How to feed sulcata

[TurtleXcb]

Hello,

I'm a new owner of a sulcata. It's pretty big so I'm sure it's not a baby. I'm still working on getting some good grass/hay for him. I'm currently feeding him zoomed grassland and mazuri ls and a little bit of lettuce. my question is how should I provide his food to him. it seems like he has a hard time finding it. Today I fed him out of my hand. I'm sure that's not good for him. I tried putting it in a little bowl, but like I said he has a hard time finding it. I have a sort of big yard where he roams free so I'm not sure where to leave the food for him. also he won't eat orchard hay. I'm not sure if it's because it's hay and not fresh. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mike taylor]

I put food in terracotta plant saucers . I soak the hey and chop it up add soaked mazuri and greens . If your lawn is green and pesticides and fertilizers free he'll be happy eating that . I go to tractor supply and buy deer plotting mix. I put it in all my tortoise enclosures .

 

[Robertchrisroph]

Welcome turtlexcb to the forum. as you say your sulcata. Is not a baby, and he roams the backyard, he really does not need fed as he eats the grass and weeds. They only need Mazuri every now and then. Lettuce is a treat that should only be givin as that a treat. Not to often. Tom has a care sheet at the top of the sulcata section. your tortoise will be fine. Welcome again.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Your statement, "It's pretty big, so I'm sure it's not a baby." makes me think he's bigger than a baby, but really not very big yet. Can we see pictures? If this is a young tortoise, but not a baby, they still sometimes won't eat grass or hay yet. It sometimes takes them a few years to develop a taste for it.

 

[Gillian M]

A warm welcome to the forum!

Torts take time to adapt to a new environment, a new place, a new owner...practically new everything.

What about posting some pics ofyour tort?

 

[Tom]

Hello,

I'm a new owner of a sulcata. It's pretty big so I'm sure it's not a baby. I'm still working on getting some good grass/hay for him. I'm currently feeding him zoomed grassland and mazuri ls and a little bit of lettuce. my question is how should I provide his food to him. it seems like he has a hard time finding it. Today I fed him out of my hand. I'm sure that's not good for him. I tried putting it in a little bowl, but like I said he has a hard time finding it. I have a sort of big yard where he roams free so I'm not sure where to leave the food for him. also he won't eat orchard hay. I'm not sure if it's because it's hay and not fresh. Any help would be appreciated.

Where are you?
Does the tortoise have an indoor enclosure?
Does it have a heat source outside?
What is the weight and length of the tortoise?

Babies don't eat dry hay. Best to feed them fresh grass, weeds and leaves.

 

[TurtleXcb]

Thanks for all the input and the warm welcome.

I'm working on getting my tort a supply of fresh grass at the moment as well as an outdoor inclosure. I will try to upload a picture as I am replying from my phone.
I live in the South Bay Area here in California so it mostly warm during the day and can get a bit cold at night. He seems to always settle into a large trash scooper that stays outside and when I see him in there I figure he's calling it a day and ready to rest so I bring him indoors and out a towel over the opening to help with some warmth and make sure not indoor lights bother him. I've seen him try and eat weeds here and there but not sure that he can get a good amount in order to fill him up. When I fed him the zoomed grassland feed he at it up quick. His shell is about 8 inches long maybe a bit bigger. I haven't been able to measure or weigh him yet. Here's a picture of him/her about a week ago

 

[TurtleXcb]

 

[Robertchrisroph]

 

[Evy]

View attachment 131526

Hello TurtleXcb,

My name is Evy and I leave 15 mins away from you in San Diego. I have mazuri if you need some to supplement your new tort diet.
Could you give us more info of how you got your sulcata?

Also there is a San Diego Turtle society where sometimes there is info or stuff to get for your tort. People it's friendly and they can be helpful too.

I'm a proud owner of a sulcata that it's about 13 lbs or more. I have London for about 2 years ( just to reference he is bigger then yours now)
I can help if you need it but people in this forum are amazing. I have learned a lot about sulcata's in here, so I hope you learn a lot about them too.

 

[Evy]

Oh, by the way you need to put water for your sully at all times and bathe hi/her too. You can fee it in a terra coat dish that people mentioned above and for water a water heather lid make sure it's plastic( find it at Home Depot). Don't get stuff at the pet stores things there are too expensive and not the ideal size for your sully at this point. The water lid can be big enough for your sully to start bathing itself in it too when he/she want it.

 

[Tom]

South Bay as in Torrance, Redondo, etc...? That's where I grew up!

Anyhow, the info you need is all right here in these threads:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

If you want him to be able to just live outside then you need one of these:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-best-night-box-design-yet.66867/