# Mazuri



## mckenzieg (Feb 22, 2011)

Hi there--

How much is too much mazuri? I feed Charli about 4 pellets with greens every day, once a day. He loves the mazuri and has really started to grow. He is pyramiding and I think that is because of the need for humidity, which I'm working on. Also, I have just started giving him more calcium. But is that too much mazuri?

Any helpful words are greatly appreciated--thanks!


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## Mao Senpai (Feb 22, 2011)

I feed mine mazuri once a week...


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## ChiKat (Feb 22, 2011)

I know there are people who feed Mazuri almost exclusively, and others who feed it once or twice a week. Everyone seems to have good results. Hopefully people will chime in and offer opinions 
I don't feed Mazuri, but if I were to it would probably be once a week. I like that you still feed him greens every day though.


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## GBtortoises (Feb 22, 2011)

While Mazuri does have a lot of beneficial nutrients, it is also high in protein. Not something that is desirable for most tortoise species. I think feeding daily is too much. Starting about two years ago I have been feeding Mazuri to all of my tortoises once a week mixed with greens. I have yet too see any problems related to it. But again, it's fed sparingly. I've also found that a majority of my tortoises, mainly Northern Mediterranean species, have very little interest in eating Mazuri pellets. Truth be told most of it gets wasted. The exception for mine seem to be my Marginateds of all ages and younger Ibera tortoises which seem to devour Mazuri. All the others show little to no interest in eating it.

https://www.mazuri.com/PDF/5M21-5E06.pdf


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## mckenzieg (Feb 22, 2011)

Thanks, guys! I think too much protein is a bad thing! I need to get him back into eating greens only, I think, and maybe reward him with mazuri on the weekend. I don't want him to grow too fast. Yikes! Thanks!


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## TKCARDANDCOIN (Feb 22, 2011)

Mine get it 2 to 3 times a week as a supplement.They love it!


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## Dizisdalife (Feb 22, 2011)

Mt sulcata was diagnosed with a URI in mid Dec 2010. His appetite dwindled as he began to show the signs of the sickness. I began an antibiotic treatment for the URI, which didn't help his appetite at all. That's when I discovered Mazouri pellets. He ate them when he would not eat anything else. Now that he is beginning to recover from the URI it is a slow painful (frustrating) process to wean him back to a normal diet again. I am grateful for the Mazuri pellets because I was at a total loss to get him to eat anything.


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## Maggie Cummings (Feb 22, 2011)

Now that it is winter here and Bob has to eat a lot of grocery store greens I have found that supplementing with Mazuri about 3 times a weeks keeps him from having loose runny poop. All of his feces has hay in it, but very often it is so loose and like yesterday it was flat out liquid diarrhea because I was just too lazy to add the Mazuri to his diet. Anyhow, that's what I have seen, that Mazuri keeps his poop nice and firm when I have to feed too manny grocery store greens...


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## Tom (Feb 22, 2011)

I use it about twice a week, soaked and mixed in with greens, for three different species and all ages.


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## spikethebest (Feb 22, 2011)

i use it for all my tortoises, and i ship it worldwide because i think all tortoises should have access to good, clean, fresh, tasty mazuri!


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## B K (Feb 22, 2011)

I use Mazuri only twice a week but worry about whatâ€™s in it like the dog foods being tainted.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Feb 22, 2011)

We never feed Mazuri to any of our tortoises that are young. We do feed small amounts during our egg laying season to our breeder females. Note, we are located in Florida, where natural vegitation is always available.


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## B K (Feb 22, 2011)

ALDABRAMAN said:


> We never feed Mazuri to any of our tortoises that are young. We do feed small amounts during our egg laying season to our breeder females. Note, we are located in Florida, where natural vegitation is always available.



I wish I never left Florida.But as a Purina product I kind of worry about it.


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## Tom (Feb 22, 2011)

Purina has a gotten a bad rap first of all. The premium stuff is better than most of the other food out there. I've been using pro-plan for years. During all that recall stuff, Purina was the ONLY company that diid not have to recall anything because it is all made in house with top notch quality control. 

Having said all that Purina sold all the "Chow" foods to Land O' Lakes years ago. Mazuri is NOT a purina food.


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## B K (Feb 23, 2011)

Tom said:


> Purina has a gotten a bad rap first of all. The premium stuff is better than most of the other food out there. I've been using pro-plan for years. During all that recall stuff, Purina was the ONLY company that diid not have to recall anything because it is all made in house with top notch quality control.
> 
> Having said all that Purina sold all the "Chow" foods to Land O' Lakes years ago. Mazuri is NOT a purina food.


