Hay for baby tortoises

[Tortellini5]

Hi everyone, I know we say that babies do not eat hay since it is too large and tough to bite into. My tortellini is now 1yr old and I had bought 3 bags of 5lbs each of various hays when I got torti last year and saved them. Now that I have fed him the baby kapidolo farms dry toppers. I came up with the idea to buy a food processor and throw in the hay and pulverize so it’s as small as possible. I fed it today for the first time as a topper (main meal is fresh wheatgrass/plants/greens/etc) and found no issues. Is there any concern on feeding this to a baby other than the large pieces concern?

Hoping to get validation that it is a good idea and nothing potentially harmful/issues. Thanks!

 

[Tom]

Hi everyone, I know we say that babies do not eat hay since it is too large and tough to bite into. My tortellini is now 1yr old and I had bought 3 bags of 5lbs each of various hays when I got torti last year and saved them. Now that I have fed him the baby kapidolo farms dry toppers. I came up with the idea to buy a food processor and throw in the hay and pulverize so it’s as small as possible. I fed it today for the first time as a topper (main meal is fresh wheatgrass/plants/greens/etc) and found no issues. Is there any concern on feeding this to a baby other than the large pieces concern?

Hoping to get validation that it is a good idea and nothing potentially harmful/issues. Thanks!

I think this is fine for a one year old. It is a lot of work and not necessarily "practical", but it is great for the tortoise if you don't mind the time and effort. This is a great way to add fiber.

I understand your reasoning for doing it this way, but a less labor and time intensive way is to buy horse hay pellets and soak them. I use several 5 gallon buckets of food each day, so the horse pellets make more sense for me, but your way makes sense for a single tortoise, and provides excellent food for your baby.

 

[Tortellini5]

I think this is fine for a one year old. It is a lot of work and not necessarily "practical", but it is great for the tortoise if you don't mind the time and effort. This is a great way to add fiber.

I understand your reasoning for doing it this way, but a less labor and time intensive way is to buy horse hay pellets and soak them. I use several 5 gallon buckets of food each day, so the horse pellets make more sense for me, but your way makes sense for a single tortoise, and provides excellent food for your baby.

Awesome! Yea I already bought these so I am just trying to use them now. I didn’t even know there was horse pellet options I could use so definitely will keep that in mind when torti is bigger as well. Is there a particular seller or brand you recommend for the horse pellets?

 

[Tom]

Awesome! Yea I already bought these so I am just trying to use them now. I didn’t even know there was horse pellet options I could use so definitely will keep that in mind when torti is bigger as well. Is there a particular seller or brand you recommend for the horse pellets?

I have used many types over the years. I just read the ingredients and make sure there are no additives of any kind. No binders, no molasses, no nothin'. Just plain shredded up hay formed Ito a dry pellet. I normally don't use Timothy hay because it is too stemmy, but it works great when I soak the pelleted form.

 

[Tortellini5]

I think this is fine for a one year old. It is a lot of work and not necessarily "practical", but it is great for the tortoise if you don't mind the time and effort. This is a great way to add fiber.

I understand your reasoning for doing it this way, but a less labor and time intensive way is to buy horse hay pellets and soak them. I use several 5 gallon buckets of food each day, so the horse pellets make more sense for me, but your way makes sense for a single tortoise, and provides excellent food for your baby.

Thank you I will keep that in mind when buying those.