I have 2 that are growing pretty quick, and I need more outdoor food sources. I have mulberry, strawberry, cactus, hibiscus, aloe but I wouldn't say any of those are "fast" growers. They mainly eat the grass outside, but coming into "winter" (Florida) grass growth slows down to maybe half speed and would like to be able to keep their food supply up
Best (fastest growing) outdoor bush/trees for Sulcatas
- Thread starter taymag
- Start date
I got nothing. All my stuff slows down tremendously this time of year and the mulberry trees and grape vines are done for the season. Even my opuntia stop making new pads and I'm left feeding out all the pads that grew over summer. What saves me is all the weeds that sprout up when our winter rains return.
Do they have kudzu vine where you are? Someone with experience will need to confirm, but I read that kudzu is good to feed them. I have no experience with it though since we don't have it here.
If your sulcatas are anywhere near the 10-12 inch mark, it might be time to introduce grass hay into the diet. This makes it MUCH easier to feed them on a daily basis.
Do they have kudzu vine where you are? Someone with experience will need to confirm, but I read that kudzu is good to feed them. I have no experience with it though since we don't have it here.
If your sulcatas are anywhere near the 10-12 inch mark, it might be time to introduce grass hay into the diet. This makes it MUCH easier to feed them on a daily basis.
grass hay, mazuri, if they don't eat it, soak it in water to soften. If they still don't eat it, mix it with chopped romaine, escarole or endive.
Ya I dont like growing vines cause we already have a few kinds that are out of control and pretty tough to tame. I tried the grass hay, man its a good deal too but they dont love it. We still have grass growing so once it slows down maybe they will like it, seems like a best case scenario if they eat hay grass though since its like $20 for 50 pound bail
My sulcata's yard is Bermuda grass. As you may or may not know, Bermuda grass goes dormant once it gets hit by the first frost. So Dudley's yard is covered in dead, brown grass, along with whatever winter weeds happen to grow. He still eats the dead grass. . . has been subsisting on it for about 10 winters now. I've not noticed any difference in the quality of his poop, winter to summer.
I guess I am mainly just thinking they eat all the grass in the summer, so technically their food is cut in half. Do I need to make up for it with other food now or do tortoises just eat less during the winter due to this being the case in the wild even?
Dudley's intake of grass doesn't change. He still eats as much dead grass as he used to eat live grass.
There is no "winter" in sulcata land. There is a dry season where food either becomes more scarce, or they just eat dried up stiff like our hay.
My feeding strategy for larger outdoor sulcatas is to always have a flake of hay available, and then offer other stuff at my leisure. They can live on just the grass hay alone, so all the other stuff is really a bonus. Mine get cactus pads, mulberry and grape leaves, and lots and lots of weeds in addition to their grass hay.
Charlie survives all year on the grass and weeds that grow in our yard, plus some hibiscus and roses. Some of it dies out in the winter, but other things grow in. He never runs out of food. We even have to mow the lawn.
Part of it may depend on where in Florida you live. I'm in the Florida Panhandle. If you're in South Florida, it would be worth asking @ALDABRAMAN for suggestions. He rescues sulcattas (and raises Aldabra tortoises), so he might have some thoughts on options for feeding them.
~ We occasionally keep rescue sulcatas at our program, the diets consist of mainly grass, weeds and cactus. They grow awesome and healthy.
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