Winter is a challenge. I live in Spokane Valley WA. Literally nothing grows November through at least February. I extend grow times as much as possible with greenhouses, but am still left with an expensive few months. I have an adult Sulcata, 65 pounds, 5 adult leopards, 8 to 25 pounds, a juvenile leopard, 6 babies, and 3.7.7 Russians, who are on their way asleep, so they don't count.
I have figured out a few things over the years, and wanted to share. Very open to suggestions that would improve the diet as well. Not grow inside. Can't grow enough to even matter, huge waste of space.
I buy spring mix weekly at Costco, and endive, escarole and something else that varies from grocery. Each day I chop a bucket of spring mix, a bucket of the other mixed greens up, and add a hand full of soaked grassland tortoise food, and a hand full of soaked Timothy hay pellet sprinkled with herbal hay. I feed this to the babies and Russians when feeding them.
I use a paper shredder, modified to unsafe standards to chop orchard grass hay. I fill a Costco spring mix bucket with hay and soak it in water. The adults and juveniles get the mix with the added hay. The Sulcata only gets a very large handful of this, and he gets additional orchard grass hay to eat all he wants. I ensure everyone has enough food that there is a bit left over. Usually hay scattered about.
I supplement calcium with D3 once a week and MinerAl twice a week. Cuttle bones always available.
Once a week I feed mazuri with cactus, pumpkin or something else unusual mixed in.
The modified paper shredder has been a hand saver and a game changer. I can chop a lot more hay a lot smaller.
I have figured out a few things over the years, and wanted to share. Very open to suggestions that would improve the diet as well. Not grow inside. Can't grow enough to even matter, huge waste of space.
I buy spring mix weekly at Costco, and endive, escarole and something else that varies from grocery. Each day I chop a bucket of spring mix, a bucket of the other mixed greens up, and add a hand full of soaked grassland tortoise food, and a hand full of soaked Timothy hay pellet sprinkled with herbal hay. I feed this to the babies and Russians when feeding them.
I use a paper shredder, modified to unsafe standards to chop orchard grass hay. I fill a Costco spring mix bucket with hay and soak it in water. The adults and juveniles get the mix with the added hay. The Sulcata only gets a very large handful of this, and he gets additional orchard grass hay to eat all he wants. I ensure everyone has enough food that there is a bit left over. Usually hay scattered about.
I supplement calcium with D3 once a week and MinerAl twice a week. Cuttle bones always available.
Once a week I feed mazuri with cactus, pumpkin or something else unusual mixed in.
The modified paper shredder has been a hand saver and a game changer. I can chop a lot more hay a lot smaller.