Mazuri & Repashy ?s

[Jami]

Hi all,

My hatchling seems to like Mazuri pellets mixed with his greens. How often should Dover get Mazuri? Also, I have some Repashy grassland gel mix - I call it torty jello pudding - that I have not yet given him. How often should these supplements be used?

Thanks,
Jami

 

[tglazie]

The role of supplements is a controversial one. Me personally, I don't use them at all, but keep in mind that I'm a bit of an extremist in this regard. I don't use them for two reasons. Firstly, I don't know how truly beneficial or necessary they really are, so long as one offers a varied diet of broad leaf greens (you really should grow your own; I can never stress enough how owning tortoises essentially means the mastery of growing common weeds and nuisance plants). The second reason I don't use them is that I'm a cheapskate. Yes, I can admit it. I don't like paying for tortoise food, unless I'm paying for seed to plant it or water to grow it.

However, I have certain advantages that come with my particular locale. I live in San Antonio, TX, one the the southernmost areas of the U.S. apart from Florida, so we have a very long growing season and very short and mild winters. The soil in these parts is very calcium and mineral rich and supports a wide variety of vegetation upon which the local species of Texas tortoise subsists. All of this is to my advantage, and depending upon your locale, you may not have such advantages.

Regardless of how you choose to utilize foods such as these, realize that they can't replace broadleaf weeds and organically grown (preferably homegrown) leafy greens. Along with cactus, hawksbit, dandelion, various clovers, mulberry leaves, grape leaves, mallow leaves and flowers, chinese lantern flowers, althea flowers, and hibiscus leaves and flowers, I also grow romaine lettuce, which is fantastically bitter and fibrous when it reaches the reproductive stage, collard greens, squash (the tortoises love the flowers, and the zucchini is most certainly a nice seasonally available treat), among other items that are too numerous to list. With such variety, I'm sure a meal of mazuri or this Rephashi once or twice a week will be perfectly fine. But do not rely upon these supplements as staples. You may find your tortoise refusing anything but mazuri or rephashi, and this wouldn't be good.

T.G.

 

[Jami]

The role of supplements is a controversial one. Me personally, I don't use them at all, but keep in mind that I'm a bit of an extremist in this regard. I don't use them for two reasons. Firstly, I don't know how truly beneficial or necessary they really are, so long as one offers a varied diet of broad leaf greens (you really should grow your own; I can never stress enough how owning tortoises essentially means the mastery of growing common weeds and nuisance plants). The second reason I don't use them is that I'm a cheapskate. Yes, I can admit it. I don't like paying for tortoise food, unless I'm paying for seed to plant it or water to grow it.

However, I have certain advantages that come with my particular locale. I live in San Antonio, TX, one the the southernmost areas of the U.S. apart from Florida, so we have a very long growing season and very short and mild winters. The soil in these parts is very calcium and mineral rich and supports a wide variety of vegetation upon which the local species of Texas tortoise subsists. All of this is to my advantage, and depending upon your locale, you may not have such advantages.

Regardless of how you choose to utilize foods such as these, realize that they can't replace broadleaf weeds and organically grown (preferably homegrown) leafy greens. Along with cactus, hawksbit, dandelion, various clovers, mulberry leaves, grape leaves, mallow leaves and flowers, chinese lantern flowers, althea flowers, and hibiscus leaves and flowers, I also grow romaine lettuce, which is fantastically bitter and fibrous when it reaches the reproductive stage, collard greens, squash (the tortoises love the flowers, and the zucchini is most certainly a nice seasonally available treat), among other items that are too numerous to list. With such variety, I'm sure a meal of mazuri or this Rephashi once or twice a week will be perfectly fine. But do not rely upon these supplements as staples. You may find your tortoise refusing anything but mazuri or rephashi, and this wouldn't be good.

T.G.

Hi! Thanks for the response and the input. I can grow some things but it's a challenge. I did get more organic homegrown kale and romain yesterday and he's chowing down on that. I can get him pretty good plantain and dandelion and clover from my yard. He does really like the mazuri pellets but I soak them and he only gets a little bit...he can only eat about half a pellet and then he goes for the veggies that are offered too. Thanks!

Jami

 

[StarSapphire22]

Hi Jami!

What I do is feed mazuri 2x/week, along with dried weeds and herbs, and soak them to get everything to a nice oatmeal consistency and mash them together. I use this to "hide" his vitamin and calcium powders, since he won't take them otherwise.

 

[Tom]

That was a good post from tglazie. Good points there.

Personally I like to use the Mazuri once or twice a week to make sure I am covering any possible minor nutritional deficiencies in there diet of grass, weeds, leaves and succulents. In other words, I use it as a supplement to a good diet, not a substitute. I have some Repashy powdered supplement that I sprinkle on once in a while, but I have no experience with the gel.

 

[StarSapphire22]

I have used the gel for my fish before, and I'm really happy with the quality of products from Repashy. I have used it for my tort once, but I wasn't paying attention and accidentally made it much too liquidy, so I used it more as a dressing on salad. I would feel as comfortable using repashy as mazuri.

 

[Jami]

Hi Jami!

What I do is feed mazuri 2x/week, along with dried weeds and herbs, and soak them to get everything to a nice oatmeal consistency and mash them together. I use this to "hide" his vitamin and calcium powders, since he won't take them otherwise.

Thanks!

 

[Jami]

That was a good post from tglazie. Good points there.

Personally I like to use the Mazuri once or twice a week to make sure I am covering any possible minor nutritional deficiencies in there diet of grass, weeds, leaves and succulents. In other words, I use it as a supplement to a good diet, not a substitute. I have some Repashy powdered supplement that I sprinkle on once in a while, but I have no experience with the gel.

Thank you. I have all this left over from my first hatchling so I was wondering if I should use it. Thank you for responding!

 

[Jami]

I have used the gel for my fish before, and I'm really happy with the quality of products from Repashy. I have used it for my tort once, but I wasn't paying attention and accidentally made it much too liquidy, so I used it more as a dressing on salad. I would feel as comfortable using repashy as mazuri.

Cool, thanks. It's funny when I made it it smelled up the whole house like a wild field had just been mowed. I was hoping it'd make the tort drool like some people do when they smell fresh baked goods!