If Romaine Is mostly water

wellington

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How is it that manatees are fed so much of it in captivity even through rehabbing and thrive?
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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In the wild they eat water plants and water plants are mostly water . So they have to eat a lot.
 

Tom

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I think it was @Will that posted that nutritional stats for romaine. I don't think its that bad, but it lacks fiber compared to weeds and leaves, lacks calcium and has the wrong Ca to Ph ratio.

Plus, just like with our tortoises, just because people feed it to manatees, doesn't mean its good for them either. Its just cheap and convenient.
 

Bambam1989

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Manatees eat about 7% of their body weight daily. I weigh 200 lbs. so that means if I were a manatee I should eat about 15 lbs. of food, which breaks down to 5 lbs. per meal. I can remember a few meals where I think I have actually tried to do that. Lol
Was it a really good "all you can eat" buffet? Gotta get your money's worth! [emoji12]
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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I think it was @Will that posted that nutritional stats for romaine. I don't think its that bad, but it lacks fiber compared to weeds and leaves, lacks calcium and has the wrong Ca to Ph ratio.

Plus, just like with our tortoises, just because people feed it to manatees, doesn't mean its good for them either. Its just cheap and convenient.

I have herd a lot on here how some foods are low in fiber . But I have never seen a fiber suplment in any pet store or any talks on here ?
 

Tom

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I have herd a lot on here how some foods are low in fiber . But I have never seen a fiber suplment in any pet store or any talks on here ?
We usually add fiber with grass, grass hay, Zoomed Tortoise Chow, leaves, weeds, etc...
 

wellington

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Yeah, it's not the amount, that I understand with how big they are. Just don't understand how it could be very nutritional for them. Specially in captivity that's all I have ever seen them fed.
 

Redfool

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Was it a really good "all you can eat" buffet? Gotta get your money's worth! [emoji12]

I must have a reputation at my AYCE buffet. They charged me double and they still lost money. What a way to spend eight hours. They actually got mad at me when I tried to nap [emoji99] after every fourth or fifth helping.
 

Bambam1989

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I must have a reputation at my AYCE buffet. They charged me double and they still lost money. What a way to spend eight hours. They actually got mad at me when I tried to nap [emoji99] after every fourth or fifth helping.
Hahaha and I thought I was bad for wrapping cake in napkins and stashing it in my purse for later... It was really good cake.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/w...shed-nutrient-list.161833/page-3#post-1635348 is the new post for Romaine in the nutrient contetn thread. The old USDA link lead to some sort of fish soup? Don't know why.

I feed Romaine, in a rotating combination like this...

I feed a mix, for me the volumes are large.
4 to 6 heads of romaine
4 to 6 heads of escarole
1 or 2 heads of radicchio
1.5 pounds of spring mix (I leave the spinach in)
1 pound of arugula
about a cup each of two kinds of shredded squash
1/2 cup to one cup of shredded sweet potato

Some times, about once a month, I don't use the arugula and spring mix, but chop in Kale (a few different kinds), dandelion greens, collards, or 'red' romaine, butter lettuce, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, or something else that is weird relative to "American" palates but found in Asian grocery stores. I will also get Okra when it is not crazy expensive, but that is rarely the case. I also use greens beans, a five pound bag of frozen organic will last several months, I just add a few dozen once in awhile finely chopped so they can't pick it out but get the taste.

I alternate and some times add both chopped/shredded re-hydrated hibiscus blossoms and or cactus - about 1/4 to 1/2 cup per item.
I will re-hydrate to about one cup volume of either/or both Alfalfa pellets and some kind of grass pellets.

One day a week I add no supplement
2-3 times a week I add about 1/4 cup Vionate (has D3)
2-3 times a week I add about 1/2 cup of moistened crumbles (has D3)
1 time a week I add plain calcium carbonate (no D3)
Once a month I will microwave cook two eggs out of the shell, and mince it fine a mix that in.

On no particular schedule I add fresh blossoms of many many kinds of flowers, rose, hibiscus, nasturtium, pansy, dandelions, or cape honeysuckle.

I keep a chart above where I do salad prep to keep me on track. It takes about two hours a day on average to make the salad, then another hour to feed it out and do spot water changes/cleaning/raining.

I set to the side in the enclosure whole small branches of hibiscus, or mulberry when the garden is producing enough, so some everyday, but which enclosure gets it alternates.

Sometimes in a pinch they all get fasted as I spent the day's hours doing a higher level cleaning and water change. Weekends usually have several hours of these kinds of activities.
 

wellington

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I do feed romaine too. Mostly in winter as summer they mostly graze. Or if I need to feed them quick I will give each a head. That's not my misunderstanding.
Just wondering why it's always said to be bad and mostly water when it obviously can't be when it's fed in great amounts to rehabbing manatees. Not just healthy, but rehabbing manatees.
With the link Will gave, it is obviously much healthier then just water.
Of course a varied diet is always best and needed but if romaine is a part of the daily diet or even used in greater amounts then normally preached, it's not that bad at all.
 

daniellenc

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I think romaine is fine if not fed as a main food source. Yes weeds are best but I find my smaller guy has a hard time ripping them into bites so I have to finally chop most weeds to get him to eat them. Romaine is in most salad mixes as is so while I don't feed it alone he gets small amounts here and there mixed with weeds, flowers, and other add ins. I wish I lived in a climate that allowed year round weeds, but I don't. I dry and dehydrate rose of sharon leaves and flowers, plantain, dandelion, mulberry leaves, thistle, and other safe weeds I add to winter meals but last year did not safe enough. What looked like a years supply of weeds ground down to nothing once dried, lol. Am going much bigger this year in hopes we make it through the winter.
 

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