Need help with feeding ideas

Huralain Lakku

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Joined
Jun 7, 2015
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2
Hello Everyone,

I have been a silent member for a long time but now posting my own thread. Might be long but please bear with me. We have a beautiful 4 year old female Leopard tortoise. Lately I have been struggling with what to feed her. I know her diet should be 70% grasses, but I cannot figure out where do I get grass and weed from? Currently she eats grocery store bought lettuce, radicchio, mustard greens, collards, sometimes some fruit or tomatoes, or squash, cucumbers etc, Hibiscus flowers from our backyard, cactus pads and succulent leaves, and Mazuri. I am sure I am forgetting some things, but these are the most common. I tried growing my own lettuce and she wouldn't eat it, I also purchased tortoise grass mix seeds and grew them, and she won't eat it. She does graze on the grass in our backyard, which is St. Augustine grass, but not enough. We live in Houston, and lately she has taken to knocking on the backdoor and coming indoors in the evenings! I think it is because she is hungry? or too hot?

I want to make sure she is getting the nutrition she needs. Are there places that will sell real grass and weeds? I sound silly to myself, but with her appetite I am running to the grocery store twice a week and I know she should be eating more grasses! Thank you for reading and I appreciate all the help!
 

Yvonne G

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These items are copy/pasted from our care sheets:
Fresh grass, hibiscus leaves and flowers, dandelions, succulents, Romaine lettuce, spring mix, kale, carrots, mustard greens, or escarole.

Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

 

Kapidolo Farms

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South of Southern California, but not Mexico
Your question and narrative sound oddly like one posted on Facebook?

It can be difficult to find all these things for them to try, and be annoying when they seem to reject them.

On the rejection side, when you offer something new it should always be such a small amount it is nearly imperceivable. one example with a male leo. It had been a grass eater, but I did not have enough grass to offer, so it got the grocery store mix with as much grass as I could offer. It was reluctant, but ate at it., then began to eat it with gusto. Then after quarantine I placed it outside and it was no longer interested in grass, but seemed to prefer the grocery mix, so I had to do the reverse.

With ZooMed grassland and other tortoises, I have added as little as one moistened pellets, well tumbled with a whole head of chopped romaine. No one seemed to notice, then two pellets, etc. until the amount of ZooMed was very high. In the past when I just start out with a high amount of ZooMed I get rejection. I also will moisten the ZooMed with the water that is left over from soaking dehydrated hibiscus blossoms, this both changes the color and flavor/smell.

I have three adult Asian forest tortoises that can together eat 10 to 20 pounds of grocery greens a day. I at first added rehydrated Alfalfa/Timothy cubes, and they barely picked at their food. I backed off and added one cube to that whole salad. Then a few weeks later I added two cubes. They accepted that. I tried adding several more, but they pulled back again from just eating it all. I later tried it out again, and acceptance has gone up. I can add 10 to 12 cubes to the salad and they eat it all.

One thing I have learned from reading different feeding trials for tortoises is that the rough fiber content particle size, as well as amount, can influence the gut biome (the microbes that can aid or harm) . The more varied the fiber particle size the more varied the good microbes in the gut can persist and proliferate. So they may have some kind of feedback mechanism that takes time to be realized. This is what I read https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/a-leopard-diet-experiment-regarding-fiber-particle-size.170603/

I prefer ZooMed over Mazuri for this very reason. ZooMed rates slightly higher for nutrient content, but much higher for fiber size variability. I know it's more expensive, but it is a much better food. The cubes and various size (diameter grass pellets) can be found as horse feed stores. Often they will let you collect for free all the stuff that falls of of stacked bales as well.

Timothy is one of the least palatable grasses according to a friend that grows organic grasses for cows and horses. Broome and orchard are considered the most palatable. Even oat grass is a good choice for fiber and nutrient content.

Please see my offerings here https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/june-deals-from-kapidolo-farms-tortoise-pantry.176011/
 

Huralain Lakku

New Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
2
Thank you for the list Yvonne! But my question is more of "where do I get these things?" I do have hibiscus and rose plants, and occasionally give her the leaves, but she is not very fond of those. But I will try add them again to her diet. How do I grow weeds? Thank you so much for your help!

These items are copy/pasted from our care sheets:
Fresh grass, hibiscus leaves and flowers, dandelions, succulents, Romaine lettuce, spring mix, kale, carrots, mustard greens, or escarole.
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Well, I have most of this stuff growing in my yard. You can find many edible weeds during winter, spring and autumn. Mulberry leaves and grape leaves are very good edibles. Surely there must be someone in your neighborhood that has these (a good way to meet your neighbors, "Pardon me, but do you mind if I trim your tree and grapevine for you?") I find "Santa Barbara Salad" at Smart and Final (endive, escarole and radicchio), and most grocery stores sell the bagged greens - mustard, turnip, collard, etc.
 

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