zoomed natural grassland tortoise food

Status
Not open for further replies.

squishycld

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
5
so i've been feeding my tortoise lettuce since she's been with me for like the last 2 years. for a while she did eat weeds and grass but after a while she became too good for that i guess anyways she used to eat 1 head of lettuce a week now its like 1 head of lettuce every other day, she's not like a regular live in a box sulcata, she walks around the house and sleeps under my desk in a box with a heat pad. she's also potty trained.... she pees and poops in the bathroom on news paper next to the toilet.... also she doesn't eat her poop she runs from it. anyways to save money i bought this bulk package of zoomed natural grassland tortoise food. she hates this stuff like people who've bought this don't do one important thing.... they don't try and break it themselves... its like stone. so you have to soak it.... now you have a pile of mush that smells like dried lawn clippings. anyways my tortoise seems pretty smart i mix it in with her lettuce and she tries to avoid it as much as possible but i still manage to get to eat some. anyways does anyone have any advice on how to get her to eat more of it
 

Neal

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
4,967
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
If she's not interested in it then you might want to try something else. There have been a lot of posts about this product and it seems more often then not, tortoises do not like this.

I would suggest mazuri if you're looking to add some type of commercial food to your tortoises diet. There are a few people who sell this on the forum.
 

jaizei

Unknown Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
9,056
Location (City and/or State)
Earth
You can try mixing it with pureed cactus or pumpkin.
 

squishycld

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
5
so i just super cut up the lettuce and mixed it in with the zoomed stuff, she didn't eat it all but she ate most of it. i was looking up the mazuri stuff and like i see that they use corn, i don't feed corn to my pets. anyways i was wondering if there's anything i could do to make it more appealing to my tortoise. like maybe i can use like orange juice or something when i soak the pellets, i think the pellets smell bad and that's why she doesn't like them. i mean if you really think about it i just paid 30 bucks for repackaged lawn clippings, that turn back into ground up lawn clippings with water. anyways i've never given my tortoise anything to drink so what do you think i could spray on the the pellets to make them more appealing to my sulcata
 

mainey34

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
3,770
Location (City and/or State)
Peoria, Arizona
I mix with with mazuri, grass clippings, and anything else on hand my sully loves it..
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Tortoises are creatures of habit. Often new food items take some time for them to get used to and start to recognize as food. I would start by just soaking a single pellet or two and thoroughly mixing that in with the greens of the day. Gradually, over the next few weeks, you can up the ratio. Few torts will just eat the stuff plain, but it is a great way to make grocery store greens better for them.

As your sulcata gets bigger you are probably going to want to find easier and cheaper ways to feed her. Grass hay, cactus, hibiscus, grape leaves, mulberry leaves and growing your own food from horse pasture seed mixes are all good ways to go. You tortoise will take time to get used to all these food too.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I hope when you say "lettuce" you really mean "greens," and not ice burg lettuce. Ice burg lettuce has almost no nutrients. There are many different kinds of greens you can buy to feed the tortoise.

(And just so you know...most of us don't keep our tortoises in a box. They live outside in nicely planted habitats, trying to mimic the tortoise's natural land)
 

remitort071312

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2012
Messages
213
Location (City and/or State)
Ohio
Hey can they eat the tops of carrots? The green part of it?
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I forgot to mention that tortoises DO take advantage of "found" water to take drinks. I'll bet your tortoise would surprise you if you offered it a saucer of water. In the wild, they hold onto their water, and only pee when they have found a water source and get a new drink. So this held water is re-used in the body until all that's left is what is called urates. When a tortoise becomes dehydrated, these urates can become hard and stone-like, sometimes causing an impaction and the tortoise dies.

remitort071312 said:
Hey can they eat the tops of carrots? The green part of it?

carrot tops, parsley, etc. contain a lot of oxilates and should be fed sparingly.
 

shellysmom

Active Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 9, 2011
Messages
685
Maybe someone already mentioned it and I missed it, but a lot of sulcatas like--and even need--to be soaked in slightly warm water to get hydrated if they don't drink water out of a dish. How often you do it would depend on the age and/or size of the animal. Hopefully someone can chime in with details and reiterate how important proper hydration is for tortoises--even sulcatas. You probably already know this, but I'm mentioning just in case: Does your tortoise ever go outside? If not, it needs some source of UVA/UVB light, and calcium+vitamin D supplement for proper growth and bone development...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top