Feeding my young Sulcata tortoise

Raffasundaytortoise said:

Hi there,

My Sulcata tortoise is just over 1 year old. When she was bought, the vet gave us feeding instructions, which included fruit and vegetables. We soon learnt that, after some research, they require a high percentage of dry, fibrous grasses.

We feed her a mix of dried grasses, but she completely avoids them. We ground them up and mixed them with nopal, which sort of works but she avoids any pieces that smell like grass. She loves hibiscus leaves, but we don't want to only give her one type of food. She has a relatively large outside area with grasses growing which she doesn't graze.

What can we feed her? She avoids dry grass like the plague. Nopal and hibiscus leaves make up the bulk of her diet at the moment, with an attempt to incorporate dry grass, but I dont think its enough, and I don't believe nopal and hibiscus is sufficient enough for a balanced diet.

We are in Mexico City, so we cant buy dandelion greens, and there is very limited produce we can buy online for her when it comes to pet food. Dry rabbit grass (bermuda, orchard etc) is all we can find but its super dry and she hates it more than anything.

Click to expand...

Raffasundaytortoise said:

Hi there,

My Sulcata tortoise is just over 1 year old. When she was bought, the vet gave us feeding instructions, which included fruit and vegetables. We soon learnt that, after some research, they require a high percentage of dry, fibrous grasses.

We feed her a mix of dried grasses, but she completely avoids them. We ground them up and mixed them with nopal, which sort of works but she avoids any pieces that smell like grass. She loves hibiscus leaves, but we don't want to only give her one type of food. She has a relatively large outside area with grasses growing which she doesn't graze.

What can we feed her? She avoids dry grass like the plague. Nopal and hibiscus leaves make up the bulk of her diet at the moment, with an attempt to incorporate dry grass, but I dont think its enough, and I don't believe nopal and hibiscus is sufficient enough for a balanced diet.

We are in Mexico City, so we cant buy dandelion greens, and there is very limited produce we can buy online for her when it comes to pet food. Dry rabbit grass (bermuda, orchard etc) is all we can find but its super dry and she hates it more than anything.

Click to expand...

For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...

tortoiseforum.org

Maggie3fan said:

Generally young Sulcata don't eat dry grasses, I see you are very new here...welcome
have you read this? it will help you greatly...hang around, and keep asking questions...you need to sorta train that baby..
feed grocery store greens cut up small, add dandelion greens, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, cut up green grasses cut up and sprinkled all over the food...NO FRUIT!!!
The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

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Tom said:

Dry grass hay is for older ones. Use freshly sprouted tender young grass that is cut up into small pieces to introduce grass to a small one. All new foods need to be introduced slowly in small amounts over a period of weeks or months.

For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...

tortoiseforum.org

Click to expand...

Alice Sulcatia said:

Welcome and congrats on baby Sulcata! Yes, little ones are no fans of grass and hay. But they need the fibers! This is how I get my gang on 6 Sulcatas (3-9-year-olds) to get their fibers in a salad, they devour with gusto. Recipe: Dehydrate grass and weeds pellets + greenery + supplements + occasional veggies.

Arcadia Optimized 52 (available on Amazon in the USA, not sure about Mexico) or ZooMed Non-GMO crumbles or Grassland Gold (Happy Harvest Farms) soaked in rose or hibiscus brew + chopped: Romaine, mustard greens, Kale, collard greens, chard, turnip greens, bok choy, spring mix, dandelions, hibiscus leaves + sliced cucumber, squash, opuntia. And mix in a calcium supplement or a multivitamin. As well, they have cuttlebones available to munch on whenever they feel like it. Having variety is very important! Nobody wants to eat boring foods And as mentioned prior - avoid fruit!

Click to expand...

The_Four_Toed_Edward said:

Welcome to the forum!

These tips might help you:

Introducing a Healthier Diet

Introducing a Healthier Diet

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

You might find this thread by @Tom helpful too:

For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...

tortoiseforum.org

Click to expand...

Raffasundaytortoise said:

Thank you for your reply. I will look into that information.

Its difficult because we live in Mexico City. She has green space at home for grazing some fresh grass, but you can't buy dandelion in the supermarket, and there are no grape vines or mulberry trees anywhere.

Ill continue to sprinkle grass on nopal and hibiscus leaves and hope she gets trained into it, but she just avoids it completley!

Click to expand...

Raffasundaytortoise said:

Thank you for your reply. I will look into that information.

Its difficult because we live in Mexico City. She has green space at home for grazing some fresh grass, but you can't buy dandelion in the supermarket, and there are no grape vines or mulberry trees anywhere.

Ill continue to sprinkle grass on nopal and hibiscus leaves and hope she gets trained into it, but she just avoids it completley!

Click to expand...

Raffasundaytortoise said:

Thanks wonderful information, thank you for being so helpful. Ill get a good salad recipe together. Never fruit

Ill see what i can buy online in mexico. I thought lettuce, cucumber, chard and watery veg was a no. What are the percentages of veg veg in your salad? I cant find dandelion, collard greens, turnip greens, bok choy or mustard greens here in Mexico. Only lettuce, hibiscus, kale and chard.

Click to expand...

Raffasundaytortoise said:

Hi there,

My Sulcata tortoise is just over 1 year old. When she was bought, the vet gave us feeding instructions, which included fruit and vegetables. We soon learnt that, after some research, they require a high percentage of dry, fibrous grasses.

We feed her a mix of dried grasses, but she completely avoids them. We ground them up and mixed them with nopal, which sort of works but she avoids any pieces that smell like grass. She loves hibiscus leaves, but we don't want to only give her one type of food. She has a relatively large outside area with grasses growing which she doesn't graze.

What can we feed her? She avoids dry grass like the plague. Nopal and hibiscus leaves make up the bulk of her diet at the moment, with an attempt to incorporate dry grass, but I dont think its enough, and I don't believe nopal and hibiscus is sufficient enough for a balanced diet.

We are in Mexico City, so we cant buy dandelion greens, and there is very limited produce we can buy online for her when it comes to pet food. Dry rabbit grass (bermuda, orchard etc) is all we can find but its super dry and she hates it more than anything.

Click to expand...

Raffasundaytortoise said:

Thanks wonderful information, thank you for being so helpful. Ill get a good salad recipe together. Never fruit

Ill see what i can buy online in mexico. I thought lettuce, cucumber, chard and watery veg was a no. What are the percentages of veg veg in your salad? I cant find dandelion, collard greens, turnip greens, bok choy or mustard greens here in Mexico. Only lettuce, hibiscus, kale and chard.

Click to expand...

Alice Sulcatia said:

Welcome and congrats on baby Sulcata! Yes, little ones are no fans of grass and hay. But they need the fibers! This is how I get my gang on 6 Sulcatas (3-9-year-olds) to get their fibers in a salad, they devour with gusto. Recipe: Dehydrate grass and weeds pellets + greenery + supplements + occasional veggies.

Arcadia Optimized 52 (available on Amazon in the USA, not sure about Mexico) or ZooMed Non-GMO crumbles or Grassland Gold (Happy Harvest Farms) soaked in rose or hibiscus brew + chopped: Romaine, mustard greens, Kale, collard greens, chard, turnip greens, bok choy, spring mix, dandelions, hibiscus leaves + sliced cucumber, squash, opuntia. And mix in a calcium supplement or a multivitamin. As well, they have cuttlebones available to munch on whenever they feel like it. Having variety is very important! Nobody wants to eat boring foods And as mentioned prior - avoid fruit!

Click to expand...