What they dont tell you is purina Volunteered to recall products before they were told to you can do a google search on it.
They just mix it altogether ingredientâ€™s come in from china where they donâ€™t have to list how they preserve those ingredients. Mazuri is a Purina product just call and see who answers.
we use to feed lots of there Emu Maintenance and I called to buy it in bulk. PMI Nutrition International who is on there label is Purina Mills Inc.



info on Mazuri
http://www.makc.com/maz.htm[hr]
Purina has been sold and split a few times due to antitrust problems PMI LLC is now owned by Land o Lakes. It is very confusing.


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## RonHays (Feb 23, 2011)

Where can I get this stuff?


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## B K (Feb 23, 2011)

RonHays said:


> Where can I get this stuff?



There are some great Guys who sell it on this forum


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## mckenzieg (Feb 23, 2011)

I got mine from spikesthebest. Just look at his profile to see his website. Fast and cheap. 

Like you, Joe, my guy was sick. He wasn't diagnosed with anything...just wasn't eating. The mazuri was like medicine. But now that he's healthy, maybe he doesn't need it so much. He's only 1 year and 2 months, after all. 

So what IS mazuri? I hope it's not dog food because not even I eat factory farmed animals...

Thanks guys.


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## B K (Feb 23, 2011)

mckenzieg said:


> I got mine from spikesthebest. Just look at his profile to see his website. Fast and cheap.
> 
> Like you, Joe, my guy was sick. He wasn't diagnosed with anything...just wasn't eating. The mazuri was like medicine. But now that he's healthy, maybe he doesn't need it so much. He's only 1 year and 2 months, after all.
> 
> ...



No it's not dog food


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## spikethebest (Feb 23, 2011)

RonHays said:


> Where can I get this stuff?



Click the link in my profile, and I will send some out to you!

Thanks


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## LeroyLeft (Feb 25, 2011)

Just ordered some Mazuri tonight,my smaller RF the one who wouldn't eat is now eating well, I kept putting her at the food dish I was getting pretty worried ,she would take a bite then hide in a corner, I have since put in a log hide,they both love it .they like to sit on top of it. the humidity is up to whats recommended. my smaller RF has loose to very runny stool though at least eating well so I am going to try what I read in a earlier post and give it a try. lots of useful info in the forum I really enjoy reading what folks have to say.


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## Lavinia3Gillian (Feb 28, 2011)

Ya I heard a lot about Mazuri Tortoise diet. But some people said that its not good for my tortoise. I am having Galapagos, is it true??


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## Tom (Feb 28, 2011)

Lavinia3Gillian said:


> Ya I heard a lot about Mazuri Tortoise diet. But some people said that its not good for my tortoise. I am having Galapagos, is it true??



Just to answer the question: It was FORMULATED and invented for Galops.


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## Madkins007 (Mar 1, 2011)

A quick background: Mazuri makes zoo-quality bulk processed animal feeds, mostly in pellet forms. The Tortoise Diet was specifically designed for the giant tortoises, but is used by zoos all over the place for most of their tortoises with few reported problems from the food itself. 

Many animal nutrition experts suggest feeding captive animals a mix of about 50% good 'naturalistic' foods, and about 50% good processed diets. The idea is that the two parts will reinforce each other, providing elements the other half lacks, etc.

Mazuri is one of the two highest regarded tortoise 'chows' sold in the US with the other being ZooMed Natural Tortoise Food. Both have pros and cons. Mazuri is the better value in bulk, but it also uses molasses as a sweetener which seems to attract tortoises- that is, they often go for the Mazuri first and often leave other foods alone.

Some people are concerned about the grains component of the chow, but the grains are 'unlocked' through processing so they can be used by the tortoise. This happens for humans too- we cannot eat very many grains without processing or milling them first.


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## mckenzieg (Mar 4, 2011)

What is your humidity and how did you get it up??



LeroyLeft said:


> Just ordered some Mazuri tonight,my smaller RF the one who wouldn't eat is now eating well, I kept putting her at the food dish I was getting pretty worried ,she would take a bite then hide in a corner, I have since put in a log hide,they both love it .they like to sit on top of it. the humidity is up to whats recommended. my smaller RF has loose to very runny stool though at least eating well so I am going to try what I read in a earlier post and give it a try. lots of useful info in the forum I really enjoy reading what folks have to say.





WONDERFUL info--thank you so much.



