Concern about greens from store

Sue Ann

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Joseph,

I am a leopard tortoise breeder and have had great success with my hatchlings alternating between Mazuri LS Tortoise diet and mixed greens. I soak the Mazuri LS diet in warm water for just a few minutes and use organic mixed greens (spring mix) that consist mainly of different baby lettuces. They love it and even though there is a lot of moisture in this diet, the droppings are typically compact and firm. Some spring mixes have a fair amount of spinach in them that can be picked out. My hatchlings don't seem to like the spinach anyway and avoid it on their own. I believe the current consensus is that a little spinach is ok as long as the balance of diet is balanced. I also supplement with a very light dusting of multivitamin plus D3 on the greens about once a week because my hatchings are raised primarily indoors without UV bulbs. I live in Florida so it is warm enough to put them out for a soak and natural sun a couple of times a week. The Grassland tortoise diet is also an excellent food but my hatchlings and adults don't seem to like it as much as the Mazuri. I have attached a picture of one of my yearlings that I held back to show the kind of shell growth I get with this diet.

View attachment 312792
Beautiful tort
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Some random FaceBook poster (SRFBP) "Cactus pads have a laxative effect". Will at Kapidolo Farms (KF) "somehow opuntia cactus has been mingled with aloe, cactus is high fiber, not a laxative effect diet item, aloe is a herbal laxative."

SRFBP: "does this look normal" a picture of some brown goo, that came out as feces. KF: "try a range of fiber particle sizes, cubes or grass pellets from the tack and feed store. Even 20 grams babies can do okay when there is a range of fiber particle sizes, like soaked horse cubes or grass pellets."

SRFBP: "my tortoise won't eat Timothy hay I bought at the pet shop" KF: "hoarse and cattle people will tell you timothy is a least palatable Hay (dead grass), try live grass like the cat (wheat) grass at the big box pet stores, it's organic, if they won't eat it directly, cut small bits and MIX it in with what they are eating. Use Orchard or Burmuda grass pellets moistened and MIXed in with what they are eating."

SRFBP: " what do I need to know about how to care for my..." KF: got to www.tortoiseforum.org and read the threads called 'the best way..."
 

Neon_xero

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Thank you for the reply tho, I appreciate it, I just need recommendations or ways I can give him a good diet around this time.
I like giving my tortoise's store-bought organic romaine lettuce sometimes kale and broccoli and I used to give them cactus but they're very picky. 1 doesn't eat kale and the other does its mixed emotions about what they eat also try giving it strawberry one 1once a week or any fruits google says your tortoise can eat from a trusted website.
 

Joseph Flores

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Click the link that crimson_lotus left for you..

In addition to the zoomed stuff, which is good, also mix in hand fulls of the stuff from Kapidolo Farms.

You can also get horse pellets from a local feed store. I use Timothy hay pellets. It takes five minutes to soak them and then I mix it all up with the greens in a bucket. Make sure its plain ground up hay with no additives. You'd only need a few pellets for a small leopard. I use two or three handfuls to make up a five gallon bucket of food for a couple dozen adult tortoises.

For even more variety and fiber, I also love the "herbal hay" from @TylerStewart at https://www.tortoisesupply.com/HerbalHay
That big bag will last a year or more for a single tortoise and there is all kinds of good stuff in that mix. My tortoises love it.

From the store use endive and escarole as your main staples. Mix in arugula, cilantro, collards, kale, mustard and turnip greens and more for variety. These items mixed with any or all of the above stuff will make a fine diet for your tortoise.

Original Mazuri is also a good supplemental food. Feed it by itself, or mix it with greens. https://www.tortoisesupply.com/TortoiseDiet
I bought the herbal hay and sprinkled it a bit I’ve this weeds and leaves he eats and he doesn’t seem to like it or maybe at least the smell of it.
 

