Stuffing his face

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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About how much longer till I could do the hay. Does it depend on size and age? He will be a year old April first and yesterday he weighed 417 grams.

You can introduce it anytime, but I usually wait until they are about 10". I start by making a small bed of grass hay in their outdoor enclosure and just feeding them their normal food on top of it. Some of them just start eating it on their own after a few days of that. If not, I cut some up super fine with scissors, rehydrate the hay by soaking it for an hour, and then mix it in with the other greens and foods. Start with a very small amount at first and gradually increase the ratio of hay to greens over weeks and months.

I prefer bermuda grass hay or orchard grass hay. I don't like timothy hay for smaller tortoises because its too stemmy. Timothy is fine for the bigger ones, but I still prefer orchard of bermuda.

You can also get horse hay cubes and rehydrate those. Then break them apart and mix with greens. Just make sure your chosen cubes have no additives of any kind. You want only pure grass hay for this.

Most people have a moment of panic when their sulcatas reach 4-6 inches and they see how much the little monster eats everyday. "How am I going to feed this thing when it gets bigger???" Grass hay. Grass hay is the answer. :)
 

Speedy-1

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Jul 20, 2015
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St. David Arizona
About how much longer till I could do the hay. Does it depend on size and age? He will be a year old April first and yesterday he weighed 417 grams.

I started Speedy on "Hay Pellets" moistened and soaked before he was a year old just so he would get used to the taste of hay . It is a major part of his diet now .

I guess I should have said "Eating and Pooping Machines" ! :eek:

G 2.jpg

 

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