Need you guys food expertise

diamondbp

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
3,331
So as many of you know I am currently raising up several SA leopard tortoises and that some are REALLY starting to grow at rates I didn't anticipate. This is a good thing of course but feeding them is shaping up to be a minor challenge.

I currently give them a good healthy mix of grasses/weeds/grocery greens/ &mazuri . They do have a grazing area for mild days which I'm about to expand.

So I need some good recommendations on grazing seed mixes and also fast growing supplemental plants and/or flowers. I don't have the time for "tough to start" plants so please only refer common items.

Ps. I live in South Louisiana for climate consideration
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California

Prairie Mom

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
4,340
Wheat and barley seeds grow really quickly. You can have nice grass blades in about a week's time. I ordered plain organic wheat seeds and a separate bag of organic barley seeds from amazon. Squash and pumpkin plants grow from seed pretty quickly -they're on their way to being healthy plants in about a month and you can grow them in large pots if you don't want to put them in soil. I've done this with watermelon plants too. My sulcata loves all these vines. Sugar snap pea vines grow from seed really quickly too. Dwarf Snap Dragon flowers are also pretty fast growers--they take a long time to form blossoms, but produce greens quickly. You can order dandelion seeds and chicory from amazon too.

@Yvonne G grows beautiful lettuces for her tortoises and has been posting photos in the recent pages of the Garden Chat thread in the "Off topic chit chat" section. She'll make a whole row of lettuce and snip off the top two inches. The lettuce grows quickly enough that she can go back down the line of planted lettuce and snip again a week later.

Also, grape vines are starting to flood the nurseries and supermarket garden centers. I just got some good sized ones from Home Depot for less than $7.
 

Moozillion

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
10,744
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana, USA
Cat grass (which is usually wheat or barley) grows fast; so does chia. But I'm not sure about the cost of the amount of chia seed you would need!:p
 

Len B

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Messages
4,986
Location (City and/or State)
Southern Md - Northern Neck Va
I do have spineless opuntia that doesn't need to be kept dry, It grows in warm weather and survives our cold wet winters here in the northern neck area.The only type that I know the name of is humifusa, I have the spineless and the kind with spines. Have you looked around where you live to see if anyone has cactus growing in their yard or in front of a business. Some of the best spineless opuntia I found is growing in front of a bb&t bank in Maryland. I went inside and ask if I could have a few pads, The manager said sure. All they can do is say yes or no, but no one has ever told me no, and any one who ask for some of mine gets it free. If you can't find any locally I can send you some.
 

lismar79

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
2,995
Location (City and/or State)
Ohio USA
I second the mulberry tree suggestion. These grow fast and are super hard to kill. They also spread fast, I have two big trees and about 20 smaller ones that I didn't mow down last year, before I knew it was great tort food..... they pop up everywhere now.
 

New Posts

Top