Food and Growth

[Homerist]

Hi everyone,

Does anyones' torts experience a growth spur after taking commercial tort pellet like Mazuri?

as compared to the daily greens, I noticed my Star gained like 7 grams in 2weeks after feeding exclusively Mazuri for about 2-3weeks.

i know its good to add variety to the diet so I will change the menu every week or so with other dark greens.

so ya, is the commercial pellets steroids to our torts? =)

 

[SILVERSTAR]

From wut i understand you should prolly feed the mazuri once or two a week but not as much as you are feedin,and i def wouldnt feed it exclusively for weeks at a time,i mean it doesnt sound like it did bad for your tort but fast growth isnt always the best.

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I will definitly keep this in mind if i wanna add weight even though i kinda knew mazuri wil put on weight its good stuf.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Oh yeah its way higher in calories and nutrients than greens. I don't believe in feeding very much of even the best commercial diets (like Grassland and Mazuri), like < 10% of the diet. Opinions vary though. All the vitamins and mollases (in Mazuri) scare me, as does the way torts go crazy for it (and in some cases turn down all other food). As close to natural as you can get is best. I prefer slower steady growth (I think alternating fast and slow growth can be as bad or worse than just plain fast growth), as even on just a diet of greens, torts in captivity will grow much faster than in the wild. If you really want to feed a large percentage of Mazuri (do your research), I'd mix it with greens & weeds and such daily (not alternating based on weeks), and make sure the torts are still eating the other stuff daily (not picking out the Mazuri).

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I, too, feed Mazuri, 1-2X a week, mixed with greens...never by itself.

 

[Homerist]

I'm feeding greens everyday and Mazuri for about 3times a week.
Luckily for my Star, he eats whatever is available, he loves to eat. no nicky picky. =)

But one thing bothers me slightly is that he was weighing 30grams and SCL-5cm on 8th Jan 2010. that was when i got him at about 2-3months old.

today i measured him, still 5cm-ish and weighing 48grams, his shell looks taller and fuller other than that, no visible growth.

so is this normal growth rate?
oh by the way he is going to be 1year old this coming 8th. =)