Mazuri or nothing!

[hoshi]

This guy just refuses to eat anything! He will nibble occasionally on a hibiscus flower stem or some oakra - but refuses to eat carrot, cucumber, raddish, other veggies, some wild weeds, grass etc..

IF I mash the mazuri and mix it with finely chopped veggies he makes sure he eats only the mazuri and avoids the veggies - and if he can't find enough big chunks he just doesn't eat it.

He's less than a year old - what do I do!? I want to get him back on veggies - maybe I should never have started Mazuri?

 

[Laura]

tough love...
but nothing wrong with mazuri....although variety and natural is better.

 

[Sulcatifornia]

tough love...
but nothing wrong with mazuri....although variety and natural is better.

Agreed. When he gets hungry enough he'll eat whatever you put in front of him.

 

[hoshi]

Should I starve him for an entire day and then try veggies?

Is it bad to feed Mazuri everyday?

 

[wildak]

I only feed mazuri once a week sometimes twice. Mine have been hooked on the stuff also, I just put greens in there everyday and they will get hungry enough to eat it. Variety is a must in my opinion, any single food can't be good for anyone or anything.

Bryan

 

[Homerist]

agree, tough love.
starve a day and he will eat any vege. =)

 

[yagyujubei]

Mazuri isn't "one thing", it's a balanced formulated diet made for tortoises. My cats eat dry cat food and very little else. Do I catch rodents for them for a natural and balanced diet? Of course not. When I raised pescocks and exotic pheasants - one food. Dogs the same. Do I think that a diet of "human grocery store greens is better? Nope.

 

[Kristina]

Just to be clear - your tortoise is not going to "starve" in one day. It will probably barely even be hungry. They aren't like us, and they don't need to eat every day. Even several days won't hurt. Tough love is the way to go. He can't ONLY eat Mazuri if there is no Mazuri!

Give him greens only, and withhold the Mazuri until he gets hungry enough to eat the greens.

 

[Madkins007]

Mazuri isn't "one thing", it's a balanced formulated diet made for tortoises. My cats eat dry cat food and very little else. Do I catch rodents for them for a natural and balanced diet? Of course not. When I raised pescocks and exotic pheasants - one food. Dogs the same. Do I think that a diet of "human grocery store greens is better? Nope.

In another thread, I pointed out that there are people who feel that properly balanced animal 'chows' are an adequate diet all by themselves and that this view was widely held by zoos. The reply also discussed that there were opinions and justifications for 100% Mazuri, 75%/25%fresh, 50/50, 25/75 mostly fresh, and 100% fresh.

I personally follow the 50/50 opinion and would not argue with anyone holding a different thought, such as this poster.

However, just to play Devil's Advocate, I would like to ask a few questions.

1. Cat diets have been researched over decades, dozens of companies and labs, an hundreds of generations of cats. Pheasant diets (in fact, many farm animal and commercial animal diets) have as well. Tortoise diets have not been researched for nearly as long, or by nearly as many places, and not even for a couple full generations. In fact, most of the research was based on giant tortoises which have slightly different nutritional needs than other species (ie, a possibly elevated need for iodine). Question: Given this information, do you still think it is fair to compare tortoise and cat diets?

2. As was mentioned in the other thread and earlier here, there are good studies that support each philosophy. Some well-done studies strongly support the idea that almost all animals benefit from a mixed diet of chows and fresh. Question: Have you yourself ever done an actual study, even small scale, to prove to yourself that the chow for your cat or birds provides a better diet than a combination diet would?

My goal is not to embarrass, or call anyone out, or anything like that. I think it is right for someone to hold a strong opinion but I am always interested in why people choose one path over another, especially as they often have not really checked each path out carefully- which the person quoted above may certainly have done.

 

[yagyujubei]

I didn't say that I feed mazuri exclusively, nor did I recommend it. I responded to the comment that one single food can't be good. I don't believe mazuri should be considered a single food. Yet most on this forum feed and recommend store bought spring mix as a complete diet. It is hardly "natural", contains little fiber or nutrients, and is mostly water. I am forced to feed some in the winter by circumstance. Would I recommend withholding mazuri in order to get them to eat carrots, cucumbers and radishes, no.

 

[cemmons12]

Cooper gets red torts sticks, mazuri, and greens everyday. He will eat red/mazuri first, take a break, and come back and finish the greens. The ratio is prolly 40% red/mazuri- 60% greens. I don't know if its right or wrong, but he likes it, looks very healthy, and is a happy Sulcata. Just hope I never do anything to harm him... Have a great day!

 

[wildak]

Mazuri isn't "one thing", it's a balanced formulated diet made for tortoises. My cats eat dry cat food and very little else. Do I catch rodents for them for a natural and balanced diet? Of course not. When I raised pescocks and exotic pheasants - one food. Dogs the same. Do I think that a diet of "human grocery store greens is better? Nope.

I understand where your coming from but I guess I was comparing it to a human eating Mcdonalds hamburgers for 3 meals a day. It's a combination of ingredients but not a perfect RDA. It's just my opinion and my preferance not to feed any of my animals a single food source.

I'm on the same mindset as Madkin007 ( I think ) that even though one type of cat may require a slightly different diet than another it's not as drastic of a diet variation from a desert tortoise compared to a rainforest tortoise.
I actually use Mazuri crocodile for Redfoots and Impressa once a week because closer meets their requirements for protein but I would think about feeding it to Stars. I'm not knocking mazuri at all in fact I go through 100lb a year in various flavors.
I personally like a wide variety that changes every day from softened yams, Zuccinni, yellow squash, Pumpkin ( they all love ), butternut squash, various greens and weeds and an endless list. It's not by any means cheap but I believe in variety.

Bryan

 

[pierced_pixie]

Just to be clear - your tortoise is not going to "starve" in one day. It will probably barely even be hungry. They aren't like us, and they don't need to eat every day. Even several days won't hurt. Tough love is the way to go. He can't ONLY eat Mazuri if there is no Mazuri!

Give him greens only, and withhold the Mazuri until he gets hungry enough to eat the greens.

I couldn't agree with this more, kinda the same thing when picky or spoiled children don't want to eat what they are given

 

[laramie]

Wilbur is the same way. I have given him mazuri twice and he just doesn't seem to want to eat it. I was having the same issure with giving him calcium powder too. So, i was told (Thanks Tom-you rock!), to skip feeding him one day and then next day, when I gave Wilbur his food with the calcium powder on it, he ate.

Keep Trying,
Laramie

 

[dmarcus]

Tough love is the way to go, when they get hungry they will eat whats available. They will definitely not starve after one day...

 

[hoshi]

Tough love it is. He will not get any Mazuri for two full weeks. He can eat what's given or starve. Let's see.

 

[madhura]

Hope he eats the greens

 

[Chicobeaks]

I have a baby radiated that is the same way. He walks by his food dish all day until I put some wet Mazuri in there. My Leopard which is about 4 months older will eat anything I put in front of him. Tough love is on the way for my Radiated.

 

[jackrat]

It looks like I am one of the few who don't feed pellets. LOL Not saying there's anything wrong with it,mind you. Just haven't done it.

 

[seanang168]

Actually I got problems getting my stars to eat mazuri as they ate vegetables for years. Took me like a couple of weeks to coax them to eat. I think is a good thing if the stars love mazuri as their diet would be more complete.