Tom

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I bought the herbal hay and sprinkled it a bit I’ve this weeds and leaves he eats and he doesn’t seem to like it or maybe at least the smell of it.
This is very common and normal for most tortoises. I have never had any tortoise just run over and start eating any new food the first time it sees it, except for Mazuri. The first time I tried the "herbal hay" I was raising 20 Russian babies, plus my normal amount of sulcata and other babies, and we were moving into fall. All the mulberry leaves and grape vine leaves dropped off. My weeds were long dead and dried out after a hot summer. Cactus went dormant. Like every year in fall, I was struggling to find enough good "natural" foods. I was forced to resort to grocery store greens. Tyler sent me some of the herbal hay to try out, and all of my tortoises rejected it immediately. I kept putting it on the food, which is my normal new food introduction process, and after about two weeks of shunning it, they began to eat it with the food. After about one month, they would specifically seek out the herbal hay particles, and eat those first. You could not find a single crumb of the stuff leftover when they were done.

Tortoises are creatures of habit. They eat what they've eaten before. It takes time and effort to introduce any new food. After many years of using the herbal hay, I've never found a tortoise that doesn't eventually love it.

Coincidentally, I just bought a new batch for myself. It arrived yesterday! :) I use it several times a week if I'm feeding them grocery store foods, and I alternate it with one of the dried foods from Will @Kapidolo Farms , which I just bought more of too.
 

Joseph Flores

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This is very common and normal for most tortoises. I have never had any tortoise just run over and start eating any new food the first time it sees it, except for Mazuri. The first time I tried the "herbal hay" I was raising 20 Russian babies, plus my normal amount of sulcata and other babies, and we were moving into fall. All the mulberry leaves and grape vine leaves dropped off. My weeds were long dead and dried out after a hot summer. Cactus went dormant. Like every year in fall, I was struggling to find enough good "natural" foods. I was forced to resort to grocery store greens. Tyler sent me some of the herbal hay to try out, and all of my tortoises rejected it immediately. I kept putting it on the food, which is my normal new food introduction process, and after about two weeks of shunning it, they began to eat it with the food. After about one month, they would specifically seek out the herbal hay particles, and eat those first. You could not find a single crumb of the stuff leftover when they were done.

Tortoises are creatures of habit. They eat what they've eaten before. It takes time and effort to introduce any new food. After many years of using the herbal hay, I've never found a tortoise that doesn't eventually love it.

Coincidentally, I just bought a new batch for myself. It arrived yesterday! :) I use it several times a week if I'm feeding them grocery store foods, and I alternate it with one of the dried foods from Will @Kapidolo Farms , which I just bought more of too.
Maybe I just put too much of it and maybe the smell got to him. I mean it smells damn great like tea but maybe I need to add less and slowly gradually go up. I’m sure when I got back to my house he will atleast take more nibbles out of it. He did this with the zoomed diet and now seems to enjoy it on its own aswell but that took a couple of months. Pretty completed unique creatures.
 

Tom

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Maybe I just put too much of it and maybe the smell got to him. I mean it smells damn great like tea but maybe I need to add less and slowly gradually go up. I’m sure when I got back to my house he will atleast take more nibbles out of it. He did this with the zoomed diet and now seems to enjoy it on its own aswell but that took a couple of months. Pretty completed unique creatures.
I share your observations on the Zoomed stuff. Its a great tortoise food, but it does tend to take a long time to get them to like it. Once they like it, they sure like it though. The herbal hay introduction usually goes much faster. You are right to start with smaller amounts at first.
 

Joseph Flores

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I share your observations on the Zoomed stuff. Its a great tortoise food, but it does tend to take a long time to get them to like it. Once they like it, they sure like it though. The herbal hay introduction usually goes much faster. You are right to start with smaller amounts at first.
Thank you for the advice Tom, much appreciated, hopefully everything goes well.
 

Blackdog1714

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My leopard will do at least one lap if not multiples of his enclosure when I drop in new food! Gotta check to see if it is safe to eat!
 

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