Tortoise Smoothie

[Terry Allan Hall]

A gross but tasty tortoise treat and a good use for REALLY tough cactus pads when feeding smaller tortoises:

Cut the cactus into 1" pieces, put in food processor (I love my Ninja!)

Add 2 large Marion Red Stick tortoise kibble pieces (or 6 small)...or about 8 Mazuri, if that's what you have...per adult European tortoise/similar sized tortoise. (adjust quantities for size of/number of torts, of course).

Add about 1/4 cup of chopped dried vegetables (yesterday it was a mixture of dried weeds, dried Collard greens and dried Turnip greens).

Turn food processor on for about a minute until it's a disgusting looking glop, w/ the consistency of a thick milkshake/smoothie...even the finickiest tortoise has trouble resisting this stuff!

BTW, it's very easy to add vitamins, and it freezes well...I'm using ice trays.

 

[wellington]

Yum, yum. The more disgusting, the more they probably like it Thanks for sharing. BTW, do you dry your weeds, etc? Do they like eating dried as well as not dried? Also, how do you dry them?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Yum, yum. The more disgusting, the more they probably like it Thanks for sharing. BTW, do you dry your weeds, etc? Do they like eating dried as well as not dried? Also, how do you dry them?

Yes, I hang budles of weeds and greens out in the smaller of our two barns until they'll crumble.

I never offer them the dried weeds/greens alone, always mixed w/ soaked Marion Red Stick, and, now, as part of a "tortoise smoothie".

 

[CourtneyAndCarl]

MMMM, tortoise smoothies sound... tasty.

 

[GBtortoises]

What is the consistency of it when it's thawed out and fed?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

What is the consistency of it when it's thawed out and fed?

About that of pudding...depends on how much dried weeds/greens are added, so you can adjust how "firm" it'll be.

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MMMM, tortoise smoothies sound... tasty.

They seem to like it...a friend recently rescued a Steppe tortoise that was in very poor health and refused to eat, but this nasty looking goop got him eating again, and he's looking MUCH better, now.