Why is Mazuri so popular, I don't get it.

Kim&Tim

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Why is mazuri so popular? Tbh, I don't get it. The way to read an ingredients list is, the ingredient mentioned first, is what the product contains most of. Then the seccond etc etc.


I have a horse and horses and herbivore tortoises are very similar when it comes to feeding. You see the same type of stuff in horsefeed, super popular but ingredients wise very mediocre.
My horse has a serious chronic illness and feeding certain ingredients like corn, molasses, soy/hulls etc make it worse. So a long time ago (horse is 24 now) I had to do some serious research in horsefood and ingredients.


To me the ingredients are not great. Mazuri LS is a bit better because it at least contains timothy hay as the biggest ingredient, but still, mediocre in my opnion. Mazuri TD's biggest ingredient is soybean hulls, so the shell of a soybean? then corn, soymeal, wheat midds, molasses (=sugar/syrup) etc.
To me that is not great.


Sure it contains fiber, quite low protein. Cat and dog hair also contains lots of fiber? or chicken feathers. I think they both contain very low quality ingredients, 1 more than the other.


My horse, the previous tort (past away in his 90's), and my current tort, all eat the same stuff: Pre Alpin. The company is German (I'm Dutch, so their neighbor?) and they make natural horse, rodents, tortoise and other livestock foods.
The horse/tortoise one is exactly the same:meadow grasses, herbs, flowers, weeds from the Alps. Zoomed tortoise grasslands comes the closest to Pre Alpin I think. Yes the majority of my horses diet is hay/grass/weeds and the torts weeds/leafy greens etc, but the Pre Alpin is a nice completion of the diet.


You see this in alot of tortoise foods. I looked at Komodo cucumber for instance: zero cucumber and all soy/corn/wheat. Interesting?


Mazuri tortoise diet:
Ground soybean hulls, ground corn, dehulled soybean meal, ground oats, wheat middlings, cane molasses, dehydrated alfalfa meal, wheat germ, dicalcium phosphate, soybean oil, brewers dried yeast, calcium carbonate, salt, dl-methionine, choline chloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (form of vitamin E), biotin, cholecalciferol, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K), calcium pantothenate, vitamin A acetate, folic acid, riboflavin, preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract, nicotinic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, citric acid, l-lysine, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate.


Mazuri LS:
Ground Timothy Hay, Ground Soybean Hulls, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Oat Hulls, Wheat Middlings, Cane Molasses, Dried Apple Pomace, Ground Flaxseed, Carrageenan, Ground Oats, Rice Flour, Wheat Germ, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Sucrose, Fructose, Artificial Flavors, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Dried Bifidobacterium thermophilum Fermentation Product, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Biotin, Yucca schidigera Extract, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K), Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Rosemary Extract, Carotene, Citric Acid (a Preservative), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Nicotinic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite Cobalt Carbonate.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Everybody says this. The ingredients don't look the best, but you get great results feeding it. Tortoises love it too. I use it because one of my torts is real picky and won't eat lots of good food items. When I dampen a little Mazuri and mix it in his food he will eat it all, including the stuff he won't normally. So I can get a wide variety of healthy foods in him with ease. So even if the Mazuri has a few things that aren't great, I'm getting a him to eat a lot of other stuff that is, that he normally wouldn't.
 

Kim&Tim

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Everybody says this. The ingredients don't look the best, but you get great results feeding it. Tortoises love it too. I use it because one of my torts is real picky and won't eat lots of good food items. When I dampen a little Mazuri and mix it in his food he will eat it all, including the stuff he won't normally. So I can get a wide variety of healthy foods in him with ease. So even if the Mazuri has a few things that aren't great, I'm getting a him to eat a lot of other stuff that is, that he normally wouldn't.
Yeah I get that.
 

