# Bird seed



## RonHays (Jul 20, 2012)

Last week I took JD's advice and planted a food plot of wild bird seed inside my baby Sulcata's outdoor enclosure. A major hit! He is wearing that stuff out! All kinds of little goodies sprouted up and he loves them!


----------



## Missy (Jul 20, 2012)

Yep it's great and cheap


----------



## Eweezyfosheezy (Jul 20, 2012)

Where the heck are the pics at!!!  Im sure your going to have to buy more very shortly.


----------



## tortle (Jul 20, 2012)

So would just any bird seeds work? Like the ones at pet stores?


----------



## RonHays (Jul 20, 2012)

tortle said:


> So would just any bird seeds work? Like the ones at pet stores?



Yes. I got mine in Walmart. In the pets dept where the bird/rodent supply are. 



Eweezyfosheezy said:


> Where the heck are the pics at!!!  Im sure your going to have to buy more very shortly.



I wanted to post pics but the stupid thing says I'm over my 100mb.


----------



## Eweezyfosheezy (Jul 20, 2012)

Have you tried tinypic.com? Its very simple to use.


----------



## RonHays (Jul 20, 2012)

Eweezyfosheezy said:


> Have you tried tinypic.com? Its very simple to use.



Is it an iPhone app?


----------



## EP429 (Jul 23, 2012)

I planted some this evening, will post pics when/if sprouting occurs


----------



## CourtneyAndCarl (Jul 23, 2012)

How deep does the substrate have to be to get it to grow, if at all? I really want to try this but I am also very paranoid about losing my little guy so I keep the substrate thin enough so if he tries to burrow himself, I can still see the top of his little shell poking out.

I used organic gardening soil and it's about a half inch thick, with some thicker parts. Is that deep enough to get the bird seeds to at least grow a few sprouts here and there?

Thanks for the help and sorry for clogging your thread with my question


----------



## wellington (Jul 23, 2012)

futureleopardtortoise said:


> How deep does the substrate have to be to get it to grow, if at all? I really want to try this but I am also very paranoid about losing my little guy so I keep the substrate thin enough so if he tries to burrow himself, I can still see the top of his little shell poking out.
> 
> I used organic gardening soil and it's about a half inch thick, with some thicker parts. Is that deep enough to get the bird seeds to at least grow a few sprouts here and there?
> 
> Thanks for the help and sorry for clogging your thread with my question



I am sure that's enough. I grew seeds last winter in coconut coir. Had grass and clover growing good.


----------



## Edna (Jul 23, 2012)

futureleopardtortoise said:


> How deep does the substrate have to be to get it to grow, if at all? I really want to try this but I am also very paranoid about losing my little guy so I keep the substrate thin enough so if he tries to burrow himself, I can still see the top of his little shell poking out.
> 
> I used organic gardening soil and it's about a half inch thick, with some thicker parts. Is that deep enough to get the bird seeds to at least grow a few sprouts here and there?
> 
> Thanks for the help and sorry for clogging your thread with my question



The birdseed will grow in your half-inch depth. You're really just sprouting it anyway. Most of the plants would not be suitable as tort food in a more mature state.


----------



## Melly-n-shorty (Jul 23, 2012)

this is what mine looks like after a week. i didnt even bury it half a inch. i just threw down some bird seed and sprinkled a little organic soil over it so it was just enough to cover it and watered. this picture is a couple days old it is taller then the cinder block now. I need to trim it back.


----------



## tyguy35 (Jul 23, 2012)

I did not know that you could use bird seed. So all seed is safe?


----------



## Julius25 (Jul 24, 2012)

I use the testumix from Exo terra.


----------



## Edna (Jul 24, 2012)

tyguy35 said:


> I did not know that you could use bird seed. So all seed is safe?



Wild bird seed varies widely, depending on price and which birds it is intended to attract. Really cheap brands have lots of milo, the large round seeds. The smaller round yellow seeds are millet. Milo and millet sprouts will be grass-like. There will be other seeds mixed in, such as safflower and sunflower. The label will also list the % of weed or unknown seeds. This is not important for indoor use, but could become an issue if you're using it in large areas outdoors.


----------



## Edna (Jul 24, 2012)

tyguy35 said:


> I did not know that you could use bird seed. So all seed is safe?



Wild bird seed varies widely, depending on price and which birds it is intended to attract. Really cheap brands have lots of milo, the large round seeds. The smaller round yellow seeds are millet. Milo and millet sprouts will be grass-like. There will be other seeds mixed in, such as safflower and sunflower. The label will also list the % of weed or unknown seeds. This is not important for indoor use, but could become an issue if you're using it in large areas outdoors.


----------



## tyguy35 (Jul 24, 2012)

Thanks alot. So I I went and bought some at the store I cshoul be good to go right. Also I don't thinks we have testu mix here at all. Not to many tortoise owners so little things for them.


----------



## mainey34 (Jul 24, 2012)

Thank you for this post. This is a great idea. I am going to put some in my sulcata pen today


----------



## badkitty (Jul 24, 2012)

After trying to plant some grass /weed mixes to no avail, my husband just threw down half a bag of bird seed and it's growing like crazy. 
My torts love it and it's cheap!


----------



## CourtneyAndCarl (Jul 24, 2012)

Should we go for wild bird mixes or would pet bird seed be okay, too? I have plenty of that, since I rescued a couple of finches and bought seed for them before rehoming them


----------

