# Repcal Tortoise food



## byerssusan (Oct 19, 2011)

I am hearing alot about already prepared diets that one can buy for tortoises.And how they are not good for them.(i'M CONFUSED). That is all I have been using as of yet. I got Phoenix when she was 2 weeks old..She is now 2 months and seems to be doing fine with this diet. I have listed here what goes into these pellets I feed her and that she really seems to love eating. I will eventually switch her to a more natural diet as she gets older ... but for now is there really any reason why I should not go ahead and feed these to her seeing how well she is doing while eating it?


Rep-Cal Tortoise food is formulated to ensure your tortoise's proper growth and health. Recommended by veterinarians, it contains the natural plant and fruit ingredients your tortoise craves. This complete and balanced diet may be fed daily and moistened with water or fruit juice if desired.

Ingredients:
Ground Corn, Soy Hulls, Soybean Meal, Wheat Germ, Dried Apple Pomace, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Ascorbic Acid, Choline Chloride, Dried Mango, Dried Papaya, Dried Strawberry, Vegetable Oil, Methionine Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Sodium Selenite, Thiamine Mononitrate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (Source of Vitamin D3), Menadione Dimethylpyrimidionol Bisulfite (source of Vitamin K Activity), Cobalt Carbonate, Inositol, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Folic Acid, Artificial Color, Natural flavor.

Guaranteed Analysis: 

Crude Protein (min.) 16.0% 
Crude Fat (min.) 1.0% 
Crude Fiber (max.) 18.0% 
Moisture (max.) 12.0%


It kinda freaked me out when i saw the other two sulcatas swollen who had been eating the same premade medzoo?


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## ewam (Oct 19, 2011)

Well your not feeding this by itself right?Are you feeding greens with it too?

Well your not feeding this by itself right?Are you feeding greens with it too?


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## byerssusan (Oct 19, 2011)

Well so far by itself. When I bought Phoenix that is what the seller was feeding his.. I know he said one container would last six months. And he said thats all feeds his.(Young ones) He told me to give it to her freely. As that is what he does with his. I am not sure what his bigger ones eat though. Im sure it's not this. LOL...They are huge and would take a truck load to feed them. But they were all healthy looking and was well taken care of. I guess I am making a big BOOBOO huh? By you saying (right?) Okay give it to me straight..let me have it!!! lol..I have been reading so much on fresh grasses, flowers, etc.. I'm kinda at a loss. I do not want her to look good now and then something I have done causes problems for her later.


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## Torty Mom (Oct 19, 2011)

You don't want her to develop picky eating habits, when little ones are only exposed to the same thing over and over when something new comes along, many will refuse to eat the new items being offered! Thus becoming picky eaters. I opt for as natural diet as possible, however I do feed mazuri 2 times per week and Low Rider gets some every day. Greens are so good for those babies as many are grazers and they need to learn how to graze. 

I have that with one of my box turtles. He is a total turkey butt and won't hardly eat anything! UGH!


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## byerssusan (Oct 19, 2011)

Well I tried her on the switching over method on one of the links here somewhere..Anyway by putting dry hay/greens/shredded carrots in a bag getting it moist letting it rest then tried giving her some today. I thought I must have done it wrong because she walked by it..Kinda tasted it..then when straight for her repcal. So I guess she is already a picky eater thanks to me. I guess this willl be harder switching her than I thought. And I have saw where some give the tough love thing lol.. I'm not too much on tough love. I'd probably actually cry if I thought I was causing her to be hungry. By meaning taking away the repcal and making her go hungry until she eats the more fresh diet.


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## dmarcus (Oct 19, 2011)

If you can't handle not giving her the repcal because you feel she will go hungry then thats all she may want to ever eat, now there isnt anything wrong with it, but When she is 20+ pounds and refuses to eat anything other than the repcal, you will be going thru several containers a month. She will not go hungry, when it times to eat and all thats available is what you choose to offer her, she will eat it. Eventually you will have to figure a way to get her to eat other things other wise it will become a very expensive diet...


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## ewam (Oct 19, 2011)

Is this stuff like mazuri where if you soak it then it gets soft. Well if it is then you can try and spread it all over greens or something.

It isn't really a big booboo or something it is just that over time I think if you feed just that then it can cause some problems. 

Too add one I don't know why that appeared twice, I only sent it once.


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## byerssusan (Oct 19, 2011)

dalano73 said:


> If you can't handle not giving her the repcal because you feel she will go hungry then thats all she may want to ever eat, now there isnt anything wrong with it, but When she is 20+ pounds and refuses to eat anything other than the repcal, you will be going thru several containers a month. She will not go hungry, when it times to eat and all thats available is what you choose to offer her, she will eat it. Eventually you will have to figure a way to get her to eat other things other wise it will become a very expensive diet...



