Keep pushing grass!

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knighterson

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So our tort is around 16 months now and had never shown an interest in grass, but I have relentlessly sprinkled grass pulled from the yard on his greens and grape / hibiscus leaves etc. I always included some with his once a week mazuri feedings too. Well about a month ago I started to notice more and more grass in his poop, and sure enough, over the past week Ive witnessed him multiple times just going to town on the lawn. It's like he suddenly realizes what this stuff is he's been tromping through for almost a year and a half.

Just posting this to say 'don't give up!' I would see the posts saying they should be eating grass the majority of the time and I would always think, yeah right hes just not interested! But it suddenly clicked, so stick with it. Chop it up, sprinkle it on, mix it in, whatever. Eventually the acquire a taste for it!
 

Tom

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Thank you for posting this. I hope it inspires many to follow your lead! My experience with this has been the same as yours. Some of them just take a long time to come around, but they will ALL come around eventually, and people are not wasting their time trying for months on end.
 

HerbsMommy

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Mine didn't go for grass either until I mixed it with his mazuri, now he loves it! Best home remedy for constipation in a tort too!
 

mikeh

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Yes, it can be done. When I got my Leo he would go for clover id collect for him but no grass. After being outside he would chump down clover between grass and had no choice but take bites of grass as well. Now after two weeks I see him eating grass as much as clover, almost. Grass makes their stool looks so much like it should, firmer and fibrous, pointing to a healthy digestive system. He also will go for dried clover and weeds now. I am collecting and drying them to stack up for winter. He is 4 months old.

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TortyTom

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Yeah Darwin wouldn't eat grass for the longest time. Then one day he took a bite and found out he liked it and now he acts just like me in a donut shop. Num, num, num!
 

Evy

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This is great to know. Penny still eats everything around it. There is hope :0)) ill try to mix it with mazuri.


My loves:
Husband
2 dogs Blue (European hunt-mix) and Baxter (chiwinnie)
Penny (sulcata)
 

Tom

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Evy said:
This is great to know. Penny still eats everything around it. There is hope :0)) ill try to mix it with mazuri.

They've gotta just keep seeing it in their food every day. Just finely chop it with scissors and sprinkle it on top of whatever food you are feeding. Pretty soon the grass clippings will start disappearing with all the other food. It might take weeks...
 

knighterson

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For awhile he would try his best to eat around the grass I would add, but soon enough he started eating it all together. But this last week was the first time I've seen him eat grass by itself. That means it took over a year of chopping and adding to food before he decided he would eat it by itself! So don't give up! It will happen.
 

Lexie

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What type of grass exactly. I'm trying to add this to my tortoises diet, but I want to make sure it's as good and nutritious for him as it can be. Any specific recommendations as to what type of grass to plant for him?
 

Tom

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I use about a dozen different types. I use several different pasture mixes that have many types of grasses in them, but some of these overlap. Then I grow wheat grass, orchard grass, fescue and some sort of "kitty" grass for them. Then there are at least a half dozen distinctly recognizable grasses that grow wild that they feast upon too. Add in clover, alfalfa, weeds, leaves, cactus Mazuri, etc. and it starts looking pretty good.
 

Teodora'sDAD

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Yea, those pasture mixes are great!. Pick em' up at the farm store around here. They offer a lot of those grasses in pellet form as well (for horses). My little sully loves to snack on them. just make sure you moisten them first.
 

Lexie

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I guess a better question would be, are there any grasses that I should avoid feeding him? Ill look for a prairie mixture, that sounds like a good idea, thanks!
 

Tom

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Lexie said:
I guess a better question would be, are there any grasses that I should avoid feeding him? Ill look for a prairie mixture, that sounds like a good idea, thanks!

None that I know of offhand. I've heard that there are some types of grass that are not to be eaten, but these aren't commonly available that I've ever seen. Anything sold as a pasture mix for grazing animals will be fine. Here is one of my favorite sites to get seeds from:
http://www.groworganic.com/seeds/pasture-seed.html

The premium pasture mix is fantastic. grows really well for me everywhere I put it, and it grows back really fast after I trim it down and feed it out.
 

Dizisdalife

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I plant the same premium horse pasture mix ( I think it is the same) as Tom. Like he said, it grows really well, comes back fast after cuttings, and can be planted or broadcast. The best part is that my tortoise eats it.
 

Lexie

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In the ordering list, thanks! Also I am going to order some clover to plant but there's a ton of different types...so same question, any specific type that's best or ones to stay away from?
 

Dizisdalife

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Lexie said:
In the ordering list, thanks! Also I am going to order some clover to plant but there's a ton of different types...so same question, any specific type that's best or ones to stay away from?
The pasture seed mixes that I have planted all had clovers in them. Mostly strawberry or crimson clover. I added New Zealand White (also know as Dutch) clover to the mix. The white clover is lower growing and less stalky than the others.
 

lighthiker2

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My 12 kids hated most veggies, too... I just kept putting them on the plate. Eventually they came around and are now doing the same with their kids.

Patience is a virtue go keep up the good work. My young sulcata used to pass up grasses for clover in the yard, also for wild strawberry and honeysuckle, but if I do not provide extra treats he eventy munches out. Now that he eats a better balance, I am harvesting/drying a variety of his favorites to add to his hay for the winter.


12 kids
8 grandkids
2 wolves
2 dogs
1 sulcata
 
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