Poll on prepared diets, ZooMed, Mazuri, other

Which prepared food do you use?

  • ZooMed

    Votes: 2 6.7%
  • Mazuri

    Votes: 26 86.7%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 6.7%

  • Total voters
    30

daniellenc

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I use Mazuri but have recently been researching the ingredients and questioning if I really should. I don’t feed my dogs or cats corn, soybean, wheat, molasses, none less myself or kids except rare occasions. Torts to my understanding wouldn’t naturally eat grains so I feel like at least for me I need to reassess. Currently he gets it 2-3x per week on mostly foods he’s picky about.
 

wellington

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I'm not voting only because there is no reason to not use both, except maybe price. I only use Mazuri. That's because the zoomed doesn't come in a big bag and is too expensive for the small container, that would only last a day.
 

Jay Bagley

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I use the original Mazuri, I also use the Zoo Med grassland tortoise food. My tortoise was not very keen on the Zoo Med at first. Usually what I end up doing is using a mixture of the two. I like the addition of the Zoo Med for the long stem fiber it provides. Soak both brands of pellets together and add lots of grass and chopped weeds. Haven't tried any of the other brands out there.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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I've used both but prefer to use as much a mix of greens as I can, mostly grocery store bought (wholesale restaurant supply) and then mix in some chicken crumbles and Vioante on alternating days. I use grass and alfalfa pellets moistened and mixed in. I have gone ever more to organic as well. With as long lived as tortoises are, it seems they may accumulate the residual -cides in spray stuff.
 

ascott

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I've used both but prefer to use as much a mix of greens as I can, mostly grocery store bought (wholesale restaurant supply) and then mix in some chicken crumbles and Vioante on alternating days. I use grass and alfalfa pellets moistened and mixed in. I have gone ever more to organic as well. With as long lived as tortoises are, it seems they may accumulate the residual -cides in spray stuff.

Can I get an Amen on this.....nice to hear.... :)
 

walter stien

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https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PetFood

Mazuri got ten votes, no other choice was clicked on.

I've been wondering where all the 30K members of www.tortoiseforum.org are hiding? Maybe it's too old an issue.

That link is from this online survey tool. A co-worker made that for me. Please share widely, I am obsessing on this prepared food thing. I know popular does not mean better. I think it might be an good indication of something.

Thanks for all the responses so far. I think when I set the tortoise forum survey up, it would only last a week. The other one, surveymonkey, will last until it's turned off.

WS
 

walter stien

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Can you explain your obsession with this? I think the use of Mazuri by tort keepers is just a given, tried, true, chow for torts that many people feed as part of a balanced diet.

Of the mazuri one looks like dog food, and when I read the ingredients for the LS kind I see the hay that seems least preferred by what I have read and what the girls (two Russian tortoises I have) like. The not LS kind has all kinds of things tortoises would not eat, rice hulls? I read the Grassland and Forest labels of the zoomed pellets and at least they are mostly things tortoises might eat on purpose.

I have a cat as a pet too. I don't feed him any cat food with grains, cause cats don't eat grains, as matter of fact when they do eat grass it's to make themselves throw up. I don't know if tortoise can throw up or not, but Rice Hulls?

I know many animals can do well on things to eat they would not choose in a life of many choices of natural foods, but rice hulls. You can sand blast things with rice hulls.

I looked up the Pre Alpin Testudo but I don't see that you can buy it here. I found that zoomed also has a salad topper product, as so does "tortoise supply" and a few other tortoise specialty stores. Rice hulls!!!! That has struck a weird nerve in me.

PLEASE take the survey.
 

Jay Bagley

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When I considered buying a manufactured tortoise chow, I combed through older post from this forum dating all the way back to 2011, maybe older. Seems like the original Mazuri always came out on top. I read people who use it once a week, twice a week, 3 times a week, I also read where people had raised their tortoise on nothing but Mazuri. I know sometimes the ingredients come into question, but I haven't found any post where any tortoise has had any ill effects from it. I love the stuff, love the zoomed grassland to.
 

daniellenc

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These are supposed to be treats. I feed Mazuri twice a week mixed in mines food but.....it’s molasses with added vitamins and corn (more sugar). I equate it too eating a “nutrition bar”. Is it HORRIBLE no, but not a main diet alone.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Interesting to do that poll. I never heard of some of those foods and did not know so many are out there. @Tom I had no trouble clicking on as many answers as was appropriate. Sorta odd to ask about enclosures and other stuff, what's that about @walter stien ?

I'll pass this around on Facebook to some sites, many are hostile to things that take you away from their specific site, but we'll see.

It would be great if you would share the results here at some point.
 

JoesMum

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Short answer - many of us are not in the USA and the range of brands is different.

Mazuri only became available in the UK in the last couple of years and is still only available from very few sources.

There’s also no option for “don’t use it at all” in the original survey which many people don’t.

I never did until maybe the last 3 or 4 years and even then only at the extreme ends of the non- hibernating season. The reason I started was climate change made it too warm to hibernate and the weeds weren’t growing. Before that, Joe and the weed growing switched off and on together.
 
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