How much grass in a leopards diet?

[Elohi]

I've been grinding up orchard grass hay in a small food processor and sprinkling the dry grass bits over the greens I feed my leopards.


My questions are, how much grass/hay is optimal in their diet? And Do leopards ever get to a point that they will eat soft dry hay? I'd prefer to feed fresh grass and do put Bermuda clippings in their food on occasion but they don't seem to eat much of it. It's possible I didn't make it small enough to make eating it from a dish acceptable for them. They will eat a little grass while outside but the much prefer leafy greens and weeds over any sort of grass.
But they do eat the ground up hay when it is wet and sticking to their other greens. They probably wouldn't touch it if it was just a big pile of wet hay but I their greens they don't appear to avoid it.

 

[jaizei]

Might be helpful
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...ts-of-the-leopard-tortoise.41483/#post-400106

 

[DeanS]

As much as they'll eat...but I'd be much happier if that hay came off a bale from a tack and feed store rather than a mini-bale bag! But, as far as quantity...look at it as if you were covering your ice cream with sprinkles...cover it fairly well...then mix it up a little more!

 

[DeanS]

Might be helpful
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...ts-of-the-leopard-tortoise.41483/#post-400106

GOD! I forgot all about that thread...I was gonna read it once upon a time ago...and somehow managed to sidestep it! Thanks for the link!

 

[tortadise]

Precisely what Dean said. Grasses make up a very large portion of their diet in the wild. With occasional succulents and broadleaf vegetation. You could try setting up your own little table top greenhouse for winter months and get some buffalo grass seeds. Grow your own.

 

[Tom]

The article above suggest that regular leopards don't eat all that much grass in the wild. This coincides with my observations of captive ones too. I can make them eat it by depriving them of other stuff and mixing it in with other foods, as you are doing, but given the choice, most of them will go for broadleaf weeds, leaves, flowers and succulents over grass. The ones we have here in the states that we call "South African" leopards tend to go for grass like a sulcata. My normal leopards never ate grass or grass hay. My SA leopards eat grass hay as much or more than my sulcatas. Keep in mind that most "regular" leopards here in the states are a mix of all sorts of genetics, sometimes including the SA genes.

In a practical sense, my opinion is: Offer all leopards grass. If they eat it, great! If not, feed them other stuff. For using the blended hay to amend low fiber grocery store greens, I like Dean's technique of sprinkling some on top and mixing it all in. I think that is a good practice for any species, grass eater or not.

I have not seen a regular leopard walk up and intentionally eat dry grass hay. The first time I ever saw a leopard eat plain dry grass hay, is my SA leopards here.

 

[DeanS]

@Tom @tortadise @Elohi

I was under the impression that her leopards are Gpp...which do eat grass! If I'm wrong...I stand corrected! Didn't Heather give up hers to you?

 

[Elohi]

I suspicion one to be a mix. Two are Greg T babcocki's and one is from @Team Gomberg. Hatchling appears to be babcocki.

I wish I knew for sure.

 

[tortadise]

If that's the case then yeah more succulents and broadleaf plants. Elephant bush is a great succulent all our Africans love especially the angulated from South Africa. But this sort of thing can get very detailed. Even the article above was for northern Tanzania locales. That area is rather hot and dry year around with a very short wet season. Mozambique will vary and have more grasses that are edible than Tanzania and Kenya more time out of the year. Same with eastern South Africa versus western South Africa. Where the grass stays so dry most of the year they won't eat it. If someone can figure out how to germinate South African plants for me I'd love to share some natural ones in the South African zone to members. Pretty cool grasses and shrubs.

 

[Elohi]

Leopard 1: 15 months old





^^Petite and not nearly as domed and the others. Highly freckled darker skin.





Leopard 2: 14 months old




No freckled skin. Yellowish tone to skin.





Leopard 3: 14 month old
The big one of the left.
The other two are the same two as above.




No freckled skin. Yellowish tone to skin. Leopards 2 and 3 are clutchmates.






Leopard 4: 2 1/2 yrs old.




Freckled skin. Tone similar to leopard 1.






Hatchling leopard 5: 5 weeks.


Freckled skin, but yellow in tone like leopards 2 and 3.

All mixed ya think? Or are 2, 3, and 5 straight up babcocki?

 

[NeuroNaka]

My leopards never eat dry hay, but will mow down fresh grass. I buy bags of tall fescue and rye grass from Home Depot, and they've lasted me over a year. I first planted the seeds in disposable sandwich tupperware containers, but later switched to just planting them in their pen since it also adds humidity. Grass is super easy to grow. Just add soil and water, and ensure proper drainage. It doesn't need a lot of sunlight like other broad leaf plants.

 

[Hermes]

My leo loves eating grass, well it's live grass that grows in the enclosure but turbo eats it all day, and as far as I know turbo is not a SA but he can be a mix I suppose, but he does prefer fresh grass to most anything else except prickly pear fruit, he goes crazy for that very time I buy some. Not to say he doesn't eat other things but he does favor grass.

 

[Elohi]

Group pic

 

[Elohi]

So putting this ground hay in their greens and weeds isn't going to hurt anything then?
Do some leopards avoid grass because they just don't enjoy it or because they lack sufficient enzymes to digest it? Grass is different than leafy greens as far as digestion goes. I mean if WE eat leafy greens our intestines are all "happy fun time, yay." But if we were to eat true grasses, we would have some pretty major intestinal distress. I'm not comparing humans to tortoises, just pointing out how people react when grasses are eaten.

 

[Elohi]

And on succulents...
Spineless and prickly pear cactus is plentiful where I live and I do give them cactus fairly regularly but I was hesitant to feed it more often because of the oxalate content. Should I not be worried about that so much with this species and put a fresh pad in every day or two?

 

[Elohi]

And I've found they avoid spinach, baby chard, chard, red kale, and only pick at mustard greens.

They love endive, cactus, dandelion, squash leaves, the sow thistles, mallow, green kale, and spinach less spring mix. They will eat hibiscus leaves but they aren't the first thing they go after.

 

[DeanS]

All mixed ya think? Or are 2, 3, and 5 straight up babcocki?

Again...With so many going here...then there...then back again, it's almost impossible to discern between straight or mixed subspecies! I would therefore suggest offering them alternating diets. Succulents one day...and vary the dickens out of what's offered. Grasses and weeds the next. On the third day, offer them greens...and when I say greens, I literally mean endive, escarole and radicchio! I know I care for sulcatas...but I wouldn't deviate from this no matter if it was for leopards or sulcata! BTW, the longstanding myth about cactus and it's oxalate properties is without foundation! Or, at least, it doesn't interfere with calcium absorption!

 

[Tom]

And on succulents...
Spineless and prickly pear cactus is plentiful where I live and I do give them cactus fairly regularly but I was hesitant to feed it more often because of the oxalate content. Should I not be worried about that so much with this species and put a fresh pad in every day or two?

I feed cactus two times a week all summer long.

 

[Tom]

So putting this ground hay in their greens and weeds isn't going to hurt anything then?
Do some leopards avoid grass because they just don't enjoy it or because they lack sufficient enzymes to digest it? Grass is different than leafy greens as far as digestion goes. I mean if WE eat leafy greens our intestines are all "happy fun time, yay." But if we were to eat true grasses, we would have some pretty major intestinal distress. I'm not comparing humans to tortoises, just pointing out how people react when grasses are eaten.

No, it won't hurt anything. I do this with all species. The extra fiber is good for them.

I have never heard anyone mention any studies about leopard digestive enzymes and their ability to digest grass.

 

[Tom]

Oh. And ask Greg if his babies are hybrids.