KhairulTort

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Everybody says this. The ingredients don't look the best, but you get great results feeding it. Tortoises love it too. I use it because one of my torts is real picky and won't eat lots of good food items. When I dampen a little Mazuri and mix it in his food he will eat it all, including the stuff he won't normally. So I can get a wide variety of healthy foods in him with ease. So even if the Mazuri has a few things that aren't great, I'm getting a him to eat a lot of other stuff that is, that he normally wouldn't.
Why do you think your tortoise is so picky? Maybe they’ve discovered the secret to tortoise MSG somewhere in there. My tortoise seems to love his fresh greens much more than the grass and it took a few weeks of coaxing and mixing to get him to eat the grass that’s good for him so I wonder if it’s a digestibility thing. But I’d love to know what kind of tastebuds they have.
 

KhairulTort

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Why is mazuri so popular? Tbh, I don't get it. The way to read an ingredients list is, the ingredient mentioned first, is what the product contains most of. Then the seccond etc etc.


I have a horse and horses and herbivore tortoises are very similar when it comes to feeding. You see the same type of stuff in horsefeed, super popular but ingredients wise very mediocre.
My horse has a serious chronic illness and feeding certain ingredients like corn, molasses, soy/hulls etc make it worse. So a long time ago (horse is 24 now) I had to do some serious research in horsefood and ingredients.


To me the ingredients are not great. Mazuri LS is a bit better because it at least contains timothy hay as the biggest ingredient, but still, mediocre in my opnion. Mazuri TD's biggest ingredient is soybean hulls, so the shell of a soybean? then corn, soymeal, wheat midds, molasses (=sugar/syrup) etc.
To me that is not great.


Sure it contains fiber, quite low protein. Cat and dog hair also contains lots of fiber? or chicken feathers. I think they both contain very low quality ingredients, 1 more than the other.


My horse, the previous tort (past away in his 90's), and my current tort, all eat the same stuff: Pre Alpin. The company is German (I'm Dutch, so their neighbor?) and they make natural horse, rodents, tortoise and other livestock foods.
The horse/tortoise one is exactly the same:meadow grasses, herbs, flowers, weeds from the Alps. Zoomed tortoise grasslands comes the closest to Pre Alpin I think. Yes the majority of my horses diet is hay/grass/weeds and the torts weeds/leafy greens etc, but the Pre Alpin is a nice completion of the diet.


You see this in alot of tortoise foods. I looked at Komodo cucumber for instance: zero cucumber and all soy/corn/wheat. Interesting?


Mazuri tortoise diet:
Ground soybean hulls, ground corn, dehulled soybean meal, ground oats, wheat middlings, cane molasses, dehydrated alfalfa meal, wheat germ, dicalcium phosphate, soybean oil, brewers dried yeast, calcium carbonate, salt, dl-methionine, choline chloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (form of vitamin E), biotin, cholecalciferol, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K), calcium pantothenate, vitamin A acetate, folic acid, riboflavin, preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract, nicotinic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, citric acid, l-lysine, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate.


Mazuri LS:
Ground Timothy Hay, Ground Soybean Hulls, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Oat Hulls, Wheat Middlings, Cane Molasses, Dried Apple Pomace, Ground Flaxseed, Carrageenan, Ground Oats, Rice Flour, Wheat Germ, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Sucrose, Fructose, Artificial Flavors, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Dried Bifidobacterium thermophilum Fermentation Product, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Biotin, Yucca schidigera Extract, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K), Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Rosemary Extract, Carotene, Citric Acid (a Preservative), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Nicotinic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite Cobalt Carbonate.
That is a whole lot of stuff for a little pellet. ??? Might as well just feed grass I reckon.

Random thought. Does a tortoise that has had less of a weed and grass diet have difficulty digesting higher fiver foods if they’re switched over?
Seems like my tortoises poop is just poorly digested grass that comes apart in the soaking tray and stinks. Do tortoises have chambered stomachs like grazing animals?
 

KhairulTort

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That is a whole lot of stuff for a little pellet. ??? Might as well just feed grass I reckon.

