What is best to Mass feed sulcata??

alan88k

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Shalom fellow torts enthusiast,

Regarding this topic, I would like to know what is the best plant to mass feed baby sulcata tortoise. My baby is about 3" now n yet, Im not sure whether I have given him the best diet so far. I give him different plants as food everyday. So far I have given him aloe Vera, opuntia cacti, pumpkin's leaves n flowers, cabbage, Chinese kale, carrot... But Im not sure which one can be fed much frequently than the others. It's obviously that my baby is not munching as much while he grazes. So Im here asking for a guidance about the diet of baby sulcata. What should be fed more, and less?


Forgot to say..
just wondering if anyone can share your weekly routine in feeding sully tort? Lets share it here as a reference for everyone. (Especially for newbie like me :D)

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Zamric

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variety is the key. For the most part, they eat grass... and lots of it when they are large (Like WalkingRock). Leafy greens when they are young is good and you might want to substitute softened Mazurri (Tortoise Kibble) once a week. Also once a week or so you should sprinkle a little powdered calcium on what ever you feed.
 

Yvonne G

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I have quite a few babies to feed, so I buy Santa Barbara Mix (a packaged lettuce that contains escarole, endive and raddiccio), zucchini and carrots. I chop that up into very, very small pieces, grating the zucchini on the large grater side and the carrots on the small side. Then I pick mulberry leaves, grape leaves, opuntia, mallow, fillaree, clover, hollyhock leaves, and any other edible weeds that I can find. I chop this all up into very, very small pieces. I sprinkle some calcium powder into the mix every other day. I mix it all together in a large bowl. This keeps in the fridge for a couple days if tightly covered.
 

Dizisdalife

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Sulcata are grass eaters. Hatchling and babies prefer softer leafy greens. His diet should change and broaden steadily for the next two or three years and variety is always important. There is not any one food that I can suggest feeding a hatchling "in mass". It would be counter productive and limit his pallet as he gets older. Endive and escarole were my favorite staples when my sulcata was a baby. Added to that was some Spring Mix (young lettuces), turnip greens, raddichio, dandelion, plantain, collard greens, and mustard greens are some that I remember feeding him. His little beak was not strong enough for cactus and such until he was at least 4 or 5 inches long. I threw away a lot of produce because he was so small that he couldn't eat the produce fast enough. That all changed after he was a year old. What I have observed is that a food they won't eat today might become their favorite food next week and then they may stop eating it again. Just keep offering a variety and changing it up. If the environmental conditions are right, the temps, humidity, etc., and the baby feels secure and safe he will not starve himself.
 

Saleama

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Yvonne, what is the benefit of chopping it all up very fine? I feed a mix of fresh cut hay and spring mix but I only chop up the hay because the long poops that result from them eating long pieces of grass scare me. I was told to let them process the larger pieces of the other stuff. Also, how often do you give zucchini and carrot?


Oh! OOOpps! Welcome Alan!
 

Yvonne G

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Babies don't have the bite power of bigger tortoises, so to make it easier for them to get enough to eat, I chop it so they don't have to bite it. As they grow, I make the pieces bigger. When they get to be a couple years old, I'm not chopping it at all.

A long time ago I noticed that babies just pull the food into their mouths with their tongue, not actually biting pieces off. They would sometimes have a long string of food sticking out their mouth that they couldn't swallow. And then that long string would be coming out the other end, sticking out for a couple days until it came all the way out.

By chopping the food, they get enough to eat.

Once they're big enough to actually bite off pieces. I clip the food in a clip holder like what you close up bags of chips with. This give a sturdiness to the food and makes it easier for them to tear off pieces.
 

Saleama

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Yvonne G said:
Babies don't have the bite power of bigger tortoises, so to make it easier for them to get enough to eat, I chop it so they don't have to bite it. As they grow, I make the pieces bigger. When they get to be a couple years old, I'm not chopping it at all.

A long time ago I noticed that babies just pull the food into their mouths with their tongue, not actually biting pieces off. They would sometimes have a long string of food sticking out their mouth that they couldn't swallow. And then that long string would be coming out the other end, sticking out for a couple days until it came all the way out.

By chopping the food, they get enough to eat.

Once they're big enough to actually bite off pieces. I clip the food in a clip holder like what you close up bags of chips with. This give a sturdiness to the food and makes it easier for them to tear off pieces.

Got it! Thanks. I also heard that if you chop up the food they will grow faster. Not sure why that would be unless, like you said, they are eating more. I am going to install a large terra cotta plate to keep the food off the substrate and start chopping! Thanks again!
 

alan88k

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For now yes. I do give my baby variety of meal everyday. I do as well give him a little bit of supplement twice a week..which consisting crude protein of 11%..while calcium only 0.9%...also some other nutrients including phosphorus n vit D3..I blended well with the meal. Am i doing right?
a weird thing I observe earlier today. My baby was biting rock!! I was shocked n I quickly remove the rock. I wonder if he is giving a sense to me that he needs some calcium already. I haven't given him any calcium supplement so far.
Is there anyone has same experience or seen similar situation like me before?
Please tell me what to do with my baby anyone? ImageUploadedByTortForum1384601293.954087.jpg
 
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