My Hurd

[Amanda81]

So with winter coming, and it beening my first winter with the tortoises, I'm slightly nervous. Ok I'm really nervous. Expectially when it comes to the big guys outside. I will have to make adjustments to their diet and for the big guys I have to make sure their temps are safe as well. So I am attempting to get things ready. I try very hard to offer my torts any and everything I can food wise. If I can confirm it's safe for them to eat and I can get my hand on some of it, I give it to them. Variety is the key, right? Ok so with winter on it's way, my weeds and grass supply's are on their way out. So I am looking for supplements to cover that. I decided to pick up some grass pellets. Their not as cheap as the grass in my yard but still decently priced, easy to obtain, and well I store them must easier then a bale of hay. I got a bag of Timothy grass pellets from my tractor supply, it's just pure Timothy grass. Even though I still have grass right now I thought I better give everyone some, make sure they would eat it.
My big guys:
Of course my big guys gobbled it up. I wet the pellets and dumped it on a concrete slab for them. Everything went fine. I have turned an old yard barn into a heated house and everything seems to be stable there. I am still getting clarification on the heating source but other then that I think that's taken care of. I have found a place to get my mazuri and have it delivered. So besides attempting to grow some weeds inside to add to their diet I think I have the basics cover for my big guys.
The quads:
Honestly besides some diet changes winter will not affect these guys, their indoors.
I have been feeling a little frustrated and some what of a failure when it comes to the quads. I have attempted from day one to get these guys to eat grass. It's 80% of their diet, I want to raise them right. Well they will not eat it. I have tried different grasses, I have tried grass that I see the big guys eat, I have tried grass that is in the shade all day, I have cut grass back and waited a couple days and took fresh clipping, I have cut it up so fine and mixed it w their weeds, I have chopped it up and mixed it with mazuri, I have tried everything, they won't eat it. If it's mixed w something, they won't eat that either, I even tough loved them, 3 days they ate nothing cause it had grass in it. So after 2 of my leopard baby's died, I'm here feeling like a HUGE failure and said forget it, we will retry when their older. So I had quit even attempting w the grass. So yesterday I'm thinking about their diet and what I will so if I don't successfully get my weeds to grow inside. That just leaves mazuri and grocery store greens for them. So just out of curiosity I soaked a handful of the Timothy pellets and put them in their enclosure, one a seperate plate, figured I was wasting that handful of pellets. Nope, they hit that plate like they hadn't eat in days. They gobbled it right up. Now don't get me wrong, I was so happy I would have peed my pants, but what in the world?? They won't eat fresh grass, chopped up so fine it's almost nonexistent, mixed in w their favorite stuff but yet their eating it just plain just mushy? I am so excited about this milestone I can't stand it. So now I feel that I can provide them an adequate diet over the cold months.
The leopards:
Again nothing really changes for them. They aren't fans of the grass or the pellets which the breeder I got them from said not to worry about giving grass right now they usually don't eat it till their older anyways, they don't process it very well he said. (Please keep in mind this is something I was told, I'm not saying it's true or a fact, I'm not sure if it is or not)
So over all after I get clarification on my heat source for the big guys I think I'm ready for the winter. So I think I am going to start preparing for my next addition.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I'm not sure I know what you mean in regard to, “clarification of the heat source"?
Something to try with getting the others to eat that works for me is to take a shovelful of the weed/grass you're trying to get them to eat. I scoop the top couple inches of soil with the weeds and grass. I then put this whole chunk in the enclosure at substrate/soil line. For me, I've found this gets the reluctant to try new things eaters to go for it. Good luck.
On a side note, this practice does introduce many of the insects and arachnids that live in your yard into your indoor enclosure.

 

[chaseswife]

My little guy doesn't really like cut grass. But i bought seed from Carolina pet supply and i am growing a bunch of containers of that in my kitchen window. When the grass is decently sized I push the container down into the substrate and let him graze on it whenever he wants. Every few days I swap it out for a different container. He loves to eat greens off his tile, but he won't really eat his grass unless it is still growing.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

My little guy won't really eat his grass unless it is still growing.

This is the same as what I found. I'd have him out in the “yard" and he'd happily munch away the day, yet taking the same foods as clippings in his enclosure and he was not into them. That's why I experimented with the shovelful idea. And it worked! So now all the indoor kids get shovelfuls of pasture, complete with weeds,pasture grasses, and bugs. Yes I've got spiders happy in the warm,moist environment of the enclosures, but they help keep the moth population down from getting into the house. I tried replacing the clumps of roots/dirt into the divots to see if they'd recover but they didn't take. We're on 5 acres here, so the occasional 3" deep hole isn't a problem but I could see city folks not wanting to dig up their yard!

