Only grazing?

[chaseswife]

I recently started putting my Sulcata tortoise outside during the day and only bringing him in overnight . Is he good to just eat what he is grazing on through out the day? Should I need to supplement anything more than just mazuri once or twice a week?
Shrimp is just shy of 6 inches and is about 1.5 pounds. His outside enclosure is about 15x15 feet for right now- walls aren't permanent so we will keep expanding as he grows. It has established Bermuda grass. I have also added in a grazing seed mix from Carolina pet supply, Chia seeds, wheat grass, zinnia seeds, and turnip seeds. There is an aloe plant, several small prickly-pear plants and 3 hibiscus bushes.

 

[Blakem]

I think that's a great diet! Does he eat the cactus as you have it?

 

[Big Charlie]

It looks like a wonderful garden for him. Charlie has gotten most of his nutrition from grazing for the last 10 years. Once it gets too cold, he won't eat much outside unless you have a way to keep him warm out there.

 

[Alaskamike]

I supplement free grazing with a treat of Mazuri 2-3x / week and mix in some other greens that are not in their yards ; mulberry leaves , spider plant, grape leaves , etc.

The Mazuri has calcium they need + a few other vitamins & minerals.

I even give my Sulcata , leopard & aldabra a piece of hard boiled egg once a month ( not everyone would recommend this , but proteins are good for them once in awhile IMO)

It sounds like you have good variety to choose from in his enclosure.

Variety is the key to health. Good job !

 

[chaseswife]

I think that's a great diet! Does he eat the cactus as you have it?

So far he doesn't eat the prickly pear unless I cut pieces off for him. He hasn't touched the aloe at all yet, but I have noticed him sniffing at it a little more yesterday.

 

[chaseswife]

It looks like a wonderful garden for him. Charlie has gotten most of his nutrition from grazing for the last 10 years. Once it gets too cold, he won't eat much outside unless you have a way to keep him warm out there.

We don't have anything besides the sun out there, but hopefully being in AZ that will be enough for 98% of the days. I am planning to build one of @Tom's insulated night boxes next spring.

 

[Tom]

It looks like a wonderful garden for him. Charlie has gotten most of his nutrition from grazing for the last 10 years. Once it gets too cold, he won't eat much outside unless you have a way to keep him warm out there.

Sounds like Charlie needs a proper heated night box: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/

Mine used to slow way down on the food during fall and winter too. I was keeping them too cold at night. Things changed tremendously when I built a proper heated night box and started keeping them at temperatures that were more appropriate for a sulcata.

 

[Tom]

We don't have anything besides the sun out there, but hopefully being in AZ that will be enough for 98% of the days. I am planning to build one of @Tom's insulated night boxes next spring.

I like your plan. Outside all day, weather permitting, and inside at night works very well for this size. What I worry about is that there is no way for him to escape the AZ summer heat in your enclosure. Once temps starting getting near and above 100, they need somewhere to cool off. Something like an underground retreat. This probably won't be an issue until next spring at this point. I bring my smaller juveniles inside when temps start topping 100 here.

About the food: They are all different, so this is hard to answer. Some will eat enough outside and some won't. With only 15x15' one of my 6" sulcatas would turn that place into bare dirt in a few days. Personally, in your situation, I would feed him lots of other good stuff in an attempt to make the plants growing in there last a little longer. If he's 6" and in a 15x15' and the plants are keeping up with him, then he might not be eating as much as he should.

Weekly weights will give us a clue too. Chart the weights and look for steady growth each week.

 

[chaseswife]

I will start weekly weigh-ins again. Once he got over 100 grams I had stopped worrying about that as much.

There is a half Terra cotta pot in a section that just has dirt, borderline mud since my husband has the sprinklers running 2x a day for some reason. During the hottest part of the day he digs down in there. It isn't an actual burrow at all, but I think he cools down in there a lot and gets himself all dirty. Our 10 day forecast is showing the highest temp at 94, so I think 100° days might be finally gone for this year.