Yeah I see what you are saying. And I know I HAVE to switch her before that IS all she will except. Lord knows I could not afford to feed her this when she does get bigger. It would take too muchand this stuff isn't cheap.. Ok so heres the question. What do I do? Do I totally stop the repcal or switch her slowly? To me more slowly would be less stress on her and I.. But how do I do it?


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## dmarcus (Oct 19, 2011)

I would soak it and chop up some greens or anything else and chop it very small and mix it with the repcal. If the greens are small enough she will not be able to pick it out. Start off with more repcal than greens and then slowly add more greens and less repcal.

I did this to get my hatchling sulcata to start eating Mazuri


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## Torty Mom (Oct 19, 2011)

I hear ya!!! It's very hard!!! My box turtle is 11, he ate raw hamburger meat until I got him 3 years ago, he went hungry a few times, because he refused to eat. I tried and tried and tried, it was a rough go. We are still working on it to this day, most often he wins, except I have never given him raw hamburger meat. 

Try cutting everything up teeny tiny, so when she tries to eat it she gets 2 or 3 pieces in her mouth. Try handfeeding her too, hold it in front of her nose and see if you can interest her. Mine will bump their little noses on it and then bite it, it's soooo cute. Keep trying, don't give up. Try holding out for a while, feed her the stuff you want her to try and then wait a few hours before giving in. I don't think that other stuff is entirely bad, but a varied diet is important too. Some folks on here feed mazuri only, my thought is, as mine get bigger and bigger, I want them to naturally graze from the yard as they would do in the wild. Low Rider is a sick little dude that is why he is getting a mazuri nugget each day, he has an eating problem(be bites the air and banks his head to the right) so he is hand fed, he also gets greens chopped up super small, so as he bites the air, I stick a piece in his mouth. He is learning, it's been slow.

Do what you want and what you feel comfortable doing, I am only offering some advice that I use, I have 5 little torties all turning 1 here in the next few weeks. This is what has worked for me. They are all doing great and have nice little hard shells and are growing!! Just trying to save you some heartache when you want her to eat other stuff and she refuses. Good luck and we are here for you!! I would totally stay away from that megadiet, the stuff is scaring me!


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## Tnewton (Oct 19, 2011)

I personally wouldnt feed it at all, all that stuff is are grain by products and torts arent grain eaters. Save your money


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## byerssusan (Oct 20, 2011)

Well thank you everyone. That's what I am going to do. I will mix it all up and slowly with the repcal remove it.That way it is less stress on me lol.. and of course less stress on Phoenix. I want her eating what is best for her. And I really cannot afford to feed what will be a huge creature such expenisve food. It has worked well though up till now. I'm guessing it will take awhile to switch her totally over, then again maybe not. I do thank you all for your advice... And after seeing what pre-made diets could possibly do ..I'm guessing that is why the two little ones here on the forum was swollen from..I don't want to take any chances. Natural is the best for sure. Thanks again

quick stupid question lol..Can I just go out and pull up some grass from outside and soak it with the repcal? Or does it have to be dried?


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## Utah Lynn (Oct 20, 2011)

I recently adopted an RT that was fed only this for 6 years. She looks good, but, because of what I had read about these pellet foods, I have fed her only recommended greens. She took right to this. I still give her the reptical very occasionally, as a treat, as she came with a huge container of this stuff.


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## DesertGrandma (Oct 20, 2011)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quick stupid question lol..Can I just go out and pull up some grass from outside and soak it with the repcal? Or does it have to be dried? 

Not a stupid question. As long as the natural grass hasn't been sprayed/treated with insecticides it's okay to feed.


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## byerssusan (Oct 20, 2011)

That's sort of what I thought I would do..after Phoenix is eating mostly fresh foods I would give this to her for a treat. She does love it. Wow 6 years of feeding this and the torts did fine? Then the qualtiy of this food must be good for them... Well if i could afford it ..but then again when it is time for her to be outside I want her eating what comes natural. 



DesertGrandma said:


> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> quick stupid question lol..Can I just go out and pull up some grass from outside and soak it with the repcal? Or does it have to be dried?
> 
> Not a stupid question. As long as the natural grass hasn't been sprayed/treated with insecticides it's okay to feed.



Wonderful..That's what I will start out with then. I do have hay I feed my Burros..It is grass hay with Alfafa..Which do think would be better to start with?


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## DesertGrandma (Oct 20, 2011)

That's my plan too. I have been introducing the stuff that grows outside, cactus, rubellia, and now hibiscus and grape leaves, tortoise grazing mix, bermuda grass so that when it's time to stay outside all the time it won't be a surprise. For me, so far so good. Everything gets eaten. The grocery store items like Kale, collard greens, spring mix, grated yellow squash are the extras or fillers. I give Mazuri about 3xweek and add a little bit of grated calcium everyday. I started chopping the stuff, but now I am feeding larger and larger pieces to make sure the beak gets used.

I can't speak to alfalfa etc. yet, but maybe someone else on the forum will address this for you.


