First question: Are torts suppose to poop everday? I have not seen mine go in a few days.
Next: I bought some dried Orchard grass for my girl. I know she needs the fiber. I chopped it in the blender for her, but she has no interest in it. She has become addicted to cactus!!! I give her a variety of greens, but she looks for the cactus. I usually have to put a few small chucks of the cactus on her greens to get her to eat them. I am concerned about her fiber though. I know she should mostly eat weeds and grasses but I can't get her to eat it! My question is, is ok to give her the cactus regularly?
Also, does anyone know where I can get organic flowers for her?
Thanks
No tortoises don't poop everyday
If your sulcata is young, fresh grass will be better to start out with to get him/her to eat grass. Tortoises would much rather eat vegetation that isn't dry.
Not sure about the organic flowers.
Danny
Thanks Danny
I have grown fresh grass for her and I'm growing more now. She didn't want it either. I'm going to keep trying though.
Any thoughts on the cactus? Is it ok for her to have it regularly?
The cactus is fine once or twice a week, but if she's being picky you can feed it in small amounts everyday.
Danny
Thanks Robyn!!!!!
Rather than starting a new thread with more questions I decided just to add my new questions to this thread.
I know that hatchlings sleep a lot, but does anyone know what is normal for a hatchling? How active should she be (she's approx 5 months old now) I guess it's just me worrying if I'm doing things right. (can you say paranoid..lol) She is active in the mornings, but honestly I'm not sure how much. She sleeps quite a bit. I check on her all the time because I'm home all day. I usually don't see her moving around much but I have noticed she changes position. She mostly stays on the warmer end of the enclosure.
Another question... I've read that Sulcata's can eat rose petals. I was wondering if buying a single rose from my local grocery store would be safe to feed her. I'm trying to give her as much variety as I can.
My sulcatas eat alot of rose petals when we have them in the garden. Watch the store bought ones for anything they sprayed on the flower to keep it fresh. I have alot of rose bushes, and my neighbors give me some of their petals. They are aware not to spray or treat their flowers. Mine also love Hibiscus. They each eat a few flowers each day. They also love the leafs from the hibiscus.
Coldliz Wrote:Also, does anyone know where I can get organic flowers for her?
Thanks
Here are a few places where you can get either dried flowers or powdered flowers:
carolinapetsupply.com
turtlestuff.com
turtlecafe.com
Yvonne
Thanks, I saw those. I was looking for fresh buds or whole plants.
Coldliz Wrote:Thanks Danny
I have grown fresh grass for her and I'm growing more now. She didn't want it either. I'm going to keep trying though.
Any thoughts on the cactus? Is it ok for her to have it regularly?
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Dip your cactus pads in water and then in your finely chopped hay. If she wants her cactus she'll have to eat the hay with it. Works with any other veggies you may give as treats too.
Misty
can you get some mini roses from you nursery or like Home Depot or Lowe’s It will take a couple of month of you just watering them to leach out any fertilizer etc that is in them then you should be fine to feed him the flowers and the rose leaves after that. You can also get small hibiscus and keep these in pots. Most all my tort food is in pots and they do great. Either keep them inside or they can go outside in the right weather-temp, Keeping them in pots gives you the luxury of having them out in spring and in during the cold winter months also. Some grocery stores sell flowers in the produce section but they are e x p e n s i v e. Also you might want to try pansies.
I just planted some in vermiculite. When they sprout I will move some of them and let the others continue to grow and flower. Squirt Loves her hibiscus. I planted 2 plants in pots last spring one is doing great the other is hanging on-I hope it will do better as the weather warms a little.
Thanks for the info. about the mini roses. I was wondering about those. My grocery store had them on sale and I was going to get one but wasn't sure about the fertilizer. I've seen edible flowers in the produce section but it doesn't say what type of flowers are in the mix. Since they are edible for people do you think it would be safe for her? I'm going to try to find a Hibicus plant. Also, I know dandelion greens are good for them, can they have the liitle yellow flowers too? The kind that grow in my yard.
Coldliz Wrote:Thanks for the info. about the mini roses. I was wondering about those. My grocery store had them on sale and I was going to get one but wasn't sure about the fertilizer. I've seen edible flowers in the produce section but it doesn't say what type of flowers are in the mix. Since they are edible for people do you think it would be safe for her? I'm going to try to find a Hibicus plant. Also, I know dandelion greens are good for them, can they have the liitle yellow flowers too? The kind that grow in my yard.
Melissa, Squirt love those little yellow flowers. The flowers in the stores are usually really packed with pansies and a few others and my torts have eaten them as well as I have. I have also found dried hibiscus flowers and just soaked them a little to moisen them. Remember it take about 3 months to get all the chemicals out of a growing plants once you buy them (roses hibiscus etc) You can find hibiscus plants online. You can also try searching for Organic plants online.
There are many plant lists online.
Just type on Sulcata Diet and you will get tons like this one
http://www.thetortoisehouse.com/
Whole foods or a similar type of store will have organic flowers - also at trader joe's they aren't certified organic, but they don't use pesticides... so that would be alright too.