Cheapest way to feed adult sulcata?

[Clairemarie]

Grass and grass hay. All the other stuff discussed here is great too, but once they hit about 12 inches, I introduce grass hay and that becomes the majority of their diet within a few months. It’s relatively cheap and very easy. Weeds, mulberry leaves, opuntia, grocery store greens, and pumpkins are all great foods too, but grass is best, or grass hay if you don't have the grass.

I have a question about the grass hay. We have donkeys and supplement their natural grass with mixed grass hay. We get the bales from our neighbor who cuts his own field. Would this be the same kind of hay you are taking about? It’s not alfalfa or anything rich, just a mixed grass. And if so how short should it be chopped? Our guy is 2.6 years old and 15” long. Thank you!

 

[Nellie Rose]

I have a question about the grass hay. We have donkeys and supplement their natural grass with mixed grass hay. We get the bales from our neighbor who cuts his own field. Would this be the same kind of hay you are taking about? It’s not alfalfa or anything rich, just a mixed grass. And if so how short should it be chopped? Our guy is 2.6 years old and 15” long. Thank you!

I am also curious about this.

 

[Tom]

I have a question about the grass hay. We have donkeys and supplement their natural grass with mixed grass hay. We get the bales from our neighbor who cuts his own field. Would this be the same kind of hay you are taking about? It’s not alfalfa or anything rich, just a mixed grass. And if so how short should it be chopped? Our guy is 2.6 years old and 15” long. Thank you!

Sounds like it would be fine, as long as there are no toxic weeds mixed in. Some family friends tried to save money on hay for their horses one time and the toxic weeds in the hay killed one horse and resulted in thousands of dollars in vet bills to save two others.

If your neighbor is aware of this and knows what he is doing with his hay, then I would have no problem feeding it to my tortoises. You also need to make sure it isn't too coarse and stemmy. Orchard grass hay works best.

I don't normally chop up the hay for a sulcata, but there is no harm in doing so if you want to spend the time.