Im curious to know how much food does an adult eat? Mine is currently a yr and a few months and he eats alot. I think im going to go broke when they reach adult size lol. Is it better to switch to mazuri or something like that and some greens here and there?
How much food do you go through
- Thread starter Hai
- Start date
Tony the Tort42
Active Member
What do you feed him? He should mainly be getting grass. Hay should be good when he's bigger. I'm new to sully keeping, but I know some folks who kept 8 adult sulcatas. They would dump 40 pound boxes of vegetables in their pen, and it would be gone in no time. In other words, they are living composters (they eat a lot).
Try checking online http://www.hayexchange.com/ it goes by state
queen koopa
Well-Known Member
Got my sully when she was 5 and already set on eating salad greens from previous ownership. If you read through the sulcata section on the forum you will find more on the topic and how they will become picky eaters. My recommendations are start feeding hay now, limit salad greens, develop a large garden for growing weeds and grass, and start growing opuntia cactus pads. I started too late on my cactus farming and have had to buy all my pads, but have 4 planted. That is pricey for me right now, I buy 4 at a time on amazon for like $29... But I have enough (for now) other succulents, weeds, grass, & roses. I currently still have to trick her to eat hay by soaking it in Mazuri/water or boiled mashed carrot.... If my tort did not have 5 years of spring mix and mazuri before me I’m sure eating hay would not be such a problem. She is a beast and the only food she ever leaves is hay. She will graze for hours if there is enough. Good luck and happy feeding!
queen koopa
Well-Known Member
Correction, 2 pads for $8. So $32 a month on those right now.
Check the local hispanic/asian markets. IN Richmond I get them for $.98 a pound
Dude. You've got to start growing and finding your own. Grass, weeds, mulberry leaves, grape vine leaves, and loads of "spineless" opuntia. Once you little one get to about 12", you can introduce grass hay. This will make up the bulk of his diet for the rest of his life, and make YOUR life a heck of a lit easier.
Read this for lots of ideas:
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...
tortoiseforum.org
Most breeders don't take the time to introduce lots of new foods when they first hatch. They take the easy road. If you bought one from a breeder like this, then YOU will have to take the time to introduce new foods and it will take weeks and months to do. Its a rare sulcata baby that will use walk right up to a pile of grass and start munching away, if its never eaten grass before. With any new food, grass for example, you need to start slow. Grow or find some freshly spouted tender young grass and get a tiny little bit of it. Cut up the days greens and wet the pile. Get some scissors and finely chop your tender soft grass blades onto the wet pile and mix it all up. You should be starting with a very very small amount of grass at first, and gradually add more as time goes by. Eventually, your tortoise will eat grass on its own.
Same here in Maryland. Once a week or so, we pick up about 4 or 5 large opuntia pads at our local International Market along with a few bundles of fresh dandelion. The pads are mostly spineless & cost me about $1.50. The pads are always fresh, large & juicy. Devoured quickly.
I always feed on a bed of orchard grass/hay. Cactus, dandelion & mazuri on a bed of grass.
Don't bother with hay until the tortoise is around 12+ inches. When the time comes, use Bermuda or orchard grass hay. Not Timothy. I introduce it by simply feeding them all their other stuff on a bed of the grass hay. Some of them start eating it right away, and others take a while to start nibbling the hay. You can also chop up some hay, soak it for a while, and mix it in with the other greens.
For grass seed I really like the ones from Tyler and Sarah at Tortoisesupply.com and also the one from groworganic.com.
Tortoise Seed Mixes | Grassland Seed Mixes | Sulcata Seed Mix | Testudo Seed Mix
Seed mixes for your outdoor tortoise habitats. We offer seed mixes designed for specific types of tortoises, as well as individual seeds that are available separately.
www.tortoisesupply.com
Peaceful Valley Premium Horse Irrigated Pasture Mix
Developed for working horses, mares, and foals. Ryegrass, Orchardgrass, Clover, and Hay & Graze Alfalfa.
www.groworganic.com
Don't buy grass seed from the hardware store or any marketed for lawns. Lawn seed has all sorts of creepy additives in it. Buy something that is specifically packaged and marketed to be grown as food for animals.
