Tort dude
Member
why wont my russian eat maruzi tort food. what can i do to make him like it.
why wont my russian eat maruzi tort food. what can i do to make him like it.
My hermanns will eat the small pellet LS version but not the large pellet LS. And I can’t find the original mazuri anywhere
I’ve seen it online, but nowhere else. I think you have to order it.
Do you have a link for it? I’m always scared I’ll get the wrong stuff online. Some I’ve seen doesn’t look like it comes in original packaging.
why wont my russian eat maruzi tort food. what can i do to make him like it.
My Greek tortoise used to HATE Mazuri. We tried both the original and the LS. He would ignore it. So, we continued to feed him a varied diet of different things recommended here on TortoiseForum. One day, we tried it again. "Buddy" began eating it as though he had always been eating it.
We purchased Mazuri from Amazon. They typically came in a black resealable bag with a label on it. However, one shipment arrived from a seller on Amazon that was in an unmarked metallic-colored bag. I was worried about feeding Buddy something from a third-party seller on Amazon. After some research, I discovered that Mazuri doesn't sell smaller bags of the original anymore (whether black or metallic bag colors). They only sell the LS Diet. Regardless, all of their consumer bags have a similar look to them.
I contacted Amazon who placed me on a three-way call with the seller. It turns out that this seller (a popular seller on Amazon from Illinois) claims that he buys large bags and then separates them himself into small bags that he sells on Amazon (at a big markup). He claims that this is legitimate business practice and that he is an "authorized vendor" for Mazuri (yet he changes his company name on Amazon periodically).
I contacted Mazuri. They said that this was unethical and a violation of any proper practice. They warned against purchasing from third party vendors who claim to open large bags and repackage them into smaller bags. Mazuri claimed that this could potentially lethal for a tortoise -- because you can't be entirely certain what is in the bag. They had heard stories about people selling cheap dog food as "Mazuri." Others had stated that their Mazuri arrived moldy.
Amazon refunded my money. However, the vendor was irate.
Mazuri actually called back and checked to see how Buddy was doing. I thought that this was very nice of them. They recommended the Tortoise Diet LS for Buddy. We were a bit worried because many people seemed to say that it wasn't as good as the "regular" or say that their torts didn't like the LS. So, without any legitimate regular Mazuri, we bought the LS.
Buddy LOVED it. It was almost like crack to him! lol
We still offer Buddy a varied diet of appropriate greens and weeds. However, he loves the Mazuri LS more than anything else.
Many third party sellers buy the 25 pound bags of Mazuri and then package it into smaller quantities to re-sell it. Its pretty common practice. Someone with a single tortoise would never get through a 25 pound bag. I have 25 adult tortoises and a 25 pound bag lasts me a month or two. I've never seen it lead to any problems and most people are very ethical, but I can see the potential for abuse or problems that you were warned about. Buy from someone you trust. We have several reputable sellers here on the forum that I would trust without reservation. Tyler and Sarah over at Tortoisesupply.com are personal friends and very good people. I've done business with John at Coastal, and he was excellent to dal with too. I'm sure there are more here in our little tortoise community, but I haven't personally done business with all of them.
Glad your tortoise decided to like the Mazuri. Its a good dietary supplement and quite handy when other things run out.
Malarky. Its not junk. Its an effective way to deliver balanced nutrition and make sure there are no "gaps" in a more natural diet. It is an excellent supplemental food.And so we have another junk food buyer not interested enough to buy real food and feed a more natural diet.
Junk? Is that an acronym for....just unsurpassed nutritious kibble.[emoji6]And so we have another junk food buyer not interested enough to buy real food and feed a more natural diet.