# Repashy SuperVeggie?



## CourtneyAndCarl (Feb 25, 2013)

I have the opportunity to get some of this for a really good price. What I would like to know is if it is really any different than the ZooMed calcium supplements I am giving to my little guy now. Is it also okay to use and replace the ZooMed with this all together? 

Here's a product link
http://www.store.repashy.com/superveggie-16-oz-bag.html


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## sibi (Feb 25, 2013)

Hi Courtney and Carl, I think most members haven't tried this product; therefore, can't tell you one way or the other. It sounds good. All I can say is if you want to try it on your torts, then do so. If you notice anything, good or bad, then you can tell the rest of us so that we can either refrain from buying it, or get it for our animals. Nothing in the ingredients tell me that it's not good for torts, but then again, most products don't tell us anything negative either. So, you can buy it and let us know. It's your call. You may want to check the internet to see if anything negative has been said about this particular product first.


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## RedfootsRule (Feb 25, 2013)

It seems very different then the Zoomed calcium supplement, because as far as I can see, its more of a mineral/vitamin supplement then a calcium.
I don't see anything that could be harmful, and it looks nice by the ingredients. However, no supplementation like this SHOULD be needed, if the tort is getting the correct diet. I certainly wouldn't use it daily, per the manufacturer's instructions...


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## diaboliqueturtle (Feb 25, 2013)

I use it and the calcium, as they are two different things. Just a sprinkle. My girl is a healthy and heavy beauty, but I like to think its because of me ;-)


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Feb 26, 2013)

Thanks guys! I was wondering if it could really be considered a calcium supplement, but I wasn't sure. 

I was thinking maybe I could get it during the wintertime when we are confined to spring mix, just so Carl can get those nutrients he can't get from the store bought stuff.


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## bigred (Feb 26, 2013)

CourtneyAndCarl said:


> Thanks guys! I was wondering if it could really be considered a calcium supplement, but I wasn't sure.
> 
> I was thinking maybe I could get it during the wintertime when we are confined to spring mix, just so Carl can get those nutrients he can't get from the store bought stuff.



Some folks on here use miner-all indoor ant outdoor formula


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## Kapidolo Farms (Feb 26, 2013)

Hi,

I use the Repashy SuperVeggie. One plus is that it is among the few supplements that offer a use rate i.e. 2.5% of fresh grocery greens or 25 grams per kilo of romain etc. Very few makers of any supplement offer such advice. It smells good and the tortoises I use it with seem undeterred to eat if I use it at the recommended rate.

The idea of you shouldn't 'need' a supplement is going to represent what I'll call a "cute" idea. No ONE food really is a best solution/diet, and so when your animal does not have access to all the great outdoors, with the hundreds of plant choices that may be present in their environment during an optimal plant growing season, we supplement. I think we want our animals to do more than survive from season to season, and that is what the wild type plant diet accomplishes any season less than an optimal. They survive until the next optimal season to reproduce. I think our goal is to provide that optimal every season.

So that being my point of view you do want your animal to be fit, and able to reproduce? Supplements are not a bad idea. Something I don't like about Reapshy SupperVeggie is that it is such a fine powder. Good in some ways, but supplements that ad fiber (especially to grocery store greens) are well advised. So if you do use the Repashy SuperVeggie, further supplement with the chopped grass.

The rule of thumb I have gotten on the chopped grass is to add pieces, as long in length, as the tortoise will consume. I soak the dried grass so it sticks to the grocery greens like the SuperVeggie. Further evidence that you are meeting that rule of thumb is that you see whole small length of the grass in the fecal. Imagine yarn with mud rolled into an elongated form, the fecal should look like that. The yarn would represent the long pieces of grass, the mud would be romaine, kale, dandelions, etc..

One of the articles at "the tortoise library" indicates that fiber is important as tortoises can move a bolus of food in reverse in the intestine providing a better opportunity to retrieve nutrients. The muscles that move that bolus need to get traction of something, and that is the vital role of those longer lengths of grass. 

You can also add the ZooMed pellets, they have short bits of whole grass in their pellets. I soak them too. This is not ideal, but a good once in awhile way to add fiber if you don't have grass readily available on any given day.

And as the Reapshy is a supplement, add it as directed, then you can further add the ZooMed, as it is a 'whole food' in it's own right, and so you would not in effect be over doing the supplementation, and would be getting some small bits of grass in the tortoise. I do not consider the green grass or wetted dry grass an addition to the grocery store greens either.

My actual Repashy day diet is 
1) mixed grocery greens at 500 grams (1/2 Kilo or one pound, two ounces). Rinsed and spun in a salad spinner.
2a) I add as much cut dried hay (timothy, fescue, orchard) as will stick to the grocery greens. As I soak the grass it sticks to the greens pretty well. (for pancakes I cut the grass into lengths from about 1 - 1/2 inch to 1/2 inch)
3) I then add the Repashy, 12 grams Repashy to 500 grams of spun dry grocery greens, for the 2.5% rate

2b) Some days I use the ZooMed, not the grass, as much as will stick to the grocery greens, then add the Repashy.

For my own convenience I pre weigh several bags of grocery greens and keep them in the frig, so in the morning all I have to do is soak the grass or the ZooMed and mix, then ad the Repashy, mix a bit more.

Do not let the Repashy be a replacement for varied greens and alternate choices for diet. It is a supplement, not a food.

I have a completely different mix on other, non Repashy Days.

Will


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Feb 26, 2013)

Awesome! Thanks! I would be doing it all on a smaller scale since I only have one little guy but I most definitely want him to be as healthy as possible.


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## LLLReptile (Feb 27, 2013)

Will's words on repashy and on diet/variety are excellent. 

The superveggie offers variety in supplements that you don't see in most other commercially available supplements; it is designed specifically for plant eaters, so it incorporates things in it that you won't see in more generic calciums or supplements. In the quest for variety, I see no issue at all in a supplement that has 20 or more different ingredients (the majority of which are natural) being added to the diet.

-Jen


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## morloch (Feb 27, 2013)

I give it to morloch twice a week, I sprinkle it on top of his greens. He attacks his food much faster.he must like the taste!


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