Planting!

PumkinRulez

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Hi!!! I really love gardening And I wanted to start planting some stuff for my Sulcata tortoise. I know you can buy grass seed in bulk. Any recommendations for a starter??? It will be in a pot with nothing artificial, nothing but potting soil and seeds/ grass...
 

Maro2Bear

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Greetings...

lots of good info here from Tom’s Sully care info, seed info near the end

Feeding:
So much contradictory info on this subject. Its simple. What do they eat in the wild. Grass, weeds, leaves, flowers, and succulents. Feed them a huge variety of these things, and you'll have a healthy tortoise. All of these species are very adaptable when it comes to diet and there is a very large margin of error, and many ways to do it right. What if you don't have this sort of "natural" tortoise food available for part of each year because you are in the snow? You will have no choice but to buy grocery store food. What's wrong with grocery store food? It tends to lack fiber, some items are low in calcium or have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, and some items have deleterious compounds in them. All of these short comings can be improved with some simple supplementation and amendments. A pinch of calcium two times per week will help fix that problem. You can also leave cuttle bone in the enclosure, so your tortoise can self-regulate its own calcium intake. What about fiber? Soaked horse hay pellets, soaked ZooMed Grassland pellets, Mazuri tortoise chow, "Salad style", "Herbal Hay" both from @TylerStewart and his lovely wife Sarah at Tortoisesupply.com, or many of the dried plants and leaves available from Will @Kapidolo Farms. If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Add in arugula, cilantro, kale, collard, mustard and turnip greens, squash leaves, spring mix, romaine, green or red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, water cress, carrot tops, celery tops, bok choy, and whatever other greens you can find. If you mix in some of the aforementioned amendments, these grocery store foods will offer plenty of variety and fiber and be able to meet your tortoises nutritional needs just fine. I find it preferable to grab a few grapevine or mulberry leaves, or a handful of mallow and clover, or some broadleaf plantain leaves and some grass, but with the right additions, grocery store stuff is fine too. Grow your own stuff, or find it around you when possible. Tyler and Sarah also sell a fantastic Testudo seed mix that is great for ALL tortoise species and also super easy to grow in pots, trays, raised garden beds, or in outdoor tortoise enclosures. When that isn't possible, add a wide variety of good stuff to your grocery store greens to make them better.
 

Tom

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Hi!!! I really love gardening And I wanted to start planting some stuff for my Sulcata tortoise. I know you can buy grass seed in bulk. Any recommendations for a starter??? It will be in a pot with nothing artificial, nothing but potting soil and seeds/ grass...
You'll need to be careful where you get your grass seed. The stuff at the hardware stores is full of all kinds of weird stuff and sometimes chemicals. Buy something specifically made for grazing pasture animals, like horses. A combo of Tyler and Sarah's grass mix and Testudo mix, would be great for a sulcata.

Also plant some grape vines, fruitless mulberry trees if you have the space for that, lots of spineless opuntia, lavatera and whatever else will grow well for you. Where in Texas are you? Totally different environments in South East TX vs. North West TX.
 

PumkinRulez

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You'll need to be careful where you get your grass seed. The stuff at the hardware stores is full of all kinds of weird stuff and sometimes chemicals. Buy something specifically made for grazing pasture animals, like horses. A combo of Tyler and Sarah's grass mix and Testudo mix, would be great for a sulcata.

Also plant some grape vines, fruitless mulberry trees if you have the space for that, lots of spineless opuntia, lavatera and whatever else will grow well for you. Where in Texas are you? Totally different environments in South East TX vs. North West TX.
I’m in south, I have only seen it snow once ever... it’s sunny Hot and humid...
 

Chubbs the tegu

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I just ordered from sulcatafood.com their desert seed mix. Ive grew it before in flats when jack was smaller and it grew super fast and their customer service was amazing. Now im growing in his outdoor enclosure so we will see how it goes.
 

PumkinRulez

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Tnx, I have don’t this tortoise grass thing, I dint know the brand or much but it came with everything, you just throw the seeds in and leave it... I put them all in the tank and the died... I’ll look into Sulcatafood.com!
 

PumkinRulez

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Ok, I ordered the small desert tortoise mix, let’s hope it goes well!!!
 
L

LasTortugasNinja

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I find it best to grow plants in pots, and just let the tort graze from whatever drapes over the pot or I trim from the plant. It guarantees the plant gets enough time to grow and bloom without being chewed to death. Also it gives some color, shade, and humidity to indoor and outdoor enclosures. I've caught my russian just looking at the plants in his enclosure without trying to get at them as food. He seems interested in his deco.
 

PumkinRulez

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Apr 24, 2020
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Location (City and/or State)
Texas
I find it best to grow plants in pots, and just let the tort graze from whatever drapes over the pot or I trim from the plant. It guarantees the plant gets enough time to grow and bloom without being chewed to death. Also it gives some color, shade, and humidity to indoor and outdoor enclosures. I've caught my russian just looking at the plants in his enclosure without trying to get at them as food. He seems interested in his deco.

I was thinking I could use a big plastic storage tub, and planting it like that so it’s like a graze field of some sort if you know What I mean

I’ll post a pic when it’s done.
 
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