questions! (zoo med pellets)

[sheldon1306]

So I have an Eastern Hermanns, and was wondering if the zoo med pellets are ok for him? I used them in a pinch last week since I live in new england and fresh greens are getting harder to come by this time of year... But now I went and found some dandelion and kale which he normally goes crazy for and he wouldnt touch it at all. So I put two little pellets in and he jetted (tortoise speed) right to them? Also he seems to hate water and humidity, so rather than soak him I switched to just misting him about 5-10 times a day... he has zero signs of irregular shell growth. Thanks!

 

[dannel]

RE: questions!

I'd try mixing them with the food you want him to eat. Can you plant dandelions in his enclosure?

 

[sheldon1306]

RE: questions!

I've tried but they never took. He is like a bulldozer! Once in a while something pops up randomly in the substrate but it isnt there long. Ive tried mixing the two but it seems as tho he sorts through the greens in order to get the pellets. I've also tried the zoo med food shaped like pellets but they break apart like mini bails of hay.

 

[sueb4653]

RE: questions!

I've tried but they never took. He is like a bulldozer! Once in a while something pops up randomly in the substrate but it isnt there long. Ive tried mixing the two but it seems as tho he sorts through the greens in order to get the pellets. I've also tried the zoo med food shaped like pellets but they break apart like mini bails of hay.

I've had great success planting danelions in some soil and putting them under a light they are growing like weeds I just snip what I want off to feed and they continue to grow

 

[dannel]

RE: questions!

Also you can plant them in little pots and place them on top of your substrate, and once they're big enough, take em out of the pots and plant them directly in the substrate.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

RE: questions!

I've tried but they never took. He is like a bulldozer! Once in a while something pops up randomly in the substrate but it isnt there long. Ive tried mixing the two but it seems as tho he sorts through the greens in order to get the pellets. I've also tried the zoo med food shaped like pellets but they break apart like mini bails of hay.

Soak the pellets until they're nice and mushy, then mix well with chopped greens, so that it all looks like bread dough...he'll eat it this way.

Start w/ 50% pellets/50% greens, then in a week or so, make it 30% pellets/70% greens. Add some chopped cactus a couple times a week, too.

Also, plant some shallow trays with different greens or weeds, and let him graze in a different one from time to time.

 

[GBtortoises]

RE: questions!

ZooMed pellets are fine as a dietary supplement. In fact probably the best of all pellet foods available. But your tortoises diet should be much more varied to expose it to as many other vitamins and minerals as possible. Grocery store greens will work fine when fresh weeds aren't available. Greens such as kale, endive, escarole, chicory, dandelion (which commercially is usually actually a chicory), Romaine, mustard greens, beet greens, collard greens, spinach, argula, carrot tops and others. Occasional (about 30%) various quality vegetables can be fed too such as pumpkin, squashes, green & yellow beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatos and more. Cactus and other foods are good too, but don't limit your tortoises diet to just a few items.

 

[Moozillion]

RE: questions!

So I should be feeding my new Hermann's some veggies too- not just greens???:-/

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Hi,

The ZooMed grassland tortoise pellets have escarole in them. Escarole is a top grocery store green for captive tortoises. It's not in the family of greens with kale etc. so is truly an alternate, more so that mustard greens to kale and the other cabbages. It had been readily available in PA when I lived in that part of New England. As a single grocery store green none is better than escarole.

I do note mean endive which some people would confuse with escarole, I mean the head green that looks like extra dark head lettuce, but has thick almost leathery leaves. It is used for soups like kale (why a grocery store would carry it. Some us it in their own salad but people tend to find it bitter. For people use it is an alternative to a cooked green, from kale or mustard.

The USDA food site <http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/> does not list it in any form other than prepared soup.

Will

 

[sheldon1306]

Well it isnt a question of what to feed him, when I said greens in the op I was meaning to imply a variety of greens and I do give him a few vegetables also. It seems more the issue is that he wont touch the greens, or anything else besides the grasslands pellets. I tried the past two days mixing it all together and chopping it up but I just come back to a rockslab or food bowl with the mixed greens and a whole lot of mixed up pellets. He runs over takes a bite and then goes and boroughs. Should I just pay tough love and do away with the pellets and go back to greens? Like I said I used the pellets a couple days in a pinch during hurricane sandy and now this. I guess if it's my only problems from the storm I should be lucky!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Well it isnt a question of what to feed him, when I said greens in the op I was meaning to imply a variety of greens and I do give him a few vegetables also. It seems more the issue is that he wont touch the greens, or anything else besides the grasslands pellets. I tried the past two days mixing it all together and chopping it up but I just come back to a rockslab or food bowl with the mixed greens and a whole lot of mixed up pellets. He runs over takes a bite and then goes and boroughs. Should I just pay tough love and do away with the pellets and go back to greens? Like I said I used the pellets a couple days in a pinch during hurricane sandy and now this. I guess if it's my only problems from the storm I should be lucky!

A little "tough love" is the answer...when he gets hungry enough, he'll eat.

Torts are practical like that.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

And my point is Grassland Pellets contain escarole. Maybe some component of the pellets is appealing, that is one possibility.

Will

Well it isnt a question of what to feed him, when I said greens in the op I was meaning to imply a variety of greens and I do give him a few vegetables also. It seems more the issue is that he wont touch the greens, or anything else besides the grasslands pellets. I tried the past two days mixing it all together and chopping it up but I just come back to a rockslab or food bowl with the mixed greens and a whole lot of mixed up pellets. He runs over takes a bite and then goes and boroughs. Should I just pay tough love and do away with the pellets and go back to greens? Like I said I used the pellets a couple days in a pinch during hurricane sandy and now this. I guess if it's my only problems from the storm I should be lucky!

 

[devbarrett77]

The zoo med pellets are a fine diet just make sure he gets some leafy greens to

 

[sheldon1306]

Yeah I've been trying. I actually found a way to get him to eat the greens again and I've been smearing the paste I make out of the pellets on top of whatever green I am using that day... my other question has yet to be answered tho. Is the general misting a few times a day in place of soaking ok? His shell has not even a sign of it starting to form peaks. Its actually very smooth. He doesnt seem to mind the misting but if I attempt to soak him all he does is climb the side of the dish until I either take him out or he does a flip and ends up on his back... I do monitor him while soaking but I do feel bad that he flips himself over.

 

[cherylim]

Regarding the soaking, I've stopped doing this to Emrys. Whenever I soaked, despite the temperature being fine, he'd be trying his best to get out and often ended up sneezing. I kept doing it for a while because I felt it was important, but he has a large water bowl and I eventually discovered that he walks over to it every day and soaks himself for around fifteen minutes.

I'd say as long as you keep him and his environment humid enough, and supply a bowl large enough for your tortoise to sit in, it's worth seeing how he gets on without any forced soaking.

 

[sheldon1306]

I've pretty much been doing that for a while. What I tend to do is mist his whole enclosure lightly everyday about 5 pm, and I mist him about 8 am, 4-5pm and again about 8 pm.... he usually sits in his water dish with his front legs over the edge for about 2-3 minutes multiple times daily... so far he has absolutely not one sign of pyramiding, but I wanted to know if anyone else had given up lol. I find it pointless if the animal acts as tho you're torturing them.