Food

[ckidd_1999]

Is this ok to feed a Greek tort. It's a springb

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It's a spring mix with some shredded carrots. Is tht ok? Also I added some calcium to it

 

[Yvonne G]

Its ok, but would be even better if you added a few weeds.

This is a few excerpts from Andy Highfield's site:

"In the wild, tortoises tend to be browsers. They wander over quite a wide area and in the process take small quantities of a very wide variety of seasonally available food. Some species are known to consume up to 200 different kinds of plants during the year.

By wandering over a wide area, and by consuming such a variety of foods, tortoises ensure that their overall intake is well-balanced and can supply the essential mineral trace elements that they require for reproduction and healthy bone development. Even the best captive diets tend to be very restricted when compared to these natural feeding patterns."

So if you can vary what you feed a bit, buy one thing this time and something else next time, it would be better for your tortoise.

What is that you're using for substrate?

 

[ckidd_1999]

Its ok, but would be even better if you added a few weeds.

This is a few excerpts from Andy Highfield's site:

"In the wild, tortoises tend to be browsers. They wander over quite a wide area and in the process take small quantities of a very wide variety of seasonally available food. Some species are known to consume up to 200 different kinds of plants during the year.

By wandering over a wide area, and by consuming such a variety of foods, tortoises ensure that their overall intake is well-balanced and can supply the essential mineral trace elements that they require for reproduction and healthy bone development. Even the best captive diets tend to be very restricted when compared to these natural feeding patterns."

So if you can vary what you feed a bit, buy one thing this time and something else next time, it would be better for your tortoise.

What is that you're using for substrate?

I'm using repti bark with a mix of alfalfa. Ik tht everybody says to not use it, but I talked with an employee at a reptile store tht I trust 100% and he said tht he has never had problems with alfalfa. He puts his own torts on it.

 

[mainey34]

Looks like you have your tort on pellets. That is not good substrate any more. How do you keep your humidity levels without having mold issues?

 

[ckidd_1999]

I don't really pay much attention to humidity. I asked many reptile specialty stores and companies and they said tht Greek tort and Russian torts don't need to get a ton of humidity and u don't need to stress over it

 

[mainey34]

I believe that you are being misinformed. Do you give forced soaked at least?

 

[ckidd_1999]

The place tht I go to Hv been open for over 15 yrs and they have never had any problems with customers or reptiles. And yes I do, I'm giving him a soak 2-4 times a week

 

[BowandWalter]

As someone who worked in a pet store that has been open for 40 years, I can say they really would never say that they've had problems with reptiles. No store is going to slander themselves, it's really bad for business. Also pet stores still tell people the "old" way of keeping tortoises, people on this forum have done studies and worked to perfect a more advanced and modern way of keeping tortoises, all fairly recently, which is why most stores are still a bit behind. It's much better for the tortoise to follow the modern methods. I was the senior employee in charge of all the reptiles, fish, and mammals, in the pet store where I worked, actually many of the people here have been pet store employees. We're all specialized in tortoises now though, it means that we know more then the average store keeper who has to deal with hundreds of species, because we can be lazy and just know about one.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Remember, a few as two years ago it was common for pet stores to advise their customers to feed their tortoises canned dog and cat food. When I first started keeping reptiles, often the suggestion for sub-straight was to use cat litter with cigarette ash added to help control mites. With research comes change and time provides that change. This forum has a collective knowledge base of hundreds of years worth of experience. Think how easy school would have been if you were able to draw on the whole class brain power instead of just your own. Here, you have that advantage and no one is trying to sell you anything.

 

[ckidd_1999]

Yah I get what both of you guys r saying. Thx for the input. I will change everything when I get a little more money

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So what would u guys say I should do to make it 100% better? I want my tortoise to live a long life. What substrates should I use?

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Is repti bark mixed with Eco earth ok? Or just repti bark?

 

[Tortus]

Eco earth is coconut fiber which is slightly more coarse than coir, so that should work. I really don't understand why people use bark and mulch instead of something that's more like soil. I don't think animals in the wild walk around on hard wood chips.

I try to look at things from my pets' point of view. If I were a tortoise, would I want to walk around on and sleep in a bunch of hard, dry pellets, or something comfortable I'd find in my natural habitat?

Ground-dwelling reptiles like to nestle down into the substrate when they sleep.