Dietary and growth question

wolfkat

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Mar 26, 2015
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36
Hi,
I just measured Viva today and she's 4 inches. She's almost two years old so is 4 inches small for her age?

Also her diet consists of mostly kale... She is fed it everyday. She gets a variety of blueberries, strawberries (her favorite), raspberries, cantaloup, red or green peppers, carrots mixed in (not all together maybe one fruit and veggie) about every other day or every two days along with the kale. She also gets some hard boiled egg every Sunday as her protein. I offer mazuri LS pellets which she doesn't seem to like much so I moisten them and crush them up to try and get them to stick to her food. Is her diet okay or am I doing things completely wrong?
 

crimson_lotus

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I would not feed fruit or kale every day. Just like us, tortoises need a variety of foods. Have you tried regular Mazuri and not the LS kind? My tortoise goes crazy for it.

Fruit should be around 25% of their diet. I feed mine fruit every 5 days. Kale has a lot of everything in it, and it is also high in oxalates which can bind with calcium and create kidney stones (keep your tortoise hydrated with soaks!!). In the wild they would not have such a rich diet like our grocery store greens. If you like gardening you could always plant some tortoise safe seed mixes.

They also need protein every 2 weeks to a month. Boiled chicken, shrimp, tuna, worms, even low fat diet cat food could work.

You can try endive, escarole, chicory, watercress, beet/radish greens, radiccio, dandelion greens, any of the lettuces except iceberg, mulberry leaves, grape leaves, cactus pads, and even some flowers like hibiscus, etc. Even spring mix from the grocery store would be good. They can have veggies every once in a while too like squash, zucchini, pumpkin, green beans...

Here is a good site and a guideline to let you know what foods are safe and what are not for tortoises:

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp

They also mention what should be fed in moderation.

The key is variety so any of these food items would not be good all the time. Nothing is good all the time.
 

wolfkat

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Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
36
I would not feed fruit or kale every day. Just like us, tortoises need a variety of foods. Have you tried regular Mazuri and not the LS kind? My tortoise goes crazy for it.

Fruit should be around 25% of their diet. I feed mine fruit every 5 days. Kale has a lot of everything in it, and it is also high in oxalates which can bind with calcium and create kidney stones (keep your tortoise hydrated with soaks!!). In the wild they would not have such a rich diet like our grocery store greens. If you like gardening you could always plant some tortoise safe seed mixes.

They also need protein every 2 weeks to a month. Boiled chicken, shrimp, tuna, worms, even low fat diet cat food could work.

You can try endive, escarole, chicory, watercress, beet/radish greens, radiccio, dandelion greens, any of the lettuces except iceberg, mulberry leaves, grape leaves, cactus pads, and even some flowers like hibiscus, etc. Even spring mix from the grocery store would be good. They can have veggies every once in a while too like squash, zucchini, pumpkin, green beans...

Here is a good site and a guideline to let you know what foods are safe and what are not for tortoises:

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp

They also mention what should be fed in moderation.

The key is variety so any of these food items would not be good all the time. Nothing is good all the time.
Is the LS mazuri bad for redfoots? The pet stores buy me are only selling the LS now and not regular. I can order regular online if the LS is not good for her.
 

crimson_lotus

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Is the LS mazuri bad for redfoots? The pet stores buy me are only selling the LS now and not regular. I can order regular online if the LS is not good for her.

The LS is better, I've heard it has more grass and hay in it so it can be geared to more grass eating species, but I could be wrong. I suggested the regular one because it just seems more popular with red's, just like zero said. The regular is still good for them.
 

wolfkat

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Mar 26, 2015
Messages
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The LS is better, I've heard it has more grass and hay in it so it can be geared to more grass eating species, but I could be wrong. I suggested the regular one because it just seems more popular with red's, just like zero said. The regular is still good for them.
Okay I'll look into the regular kind and see where I can get it online. Surprisingly Viva willingly walked over (and even pushed her greens out of the way) to eat some of the LS mazuri so I'll keep offering it until I can get the regular kind!
 
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