For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

PixieKitten

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My little sulcata Neo’s been eating like a horse! He doesn’t seem to keen on grass, but I offer it every day, and he has a selection of dandelion, clover, plantain, grape leaves, carrots, cabbage, romaine lettuce, watercress, and prickly pear cactus on occasion :) He has a cuttlebone to munch on too... Though I had to put a bit of orange food colouring for him to take any interest in it! He eats it fine now he’s eaten all the orange off!
 

Teodora'sDAD

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PixieKitten said:
My little sulcata Neo’s been eating like a horse! He doesn’t seem to keen on grass, but I offer it every day, and he has a selection of dandelion, clover, plantain, grape leaves, carrots, cabbage, romaine lettuce, watercress, and prickly pear cactus on occasion :) He has a cuttlebone to munch on too... Though I had to put a bit of orange food colouring for him to take any interest in it! He eats it fine now he’s eaten all the orange off!

Clever idea!
 

Tom

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PixieKitten said:
My little sulcata Neo’s been eating like a horse! He doesn’t seem to keen on grass, but I offer it every day, and he has a selection of dandelion, clover, plantain, grape leaves, carrots, cabbage, romaine lettuce, watercress, and prickly pear cactus on occasion :) He has a cuttlebone to munch on too... Though I had to put a bit of orange food colouring for him to take any interest in it! He eats it fine now he’s eaten all the orange off!

Keep offering. Just chop it up finely with scissors and keep sprinkling it on top. In time he'll get used to the taste, smell and texture. I've had a few that didn't see grass when they were young, and it took a while to get them to eat it, but eventually they come to like it.
 

photo_phish

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Hey Tom! What about non-fruit baring mulberry trees? Are they okay for sullies? ImageUploadedByTortoiseForum1375999372.985493.jpg
 
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Tom

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photo_phish said:
Hey Tom! What about non-fruit baring mulberry trees? Are they okay for sullies?

Yes. Leaves from ANY mulberry are good tortoise food. The fruit is probably good for some of the forest tortoise species, or box turtles too.
 

Caboose

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Where can i get weeds, can i bye them???


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]
 

Tom

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They grow everywhere, all over the world. You just have to learn to ID them and do your best to ensure they are free of chemicals like weed killers and pesticides.

Or you can buy seeds and grow them yourself.
 

wellington

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farber2028 said:
We're approaching the fall months here, as we all know, and I have been thinking about this topic. I live in Iowa, we have very cold winters where almost everything stops growing. I don't want to have to rely on store bought foods for half the year. I've been thinking about making almost like a salad dressing puree from the different things I have growing now and weeds that are around. What are your thoughts on this? I'd do a few different purees, like a flower based one, weed based and so forth. My Idea with this is I can freeze it and still be able to provide the variety that my torts need all year round, just in a different fashion. I have even thought of making the puree and freezing it in ice cube trays to provide something like a homemade mazuri. Is this as good of an idea as I think it is?


I know what I'm asking isn't really sulcata specific, but after reading the thread I thought it would fit in :)



I don't know why this wouldn't work. Sounds like a great idea. I just may be stealing it:D
 

Caboose

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Where can i buy weeds


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]
 

Tom

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Caboose said:
Where can i buy weeds


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]

Nobody sells weeds. You find them growing in your yard or out in wild areas.
 

Caboose

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I cant fing any weeds and all of the yards in my area are sprayed. :(


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]
 

Saleama

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Tom said:
Caboose said:
Where can i buy weeds


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]

Nobody sells weeds. You find them growing in your yard or out in wild areas.

Actually, you can buy them from Groco on ebay. I bought all kinds of grass and weed seeds from them. I grow them indoors under a UVB light because it is too hot to grow anything in Texas right now.
 

Caboose

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Could u send me a link to groco plz


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]
 

Tom

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Saleama said:
Actually, you can buy them from Groco on ebay. I bought all kinds of grass and weed seeds from them. I grow them indoors under a UVB light because it is too hot to grow anything in Texas right now.

Hey that's cool. I've never heard of this. I will have to look it up and check it out. Thanks for sharing this info.
 

Caboose

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So are dandelions considered weeds


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]


Groco is perfect on eBay read this description he posted under dandelions.

Testimonial from a customer: "another great selling point for dandelion is that it is a very good food for breeding birds, I'm a breeder of exotic birds here in California and all my birds love the greens. My wife thinks I'm weeding when actually I'm picking food for my Birds.

Yes, these are dandelion seeds. The leaves can be harvested as fresh salad greens when young and tender, and are highly nutritious. Have been used medicinally as well. The flower blossoms can be battered and fried, and are delicious. Comes with planting instructions.

We have a bearded dragon that loves to eat these flowers. We also have customers that feed these to their turtles!


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]
 

brandhllg

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Is it bad for Leopards to have grass in the diet, since its not part of the "natural" diet??? Now I'm totally wigging. I have got my baby eating grass, by taking hibiscus leaves, rose leaves, hasta, rose of Sharon, cactus, jade, yucca, mulberry, Timothy hay, orchard grass, wheat grass, Bermuda grass, dandelion, and some mazuri and mixing it into a blend she chows down on it like no tomorrow.. Do I need to take the grass out of the diet? If so please chime in and I will take it out of her diet first thing tomorrow and make her a completely different salad..
 

Caboose

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Is this grass i got at Home Depot ok to feed my sulcata and Redfoot? Also what should i plant it in? Should i use regular fertilized soil?
ImageUploadedByTortForum1376023086.773061.jpg


My Sulcata Michelangelo[TURTLE]
and my RedFoot Raphael [TURTLE]
 
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wellington

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brandhllg said:
Is it bad for Leopards to have grass in the diet, since its not part of the "natural" diet??? Now I'm totally wigging. I have got my baby eating grass, by taking hibiscus leaves, rose leaves, hasta, rose of Sharon, cactus, jade, yucca, mulberry, Timothy hay, orchard grass, wheat grass, Bermuda grass, dandelion, and some mazuri and mixing it into a blend she chows down on it like no tomorrow.. Do I need to take the grass out of the diet? If so please chime in and I will take it out of her diet first thing tomorrow and make her a completely different salad..

No, the more variety and grass is not bad for them. Most wont eat it. I will be trying your method next. Thanks for the tip:)
 

brandhllg

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You gave me the idea to do it Wellington so Thank You. I just take all the stuff mentioned and throw it in my ninja and blend it to where it's finely chopped.
I started with my first batch with a lot of cactus since its her favorite but now on my 4-5th batch and now Im using a lot of grass. She is a B.cocki Leopard. I still provide piece of cactus and jade as treats but I have been using the grass blend as the main staple of her diet. She literally runs to greet the food dish when I feed her and will start eating before I can actually get it out of my hand.
I like your purée idea and am totally stealing that.
 

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