The Great Odin's first taste of "tortoise chow"

[Odin's Gma]

We have had him for 7 months and he is 9 months old. Since he has been with us he has had a wonderful diet of freshly grown greens in the form of hibiscus, hay, grass, clover, aloe, marigolds, violets, cactii and the list goes on, but with winter getting into full swing here in MN I started to get concerned that my indoor gardening routine may not be able to keep up with his voracious appetite and amazing garden destroying power, so I buckled and bought two types of chow. Of course this will only be a supplement to a varied diet, but I was surprised at how quickly (and adorably) he took to it!
The first pic is of a few of his garden / food choices, the second two are him just being awesome while trying his new chow.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi G-ma:

See if your local feed dealer (cattle/horse food) sells Purina products. If so, you can ask them to order Mazzuri Tortoise Diet for you. It's a much better option for your baby than those "fruity pebbles." You can also buy the Zoo Med grassland tortoise diet. It's an excellent manufactured diet, but costs a little more than the Mazuri.

 

[Odin's Gma]

Ha! That is exactly what I called them when I showed them to my son, I also told him that I would prefer not to feed him this "unnatural, colorful sh*t" at all, so he better not give it to him often.
They only had two brands there, one was by Zilla (fortunately without the awful colors) and the other is that awful colored stuff. The uncolored Zilla product is what he went for. I'm just glad that I have a green thumb and tons of plants, because I sure wouldn't want him to have to eat that stuff on a regular basis.
And thanks for the brand tips! I will call up my favorite local pet supply store and ask if they can get some for me. We have every intention of keeping him on the same fresh diet he has been on, but I worry and just feel better having a back-up source of food just in case.

 

[Odin's Gma]

Oh, and after eating about 3 of the uncolored pellets he walked right back over to the fresh grass and hibiscus leaves and started chomping away.

 

[Odin's Gma]

Speaking of food, I have been looking at different seed blends to add additional variety to his gardens. Has anyone used a deer and turkey blend or a chicken blend? I am looking at a couple of different products and trying to decide if I should order one or both, or keep looking. One has Ryegrass, Buckwheat, Forage Peas, Flax, Millet, Red Clover and Alfalfa Seed (the chicken blend) and the other has clovers, chicory and birdsfoot trefoil (the deer and turkey blend).
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[cmacusa3]

Mine loves the fruity pebbles but I don't give them very often. I usually just soak them and smear a small coat on his cuttlebone and he will tear it up.

 

[Odin's Gma]

He doesn't seem to have any interest in the fruity pebbles, but he is absolutely loving the natural colored Zilla chow. We are only giving him about one teaspoon of it over the course of a week and continuing to rotate out the planting boxes with additional hibiscus leaves and such.

 

[Yvonne G]

In my opinion, it's a good idea to get your tortoise used to eating the manufactured foods. There may come a time when you don't have access to fresh foods and the manufactured diet comes in pretty handy at those times. The only two I use are Zoo Med and Mazuri.

 

[Odin's Gma]

That was my thinking exactly. I have gardened on and off for years and I am pretty good at it, but my experience has shown me that sh*t happens to even the best gardeners. A pest infestation or disease can spread quickly and devastate a garden and I don't want to be caught with my gardening smock down at his expense. Always be prepared!
And Mazuri is the next brand I intend to try, but if all continues to go well with the gardens the Zilla that we have will likely last through the winter if not longer.

 

[Odin's Gma]

We have switched his diet somewhat, slightly less grass and more of the greens mixes I picked up, chicory, trefoil, dandelion, clover, radish, carrot, and spinach. Today we had a nice crop of sprouted greens and some nice sun coming through the back door so we let him graze.
HAD is the operative word here, I think he took as many bites as he took steps!
The chow doesn't hold a candle to this feast!

 

[dmmj]

Can I just say odin is an awesome name for a sully.

 

[Odin's Gma]

I wish I could take credit but my son named him, although I think it suits him perfectly!

 

[katfinlou]

There has to be two new additions called Thor and Loki just to complete the set lol. Great pics, Odin is certainly enjoying a feast fit for a god lol

 

[Odin's Gma]

If I had enough space I would probably have ALL the Norse gods!