Random thought. Does a tortoise that has had less of a weed and grass diet have difficulty digesting higher fiver foods if they’re switched over?
Seems like my tortoises poop is just poorly digested grass that comes apart in the soaking tray and stinks. Do tortoises have chambered stomachs like grazing animals?
I’m not implying there’s something wrong with my tortoise. I just thought it might be more.... well... poop like
 

Kim&Tim

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Why do you think your tortoise is so picky? Maybe they’ve discovered the secret to tortoise MSG somewhere in there. My tortoise seems to love his fresh greens much more than the grass and it took a few weeks of coaxing and mixing to get him to eat the grass that’s good for him so I wonder if it’s a digestibility thing. But I’d love to know what kind of tastebuds they have.
It's actually the corn/molasses combo that does it. It's the same with horses, they like sweet, when they've tasted that once, they want it. My horse wouldn't eat the pre alpin, he refused. Now he loves it.
 

Kim&Tim

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I’m not implying there’s something wrong with my tortoise. I just thought it might be more.... well... poop like
It does take some getting used to. But it's normal to see fibers in their poop. I see them too, they get out of it what they need and the rest is being pooped out. Stinking however, no my torts poop hardly has any smell tbh.
 

KhairulTort

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It does take some getting used to. But it's normal to see fibers in their poop. I see them too, they get out of it what they need and the rest is being pooped out. Stinking however, no my torts poop hardly has any smell tbh.
Haha maybe you’re just used to the manure smell since you have a horse.
I hate it.
 

Kim&Tim

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We’re making cute little sugar addicts out of our tortoises ?
Yep, just like kids sortof. But I wouldn't buy that crap ever. I'm just amazed people use it as an 'holy grail' product and it's pretty crappy ingredients wise. It's always ferd mazuri, I use mazuri, mazuri is great, where can i buy mazuri etc etc.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Why do you think your tortoise is so picky? Maybe they’ve discovered the secret to tortoise MSG somewhere in there. My tortoise seems to love his fresh greens much more than the grass and it took a few weeks of coaxing and mixing to get him to eat the grass that’s good for him so I wonder if it’s a digestibility thing. But I’d love to know what kind of tastebuds they have.
There's certain foods he just won't eat easily. If I feed only greens for two weeks he won't eat any. Or if I feed greens mixed with some fruit, he'll pick out the fruit. If I mix 4 pieces of soften Mazuri mixed with greens he will devour the whole plate within minutes. So rather than starve him weeks at a time till he gives in it's just easier with the Mazuri.
 

Maro2Bear

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I like Mazuri for our Sulcata because I’m hoping it adds in all the other micro nutrients that an animal needs — especially during Winter when my overall feed options are limited.

During the Summer, our Sully gets a ton of fresh grass, weeds, flowers, leaves, cactus pads & more (rocks, dirt, bugs). In Winter not nearly as much variety, but luckily I‘m able to source fresh dandelion leaves & cactus pads.

The micro “nutrients”

Mazuri tortoise diet:
Ground soybean hulls, ground corn, dehulled soybean meal, ground oats, wheat middlings, cane molasses, dehydrated alfalfa meal, wheat germ, dicalcium phosphate, soybean oil, brewers dried yeast, calcium carbonate, salt, dl-methionine, choline chloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (form of vitamin E), biotin, cholecalciferol, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K), calcium pantothenate, vitamin A acetate, folic acid, riboflavin, preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract, nicotinic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, citric acid, l-lysine, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate.

I’m
guessing that the scientists & mixologists wouldnt add all of these other ingredients if they didnt think these trace amounts were beneficial. It costs more to add these compounds in & raises Mazuris cost. Mazuri could just take bales of hay, chop it up, add a binder (like molasses) pelletize it, but they don’t. I’m under the impression that most zoos feed Mazuri products as well. So, it can’t be all bad.
 

