I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE FEEDING HAY TO THEIR SULCATAS. I ALSO WONDERED WHAT TYPES OF HAY. I AM USING BERMUDA GRAS HAY. DOES ANY ONE ELSE MOISTEN THE HAY? AND LASTLY, AT WHAT SIZE DO YOU START THEM ON IT? I ALSO AM STARTING MY REDFOOTS AND PANCAKES TO SEE IF THEY WILL EAT IT.
FEEDING HAY TO SULCATAS
- Thread starter iluvtorts
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Hi Laura:
Sulcatas, or any tortoise for that matter, usually won't eat hay until they get to be several years old. For babies, you can incorporate chopped hay into their diet by adding it to their greens. I buy "Salad Style Hay" from Joe at Carolinapetsupply.com. It comes already chopped into small pieces and its pretty fresh and clean. I put a bit into a bowl of warm water and let it sit while I chop up the greens. Then I drain off the water and mix it all up with the greens.
For the larger tortoises, you can just toss a flake of hay into their enclosure. Some will eat it some (like mine) won't. Any type of grass hay is ok to use. Bermuda is fine. Orchard grass, timothy grass...its all good.
Sulcatas, or any tortoise for that matter, usually won't eat hay until they get to be several years old. For babies, you can incorporate chopped hay into their diet by adding it to their greens. I buy "Salad Style Hay" from Joe at Carolinapetsupply.com. It comes already chopped into small pieces and its pretty fresh and clean. I put a bit into a bowl of warm water and let it sit while I chop up the greens. Then I drain off the water and mix it all up with the greens.
For the larger tortoises, you can just toss a flake of hay into their enclosure. Some will eat it some (like mine) won't. Any type of grass hay is ok to use. Bermuda is fine. Orchard grass, timothy grass...its all good.
I always have hay in there just in case they get hungry but its not a big part of their diet. DO NOT get the hay wet. Wet hay grows black mold on it and it will kill the tortoises if it stays wet. I had a neighbors horse die a couple weeks back after it got a hold of some hay that was left out in the rain.
I have gave Cooper timothy hay since he was about 4 months old. He is now starting to eat it. He will dig through and find what pieces he wants and eat them. So I guess some will and some won't eat it. Cooper for one, will eat whatever won't eat him first tho! He is my little piggy sully! 
Good luck!
Good luck! 
WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING?
I start sulcatas on dry hay when they are around 12". Prior to that size I chop it up, rehydrate it and mix it with greens, like Yvonne does. Personally I prefer the bermuda hay, but other types of grass hay are fine too. Most other species don't seem to care for it dry. I've have heard of a few exceptions to this though.
I start sulcatas on dry hay when they are around 12". Prior to that size I chop it up, rehydrate it and mix it with greens, like Yvonne does. Personally I prefer the bermuda hay, but other types of grass hay are fine too. Most other species don't seem to care for it dry. I've have heard of a few exceptions to this though.
Id like to find some of that around here to try on Cooper to see how he likes it...Tom said:
cemmons12 said:
I am not shouting
, it just makes it easier for me to read the small print. I just soaked the hay for a few minutes while I was making allof the other torts salad. nibbler my sullie seems to like it. The redfoots were starting to pick at it. I just broke it up into small pieces.
Hi Laura:
I'm not sure if this works on all computers or not, but if you hold down the "ctrl" key and strike the "plus" key, it makes the printing on your screen bigger. And vice versa. To make it smaller, you hold ctrl and strike the minus.
I'm not sure if this works on all computers or not, but if you hold down the "ctrl" key and strike the "plus" key, it makes the printing on your screen bigger. And vice versa. To make it smaller, you hold ctrl and strike the minus.
I feed mine timothy hay. He's not a big fan but will eat it. I had to "train" him to eat it. I get some stuff from tractor supply store called timothy toppers, it's cut up smaller and has other flowers and stuff in it. My sulcata is only 3 in long, and I've been giving him hay since I got him last September.
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i feed timothy cubes i just break them up and dampen them. i caught him with some sticking out of his mouth.he is a year old.also i give him regular grass hay.i have to go to rural king for them you have to make sure they are not alfalfa.
I have tried mine on a few different ones. Orchard seems to be the favorite, I always leave a little in the night shed but also chop it up add a little warm Water and mix with greens each morning. Willie eats about half and picks threw the rest. I was driving across the county to a feed store for timothy hay ( which is what he beds in). But I found a local pet shop that sells the other hay pre- packaged. Bodox or something
Ike that. A lot of the tort sights sell it.. Drawing a blank on the name , sorry, but pretty sure it starts with a b....
Ike that. A lot of the tort sights sell it.. Drawing a blank on the name , sorry, but pretty sure it starts with a b....
M
Maggie Cummings
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Bob started eating hay about 6 years ago. He was about 7 years old then. I buy large bags of locally grown grass hay. It smells sweet and looks soft and nice. Bob loves it and eats a lot of it. I keep piles of hay in Bob's shed for him. He sleeps in it and burrows in it and poops and pees in it too. He has a great time in the hay
I keep Timothy hay in with my sulcata Fred during the winters months in his indoor pen, i think he eats a little of it but not much. I just put it in dry, i've only been doing this for the last two years and he is around 13yrs old. I use it mostly for bedding and if he eats it fine, if not thats fine too.
My two year old will not eat hay. I have tried all the usual methods to get him to eat it, but as soon as he smells it on the food he just walks away. I have bermuda hay in his outdoor shed and he loves to bury himself in it. Hopefully someday he will start to eat it as well.
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