face to. Would love to see more pictures. Good to have you on the Forum!
 

moswen

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well, i currently have them housed in two underbed plastic containers and a little handmade tunnel that they use to get to both sides. they will get outside time this summer when it gets warmer; my husband and i are currently in the process of buying 10 acres, so in late april/early may they will have a large garden to live in during the day, but i will be bringing them in at night because i live in oklahoma, and there are coyotes, raccoons, foxes, (also owls, hawks, and bats if they are even considered a threat to hatchling turtles?) and occasionally the stray dog out here in the country, so it's going to be very dangerous for them until they are at least a foot long i would say! and next summer i will turn their enclosure into an outdoor enclosure for my greek tort, tula, and i will be making them their permanent enclosure, planted with some safe grasses, bermuda, this sulcata seed mix i have, and some differnt plants from this website i found from california that sells wild harvested seeds from the desert that are safe and healthy for all desert tortoises.

here is the link for that if anyone wants it:

http://www.turtlestuff.com/category/?shop=1The-Weed-Patch-63

this website has everything, sulcata gold, dried flower mix for the winter months, trees, shrubs, cacti and other succulents, weeds, and wild flowers that would make a GREAT garden!

the acreage we are buying also comes with a barn that has 5 horse stalls in it, so their enclosure will include that for the winter months, i'll just have to outfit it with a LOT of heaters and a small door (most likely just cutting a hole in the wall) for them to go in and out of!

so, those are my future plans and you bet your bottom dollar i'm going to be posting pictures of that when i get it done! i'll be PROUD haha!

and that idea of the picture sounds GREAT! i think i'll go buy a big flat canvas and i can paint it when they stop growing (in 10 years haha!) but that would make an amazing art display... that's a wonderful idea!

ultimately i would love to breed the torts, just to be able to produce some babies would be so rewarding, but i'm not sure in 10 years what the need is going to be for people who weren't prepared to handle a sulcata. i may just turn a few acres into a sulcata or tortoise rescue. but time will tell us. hopefully we tortoise lovers and responsible breeders will be able to adequately inform potential buyers of housing and feeding requirements and just straight up life span, so we will have less disposed tortoises in 10 years!
 
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