Madkins007 said:


> A quick background: Mazuri makes zoo-quality bulk processed animal feeds, mostly in pellet forms. The Tortoise Diet was specifically designed for the giant tortoises, but is used by zoos all over the place for most of their tortoises with few reported problems from the food itself.
> 
> Many animal nutrition experts suggest feeding captive animals a mix of about 50% good 'naturalistic' foods, and about 50% good processed diets. The idea is that the two parts will reinforce each other, providing elements the other half lacks, etc.
> 
> ...


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## Livingstone (Mar 4, 2011)

I have been combining the mazuri and zoo med daily for the last 2 months. Its my super food!

4 pellets of mazuri to 3 pellets (.25") of the zoomed. Both are allowed to expand in boiling for water for 5 minutes, then they are drained and mixed together. I think this process strips some of the nutritional value of the feeds, but I actually like that its diluted.


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## spikethebest (Mar 4, 2011)

Livingstone said:


> I have been combining the mazuri and zoo med daily for the last 2 months. Its my super food!
> 
> 4 pellets of mazuri to 3 pellets (.25") of the zoomed. Both are allowed to expand in boiling for water for 5 minutes, then they are drained and mixed together. I think this process strips some of the nutritional value of the feeds, but I actually like that its diluted.



Where and how much do you get your ZooMed Grassland for?


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## Fernando (Mar 4, 2011)

Livingstone said:


> I have been combining the mazuri and zoo med daily for the last 2 months. Its my super food!
> 
> 4 pellets of mazuri to 3 pellets (.25") of the zoomed. Both are allowed to expand in boiling for water for 5 minutes, then they are drained and mixed together. I think this process strips some of the nutritional value of the feeds, but I actually like that its diluted.



I tried putting the grassland tort food in hot water/warm water and cold and it lasts for like 10 seconds then it completely turns into mush and disperses in the water...if that makes any sense. 

Does that matter? Would I just wait until the Mazuri does the same thing then mash whatever is left together?


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## Madkins007 (Mar 4, 2011)

I would wonder how many useful nutrients you loose to the water if you let it sit too long in there- and aren't the nutrients the main reason we use the stuff? 

Most keepers find that their larger torts can handle the stuff dry nicely (and it probably helps wear the beaks a little), and little ones do just fine if the pellets are only soaked for a short time- outside is a bit slimy but otherwise feels fairly hard.


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## Livingstone (Mar 4, 2011)

fmadrigal said:


> Livingstone said:
> 
> 
> > I have been combining the mazuri and zoo med daily for the last 2 months. Its my super food!
> ...



I will take photos of the process tommorrow morning, and post it up so everybody can see exactly what I mean. Im using small saucers to do this, one for the mazuri, one for the grassland. Yes the grassland does expand, its not a problem you just drain of the fluid and then mix it together. I put it on paper towel to absorb the excess water before it gets set on the feeding tile. If you dont drain it properly it will be overly watery.





Livingstone said:


> I think this process strips some of the nutritional value of the feeds, but I actually like that its diluted.




^^^^^^ I think you missed that part. Yes it definitely strips it, but I have a very nutritious diet of greens the go with the mazuri every day.




Madkins007 said:


> I would wonder how many useful nutrients you loose to the water if you let it sit too long in there- and aren't the nutrients the main reason we use the stuff?
> 
> Most keepers find that their larger torts can handle the stuff dry nicely (and it probably helps wear the beaks a little), and little ones do just fine if the pellets are only soaked for a short time- outside is a bit slimy but otherwise feels fairly hard.



The boiling waster if anything if removing the molasses bonding agent and some added chems in the mazuri. Same in the case of the grassland food minus the chems because its "natural". Livingstone is only 2 years old, theres no reason for her to struggle to eat by giving dry pellets, I feed wet by choice. The reason is all the same, hydration. <-------IMO, I have no way to support this other than livingstones health.









spikethebest said:


> Livingstone said:
> 
> 
> > I have been combining the mazuri and zoo med daily for the last 2 months. Its my super food!
> ...



 petsmart

Do you sell it, I buy my mazuri from you.


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## Fernando (Mar 4, 2011)

Livingstone said:


> I will take photos of the process tommorrow morning, and post it up so everybody can see exactly what I mean. Im using small saucers to do this, one for the mazuri, one for the grassland. Yes the grassland does expand, its not a problem you just drain of the fluid and then mix it together. I put it on paper towel to absorb the excess water before it gets set on the feeding tile. If you dont drain it properly it will be overly watery.



Thanks!


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## Livingstone (Mar 5, 2011)

I made a thread about how to make the porridge.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-MGP-Mazuri-Grassland-Porridge#axzz1FkHwIJ8o


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