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## Floof (Oct 20, 2011)

byerssusan said:


> That's sort of what I thought I would do..after Phoenix is eating mostly fresh foods I would give this to her for a treat. She does love it. *Wow 6 years of feeding this and the torts did fine? Then the qualtiy of this food must be good for them...* Well if i could afford it ..but then again when it is time for her to be outside I want her eating what comes natural.



I don't think it's really the quality of the food as it is that tortoises are simply so hardy. Russians especially. They can be kept in poor conditions, and/or on a terrible diet, for years, and come out seeming totally healthy (well... Adults can; I wouldn't try it with a baby!). Especially when talking about an adult of a virtually bulletproof species. Looking at the ingredient list, the Repcal tort food sounds pretty awful. It's primarily corn, soy, fruit, and vitamins. By no means a good diet for a tortoise--at least, no tortoise I know of...

I really think it's a fantastic thing that you're switching to natural foods in lieu of this manufactured diet. Good luck getting Phoenix to switch! You might have to switch him cold turkey--if you aren't tricky with how you switch him, he may just learn to pick out the yummy stuff and leave the good stuff.


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## byerssusan (Oct 20, 2011)

Thank you in the morning will be the beginning of the switch er roo..I will try and sneak the greens in with the repcal as well as I can. Phoenix always goes for the green ones to begin with..Soo perhaps I can use that to my advantage. She really does she will go through all the green pellets before attempting to eat the others.


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## dmarcus (Oct 20, 2011)

Good luck and let us know how it goes...


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## byerssusan (Oct 20, 2011)

You got it.I will keep you posted...I have done ( I chose the grass hay/alfalfa) gotten the hay ready to go. I spent like a half hour weeding through just a handful, making sure it was as smooth and small as possible. I'm thinking I will add just a few colored pellets this time...and use mostly the green she loves, smash them around a little putting the hay in with it. Just a little at a time. I'm guessing a handful is gonna last me a few days while I make this transition. Heres hoping it works!!

Thanks everybody


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## Tnewton (Oct 21, 2011)

I personally wouldnt feed hay at 2 months old. I know some do but you need to have it super moist for them to eat. Grass, flowers, weeds, store greens is all I feed. I actually plant grass right in the enclosure, works out great


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## byerssusan (Oct 21, 2011)

Well day one with starting the switching process. I added mostly green pellets of the repcal, a little red..and a pinch of very fine hay..I moistened it very well before putting it in the enclosure. Well she finally wakes up gives a yawn and starts her daily routine.. She walks over to her food..Gives it a look because she knows something is diff. She takes a small bite.. And it almost look like she shook her head haha.. She tasted a little..then started pacing around her enclosure..coming back to the food every time taking a small bite here and there. She has been doing this now for awhile. SHe is actually upset I believe..She is trying to move rocks in her enclosure where she has not ever even tried to go before. She is still pacing.. She has eaten some of it. And I won't give in until she eats all she will eat. Funny though it was only a pinch full I mixed with it.. Smart little critters!!

First pic is of course her food
2nd pic her yawning before her day begins
3rd is of her just checking it out
4th her first bite


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## byerssusan (Oct 21, 2011)

Its now 1:22 pm and she is still pacing around the enclosure. Even going ito her humid hide every once in awhile which she did not do before. She wanted nothing to do with it. I moistened the soil earlier to get the humidity up it was getting way to dry..I don't know she hasen't finished eating what I had put in there this morning. She has probably eaten only half of it. So what is going on here? Anyone else have their torts act in this manner? I did forget to mention I removed the uvb light immediatley after reading it could make her go blind. I cannot afford another at this moment so am working on a enclosure for her outside a couple of hours a day.


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## Madkins007 (Oct 21, 2011)

If the mixing does not work, go cold turkey. Go ahead and give her a big meal of Repcal, then let her skip a day with no food at all, then only offer a relatively small amount of greens and maybe a strawberry, mushroom or other treat. A good treat should entice the tort to take a bite, even if only out of curiosity.

She'll probably ignore it and try to wait you out. Leave the stuff there overnight, then don't offer anything the next day (or just offer greens). The day after that, reoffer greens and a treat. Keep it up for at least a week, preferably two, before trying another method. 

Tortoises have incredibly slow metabolisms compared to us hungry, fast-burning mammals. Going a week without food is not much worse for him than skipping a meal or two is for us.


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## byerssusan (Oct 21, 2011)

How long do you think I should keep trying the switch before just going cold turkey with her?


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## Madkins007 (Oct 21, 2011)

I would give any changes a couple weeks to see what happens.


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## byerssusan (Oct 21, 2011)

Okay thank you very much. Your help is very much appreciated. I will keep doing like I am for 2 weeks and then go from there.


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## 128woo (Oct 27, 2011)

I think Repcal has too high protein ratio, so I'd rather supply it with grass or other stuff.


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