Don't bother with hay until the tortoise is around 12+ inches. When the time comes, use Bermuda or orchard grass hay. Not Timothy. I introduce it by simply feeding them all their other stuff on a bed of the grass hay. Some of them start eating it right away, and others take a while to start nibbling the hay. You can also chop up some hay, soak it for a while, and mix it in with the other greens.
For grass seed I really like the ones from Tyler and Sarah at Tortoisesupply.com and also the one from groworganic.com.
Tortoise Seed Mixes | Grassland Seed Mixes | Sulcata Seed Mix | Testudo Seed Mix
Seed mixes for your outdoor tortoise habitats. We offer seed mixes designed for specific types of tortoises, as well as individual seeds that are available separately.Peaceful Valley Premium Horse Irrigated Pasture Mix
Developed for working horses, mares, and foals. Ryegrass, Orchardgrass, Clover, and Hay & Graze Alfalfa.
Don't buy grass seed from the hardware store or any marketed for lawns. Lawn seed has all sorts of creepy additives in it. Buy something that is specifically packaged and marketed to be grown as food for animals.
I bought grassland seed mix from Carolina petsupply. Also do you just measure the plastron or the front to back of shell?
Grazing Tortoise Seed Mix 1 lb Free Shipping! USA only [] - $22.95 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce
The Grazing Tortoise Seed Mix is what I use in my pens. It contains: Crimson Clover Red Clover Creeping Red Fescue Turnip Greens Fescue Kentucky Blue Grass Orchard Grass Wheat Grass Oat Grass Rye Grass Chia Chicory Timothy Grass These seeds were picked for their nutritional value (fiber...
www.carolinapetsupply.com
Last edited:
I've tried that seed mix and it was okay, but these other two grew much better for me here in the dry south west. Give it a go and see what you think.
The usual method of tortoise measurement is along the plastron. The suggestion of waiting until they are 12" is a rough guideline. You could easily do it at half that size, or twice that size, and be fine. At some point when they start gaining size, I'll have a few days where they just put away an enormous amount of food, and I'll think to myself: "Time to start the intro to grass hay...".
Spineless opuntia pads are also a big easy meal. You should have no problem growing them in Tucson. Make a basin around each one when you plant them, and water them heavily at least two or three times a week in the heat of summer. I don't water them at all in winter.
Blowtorch em off. I just use a burner on my gas stove
I tried that once. Still seemed like it left them on. Almost embedded in the cactus skin. Is there a proper way to pick a good pad?
I have a 50 lb sucata and he was eating at least $20 a week. I bought tortoise food mazuri in the large bags. Had the local Purina feed store order it for me. Much cheaper that way. I threw out some oat seeds to grow in the yard for winter time for him to eat. So he eats rye and the coastal grass too. Grew a winter garden. So all I buy now is apples carrots and cucumbers for treats.
Dude. You've got to start growing and finding your own. Grass, weeds, mulberry leaves, grape vine leaves, and loads of "spineless" opuntia. Once you little one get to about 12", you can introduce grass hay. This will make up the bulk of his diet for the rest of his life, and make YOUR life a heck of a lit easier.
Read this for lots of ideas:
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...
Tom, where do you find organic grass hay?
Also, I was wondering how you keeep the outside enclosure clean? My Charlie is constantley peeing and pooping in her enclosure. I can not remember the last time she pooped outside!! I am so worried it is ruining the night box. She pees and it goes all up underneath the heat mat. and the only way I can clean under it is if I unscrew it from the bottom. That would be a pain.
What is the average amount of food that a 2 1/2 year old sulcata will eat? I want to make sure she is getting enough.