 

[wellington]

Young leopards usually don't take to grass until older. This is true, as for them not being able to process it at a young age, I don't believe that is true. My one male leopard is 3 1/2 and I still can't get him to eat grass. My two femles one of same age and another a year older do. My male barely eats weeds. I too have tried it all, even the pellets. He won't not eat if it's mixed it, he just doesn't eat as much and will try to eat around it if possible. All I can say is keep trying.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

@wellington…try the shovelful experiment. Even my eager to eat pancakes are total nuts over it. They've never turned down a meal, but put a clump in and they resemble Norman Bates, enthusiastically going to town to slaughter the stuff, as it were.

 

[Amanda81]

Well now it's not an issue cause they eat the softened pellets like crazy. The quads I mean, my sulcata hatchlings. Of course the big guys eat it, they don't turn anything away. Lol. As for the leopards, as long as it's a normal thing and I'm not doing them an injustice, I'm fine to wait on them to want it. I will continue to give them pellets every couple days w hopes that they start munching on it but if not , I'm ok w that too. I just felt that I was really failing w the quads cause they wasn't getting a diet that was 80% grass. I spend hours gathering weeds of all sorts and they get plenty of those but now we are eating our grass as well.

 

[Amanda81]

As for the heating clarification. I am currently using a ceramic heater in the big guys shed but all the heating sources I see people using in here are those oil filled ones. Is there a reason the oil filled ones are preferred over the ceramic heaters? I will need to switch my heat source out if the ceramic one won't do it.

 

[mushmouth26]

Are you buying Mazuri pellets? What size bag are you buying and how much? I get a 25lb of the Mazuri Tortoise Diet from the local feed store for about $26. The 1lb bags at petsmart are like $12. The feed store can order it for you.

 

[Blakem]

Are you buying Mazuri pellets? What size bag are you buying and how much? I get a 25lb of the Mazuri Tortoise Diet from the local feed store for about $26. The 1lb bags at petsmart are like $12. The feed store can order it for you.

I do the same thing . It's crazy you get it so cheap. I get it for 25$, but that's at wholesale price bc I know the owner well.

 

[Amanda81]

Are you buying Mazuri pellets? What size bag are you buying and how much? I get a 25lb of the Mazuri Tortoise Diet from the local feed store for about $26. The 1lb bags at petsmart are like $12. The feed store can order it for you.

I asked the tractor supply if they would order it for me and they was suppose to check and let me know but never did so I ordered it through mazuri.com. I ordered the LS type and all together it was around $40 for 25lb, next time I'm going to just go w the regular kind and I'm going to attempt to check w tractor supply again.

 

[DeanS]

Amanda...I wish you would've checked with me first...the Sudans are not fans of the LS...i.e. they NEVER touched it. You're going to have to get creative with the mixtures...try these!

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/tortoise-meatballs.39021/

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/tortoise-lasagne.19944/

 

[Amanda81]

That's odd cause they eat it just fine for me. Course I always mix it with their weeds and grass. I gave them a big pile of stuff this morning and added some mazuri to it, damp, and they was gobbling it up when I left em.

 

[DeanS]

Wow! Good for you! I'll just go fade back into the woodwork and shut up!

 

[Amanda81]

No don't!! Keep telling me stuff. They probably just ate it cause it's mixed w their green stuff. I am going to finish with this bag I have then go back to the other kind. My baby's torts don't really care for the LS kind and I think it has a nauseating smell and don't care for messing with itself. So next time I order I will just stick with the original, it's cheaper anyways. Lol. They are doing really well with the cooler weather. I give them their freedom in the yard every morning and they seem to know when to come out and when to stay in or go back in. I did add a basking light to their shed, figured they would might like it. They do. I actually got around to measuring and weighting they a couple weeks ago, their fatty pants. I can't remember their weights and stuff, I will have to look when I get home and post em. I have also noticed a difference in Marv, he is more approachable here lately, will come up to me, followed me around the yard the other day. Pretty excited about that!!

 

[DeanS]

You might consider picking up a temp gun...if you don't already have one. During the winter, when the sun is out, they can usually still run the yard. And, there will undoubtedly be a spot where the temp is usually 20-30ºF warmer regardless of air temps!

 

[Amanda81]

Oh yes, I have a temp gun. Was one of the first things I bought. Lol. I use that thing all the time. I usually temp a couple areas in the morning before I let their door down and then I am always temping their shed in the evening as they head in for the night. I don't see how anyone could go without one.