I have a 5 year old male Sulcata that I rescued a few months ago. He will not eat hay!! He does like that Mazuri Tortoise Diet for grassland and desert tortoises and almost everything else! What else can I feed him to get him the fiber he needs or should I be stubborn like him and wait him out until he eats the hay?
Picky Sulcata
- Thread starter Jlsretics
- Start date
Hello and welcome!
The Mazuri and the ZooMed Grassland stuff are providing him with the needed fiber. It takes a while to ge them to want to eat dry grass hay in most cases. You can start by getting him to eat fresh grass first. At some markets and in most chain pet stores, they sell little plots of sprouted wheat grass. Start by chopping up the day's greens and spraying the pile with water. Then chop some of the grass on top of your pile and mix it all in. Start with a very small amount of the new food at first and gradually add more each day as your tortoise accepts it. This process should take weeks with any new food. If you keep the little plot in a sunny windowsill and keep it watered, you can get 8 or 9 cuttings from each plot. When spring returns, you can use freshly sprouted grass from outside by the handful.
Soaking every other day or so during this process will also build hunger and get the GI tract moving.
To introduce the grass hay, I like to feed them their other "regular" food on a bed of the grass hay. Over time, they will accidentally eat some, and they will get used to the smell, taste and texture of the hay and begin to associate it with food. Orchard grass hay works best for this and bermuda grass hay would be my second choice. I find timothy hay to be too stemmy for younger tortoises and I don't use it.
Here is a list of other good foods for you to look into when spring time rolls back around:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
Thank you Tom!!! Until I could get to the store to buy the wheat grass I tried feeding him dry Mazuri, which he ate. Then I mixed in a little well cut up hay and he ate that too, so I am gradually adding more hay!! I am still going to get the wheat grass as that will be very good for him during these long winter months!!! I want my friend to be a healthy and happy tortoise. After all, he needs to dig my grave in the future.....lol.
Until I get to the store to but wheat grass, I tried feeding him dry Mazuri instead of soaking it first. He ate that. Then I mixed in some finely cut hay with it, he ate that too! Next I mixed a little more hay and he actually ate some of it that wasn't by any Mazuri pellets! I will keep adding more and more hay gradually. I am still going to get the grass since that will be very good for him during the long winter. I want a happy and healthy tortoise!!
Your lucky! mine isn't taking a liking to mazuri yet.. maybe ate some yesterday with his greens.. I'm determined he will eventually..he does like all the dry grases in his yard and some brmuda hay.. mostly giving him cactus pads every day and endive every other, all mixed with mazuri n dry hay..eating it all excecpt the mazuri lol. Im sure he will be excited for the winter rye grass to come up. He's come along way in 6 months from the watermelon, lettuce and lawn diet he had though.
Are you using Mazuri LS? It seems to be universally detested by tortoises.
It’s the standard Mazuri they prefer
It’s the standard Mazuri they prefer
Speedy-1
Well-Known Member
This is the Mazuri you want ;
Watch for that red tag and you will have the right stuff ! I have alway's soaked Speedy's hay and pellets , he seems to like them better that way and he is also getting some water as he eats ! I used Hay Pellets to get him used to the taste of hay , not a big deal but it worked well for me . They are real hard so I used to nuke them in the microwave with some water to make a paste to mix in with his food . The hay sort of reconstitutes itself and greens up when it is soaked overnight .
Watch for that red tag and you will have the right stuff ! I have alway's soaked Speedy's hay and pellets , he seems to like them better that way and he is also getting some water as he eats ! I used Hay Pellets to get him used to the taste of hay , not a big deal but it worked well for me . They are real hard so I used to nuke them in the microwave with some water to make a paste to mix in with his food . The hay sort of reconstitutes itself and greens up when it is soaked overnight .
Yes that's the stuff! Same bag n everything. I don't think it has that red tag though...I'll check tonight. Also I don't think he has EVER eaten it in his life. So the addition is going to take time..
Speedy-1
Well-Known Member
This is the size of the pellets .
Yeah size is the same too about an inch long. Is the size different between the ls and the regular?
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