Sulcata Food Questions

[caity_tay]

Neville has Timothy hay, he has plants in his enclosure that are tortoise safe and he eats those (we put in different ones once a month or so), he goes out and grazes in our yard (no fertilizer or pesticides) several times a week.

I give him spring mix, kale, and spinach on occasion (maybe once a week). He has tasted a small bit of broccoli once, and I've given him a bite of strawberry twice in the month and a half I have had him.

He also has a cuttlebone.

Are all of these good? Are there other store bought greens or veggies I can give him occasionally for a variety?

 

[wellington]

Spinach really isn't that good for them, I would cut that out. As for other grocery greens, if she grazes good on the weeds, and grass, that's the best thing to let her eat. Here is a web site with a list of safe and not safe plants and greens
http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/tortoise_home_1.asp

 

[caity_tay]

Spinach really isn't that good for them, I would cut that out. As for other grocery greens, if she grazes good on the weeds, and grass, that's the best thing to let her eat. Here is a web site with a list of safe and not safe plants and greens
http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/tortoise_home_1.asp

He is a good eater! Grazes well in the yard and on the plants in his enclosure. He just really seems to enjoy his once a week "salad mix," so I thought I could mix it up some with different types of greens. He doesn't touch the Timothy hay much.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Cut up the Timothy hay and mix it in his once a week salid . And each week give him less spring mix and he will eat it !


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[wellington]

I understand, it's hard to not want to give them a little different snack once in a while. Pumpkin and water melon is a good treat once in a while. The pumpkin is said to be a natural dewormer. Give seeds and all. If he is small, grind them up and chop the meat of the pumpkin and mix together with seeds. You will find lots of stuff on the website I gave you. Enjoy.

 

[Tom]

Neville has Timothy hay, he has plants in his enclosure that are tortoise safe and he eats those (we put in different ones once a month or so), he goes out and grazes in our yard (no fertilizer or pesticides) several times a week.

I give him spring mix, kale, and spinach on occasion (maybe once a week). He has tasted a small bit of broccoli once, and I've given him a bite of strawberry twice in the month and a half I have had him.

He also has a cuttlebone.

Are all of these good? Are there other store bought greens or veggies I can give him occasionally for a variety?

Little ones don't usually eat dry hay. If your does, that is cool, but I wouldn't rely on that for food for him.

Where are you getting the plants you feed him? Store bought nursery plants are full of systemic pesticides.

Yard grazing is fantastic, but he really ought to be in an enclosure. Many people, myself included, have last turtles and tortoises by letting them free roam, even though we intend to watch them like a hawk.

Spring mix is okay, but it lacks fiber. Its a good base if you can add some chopped grass clippings, some soaked ZooMed Grassland food, or even some chopped and rehydrated bermuda grass hay.

Kale and spinach are both okay as part of a mixture within a varied diet. Not too much broccoli, and I'd skip the strawberry entirely. If you must use store bought greens, favor endive and escarole heavily. Use a wide variety, but you still need more fiber than that.

Here is how I like to feed them:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Here is another threads that might have some helpful tips for you:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[Tom]

My sulcata is about one month old. Don't know gender yet, so calling it a he. He will eat grass but tends to gravitate toward clover, alfalfa, and plantain when he's outside for sun and exercise time. Should I limit his access to these or move him and set him in front of a better option when he keeps eating the same thing? Since he is young I'm trying to expose him to as broad a variety of foods as possible so he'll eat anything when he gets bigger. It's a simple enough matter to mix up or chop his food when he's indoors but outside plants grow in clumps and when he finds something he likes, there he stays. Yesterday I got him to eat grape leaves and mulberry leaves, but I haven't had much luck with thistles, chicory, or hibiscus leaves yet. I also offer tiny pieces of cuttle bone, which are sometimes eaten while he's walking around and soak him every day and again when he comes in from outside.

You have the right idea and you are doing a fantastic job of it. Just keep introducing all the good stuff even when he ignores it. It does help to chop it all up and mix it together.

 

[caity_tay]

Little ones don't usually eat dry hay. If your does, that is cool, but I wouldn't rely on that for food for him.

Where are you getting the plants you feed him? Store bought nursery plants are full of systemic pesticides.

Yard grazing is fantastic, but he really ought to be in an enclosure. Many people, myself included, have last turtles and tortoises by letting them free roam, even though we intend to watch them like a hawk.

Spring mix is okay, but it lacks fiber. Its a good base if you can add some chopped grass clippings, some soaked ZooMed Grassland food, or even some chopped and rehydrated bermuda grass hay.

Kale and spinach are both okay as part of a mixture within a varied diet. Not too much broccoli, and I'd skip the strawberry entirely. If you must use store bought greens, favor endive and escarole heavily. Use a wide variety, but you still need more fiber than that.

Here is how I like to feed them:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Here is another threads that might have some helpful tips for you:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

When he is outside, I am watching him every second. I sit in the grass and follow him as he moves about. He is within an arms reach as he walks around the yard. He is little and doesn't go very far. I never leave him outside unsupervised.

Some of his plants I've planted myself, like his grass. The other plants are from Lowes and were washed off and replanted in organic potting soil and left for a month before we put them in his enclosure. That is what I read to do.

I don't have to use store bought greens, and I haven't been much. I've just read alot of things about giving them a few time a month as something different.

And I haven't been relying on the dried hay at all. He just had access to it and occasionally nibbles on it. It's not his only food source by any means.

 

[Tom]

Every person I know, including myself, who lets a tortoise walk around loose eventually loses them. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually you will be distracted for just a second. That is how it always happens. I'm trying to spare you the absolutely awful feeling that comes with the realization the he's gone and you can't find him. It is so easy to just make a simple enclosure.

We have a long term experienced member here who works at a commercial nursery. He said the standard now is to put pesticide granules in the planting soil. This pesticide is absorbed into the plants tissues and lasts for a year. It does not matter if you rinse the old soil away. The poison is in the plant. They intend to sell these plants a yard decorations and not to be eaten.

I don't use much store bought greens either. I think other things are better for them, and it seems like you have read that too.

I think what you are doing with the hay is good. If it is introduced at a young age, you will have a much easier time as your baby grows and grows and grows. I feed them there other foods on a bed of grass hay most of the time.