# What cant sulcatas eat?



## animalfreak (Dec 2, 2012)

I was just wondering they can't eat? I feed them spring mix but what about raw mushrooms, tomatoes ect? What fruits? Thanks


----------



## Tom (Dec 2, 2012)

That's sort of a trick question. Its more about what SHOULD they be fed. They can eat mushrooms and tomatoes in small amounts occasionally. I'd skip fruit all together though. They aren't going to drop dead the second a grape touches their mouth, but fruit is really not great for them, especially the kind of fruits that we usually get at the grocery store.


----------



## animalfreak (Dec 2, 2012)

Tom said:


> That's sort of a trick question. Its more about what SHOULD they be fed. They can eat mushrooms and tomatoes in small amounts occasionally. I'd skip fruit all together though. They aren't going to drop dead the second a grape touches their mouth, but fruit is really not great for them, especially the kind of fruits that we usually get at the grocery store.



Okay thanks I just didn't know if there was something that was like a big NO to eat so thanks!


----------



## Baoh (Dec 2, 2012)

The negative impact of edible mushrooms is what, exactly?


----------



## animalfreak (Dec 2, 2012)

Baoh said:


> The negative impact of edible mushrooms is what, exactly?



I don't understand what your asking lol sorry Tom said they can eat them I just meant like the raw ones fro like walmart.


----------



## Team Gomberg (Dec 2, 2012)

no toxic weeds or plants sprayed with pesticide  but thats a given lol


----------



## Baoh (Dec 3, 2012)

animalfreak said:


> Baoh said:
> 
> 
> > The negative impact of edible mushrooms is what, exactly?
> ...



He said they can eat them in small amounts. What negative impact occurs if they eat mushrooms in more than "small amounts" is what I inquired about. What harm do they cause and how?


----------



## NudistApple (Dec 3, 2012)

Baoh said:


> He said they can eat them in small amounts. What negative impact occurs if they eat mushrooms in more than "small amounts" is what I inquired about. What harm do they cause and how?



I doubt that he meant they were harmful to any degree. Just like with any creature (again, I assume) mushrooms aren't really a nutritional food. They are pretty much just fiber.

Since he prefaced his statement with "Its more about what SHOULD they be fed." he probably meant; "You are better off feeding them something they can derive real nutrients from."

After all, we have hay/grass for their fiber needs.


----------



## Baoh (Dec 3, 2012)

NudistApple said:


> Baoh said:
> 
> 
> > He said they can eat them in small amounts. What negative impact occurs if they eat mushrooms in more than "small amounts" is what I inquired about. What harm do they cause and how?
> ...



My understanding of mushroom nutrition differs, it seems, as the ones I have looked at are high in various micronutrients worthy of consumption. They have a low energy density, but the macronutrients they do have favor protein, then fiber, then sugar, and finally a tiny amount of trace lipids, allowing massive quantities to be consumed with the yield being copious amounts of water, some protein, some fiber, and rich levels of vitamins, minerals, and specific fungal nutrients. The only time I would limit them is in a scenario where I am dealing with a severely underweight animal that needs a greater intake of Calories where this low energetic density food would be displacing something more energetically dense.


----------



## lovelyrosepetal (Dec 3, 2012)

How often would you feed, a healthy tortoise, mushroom? Two times a week, every other day, less, more? I have considered giving mine some mushrooms but was not sure if it should be like a treat or if it could be given more often. I know my box turtles love mushrooms but was not sure about my sulcatas.


----------



## Baoh (Dec 3, 2012)

If they will readily consume mushrooms, it is cost-effective for your budget, and the animal has a healthy (heavy enough for comfort) weight, I would not impose a limitation on volume or frequency. Personally, I would offer them if I could get them for cheap and my animals would eat them, but I would not press myself to either provide or deprive. My sulcatas eat the ones that occasionally spring up post-rain in their yard, but I tend not to go out of my way to provide them due to what I consider to be a lack of cost-effectiveness when taking the number of animals I keep and their masses into account.


----------



## cherylim (Dec 3, 2012)

They can't eat wax crayons, coins, stuffed bears...

Sorry!


----------



## Tortus (Dec 3, 2012)

Spoons, bricks, puppies...

But anyway, are mushrooms part of a sulcata's natural diet? I thought mushrooms were more of a forest fungus, and not found in the arid areas where sulcatas live in the wild. Mushrooms thrive in humid environments. I've actually grown them and they need to be kept humid and misted in order to grow properly.


----------



## Baoh (Dec 3, 2012)

Tortus said:


> Spoons, bricks, puppies...
> 
> But anyway, are mushrooms part of a sulcata's natural diet? I thought mushrooms were more of a forest fungus, and not found in the arid areas where sulcatas live in the wild. Mushrooms thrive in humid environments. I've actually grown them and they need to be kept humid and misted in order to grow properly.



Beats me, but it does not matter. Much of what we feed them is not part of their natural diet, but that is not a cause for concern if you consider what nutrition is being provided by a given "foreign" food. Mazuri, turnip, and hostas, as some quick examples, are not part of the natural diet, but they can and will thrive on such things. It comes down to which building blocks a given food provides and the overall amount and type of building blocks in the overall diet more so than the strictness of the origins of said building blocks.


----------



## animalfreak (Dec 3, 2012)

Oh haha sorry! I'm not really sure... I could ask Tom though and get back to you?


----------



## Tom (Dec 3, 2012)

animalfreak said:


> Oh haha sorry! I'm not really sure... I could ask Tom though and get back to you?



 LOL! ROFL!


----------



## animalfreak (Dec 4, 2012)

Tom said:


> LOL! ROFL!



Haha!


----------