Maggie3fan

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There's certain foods he just won't eat easily. If I feed only greens for two weeks he won't eat any. Or if I feed greens mixed with some fruit, he'll pick out the fruit. If I mix 4 pieces of soften Mazuri mixed with greens he will devour the whole plate within minutes. So rather than starve him weeks at a time till he gives in it's just easier with the Mazuri.
I understand that Mazuri has great additives for tortoises...but I have seen in my own animals a sort of addiction to Mazuri...where they end up having an eating problem, especially babies. I feed the best I can to my tortoises...if they don't eat, I leave the food there until the next feeding, then I pick up old and add new...I know that's not recommended...but there's no use stressing over a feeding problem...my torts are bigger and mostly grazing now...but what to do when they eat the grass all down? Hmm...food for a different thread...anyhow...I don't like and don't ever feed Mazuri...
 

Kim&Tim

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I like Mazuri for our Sulcata because I’m hoping it adds in all the other micro nutrients that an animal needs — especially during Winter when my overall feed options are limited.

During the Summer, our Sully gets a ton of fresh grass, weeds, flowers, leaves, cactus pads & more (rocks, dirt, bugs). In Winter not nearly as much variety, but luckily I‘m able to source fresh dandelion leaves & cactus pads.

The micro “nutrients”

Mazuri tortoise diet:
Ground soybean hulls, ground corn, dehulled soybean meal, ground oats, wheat middlings, cane molasses, dehydrated alfalfa meal, wheat germ, dicalcium phosphate, soybean oil, brewers dried yeast, calcium carbonate, salt, dl-methionine, choline chloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (form of vitamin E), biotin, cholecalciferol, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K), calcium pantothenate, vitamin A acetate, folic acid, riboflavin, preserved with mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract, nicotinic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, citric acid, l-lysine, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate.

I’m
guessing that the scientists & mixologists wouldnt add all of these other ingredients if they didnt think these trace amounts were beneficial. It costs more to add these compounds in & raises Mazuris cost. Mazuri could just take bales of hay, chop it up, add a binder (like molasses) pelletize it, but they don’t. I’m under the impression that most zoos feed Mazuri products as well. So, it can’t be all bad.
The micronutrients you mention are nothing more than synthetic vitamins and minerals. It's nothing special. If they would leave those out, then you would see what the product really is. You'd have a tortoise with a full belly but nutritionally malnourished. They do the same for horses with many foods, cheap ingredients and a nice dose of synthetic vitamins and minerals.

The fact that zoos use it, doesn't mean anything to me. Zoos are companies that need to make money. They don't have time to fuss. They need a well nourished tortoise to display. So a combo of veggies, some weeds and mazuri is made. Torts need to eat and we all know how stubborn they can be.

Would you go to the store to get your tort some soy hulls and corn? Prob not?
 

Kim&Tim

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I understand that Mazuri has great additives for tortoises...but I have seen in my own animals a sort of addiction to Mazuri...where they end up having an eating problem, especially babies. I feed the best I can to my tortoises...if they don't eat, I leave the food there until the next feeding, then I pick up old and add new...I know that's not recommended...but there's no use stressing over a feeding problem...my torts are bigger and mostly grazing now...but what to do when they eat the grass all down? Hmm...food for a different thread...anyhow...I don't like and don't ever feed Mazuri...
I do this, you don't like it? Too bad, it's good for you, it's fresh, it has fiber, natural vitamins and minerals. Maybe tomorrow you'll change your mind?
 

Maggie3fan

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I do this, you don't like it? Too bad, it's good for you, it's fresh, it has fiber, natural vitamins and minerals. Maybe tomorrow you'll change your mind?
That's so right to do tho...sometimes I think that we cause eating and behavior problems simply by the way we treat them...
 

turtlebean

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This is crazy, this thread just popped up and I just ordered this bag of Mazuri for the first time last night! Lol Kim&Tim are you monitoring my internet useage???D61B7379-2372-449C-8463-1BF8721E4740.png

I also am not sure what the hype is about because my tort hasn’t tried it yet but it seems like a lot of the people on these forums swear by it. I tried to get my tortoise to eat the zoo n
med grassland pellets and he really skews away from it, so I figured this would be a good alternative.

Have you guys developed a preference between the original mazuri or the LS?
 

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