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Re: my concoction


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Posted by Terry on December 10, 2000 at 12:16:17:

In Reply to: my concoction posted by gary on December 09, 2000 at 22:48:49:

Hi Gary,
I think the diet needs some improvement.
Fruits shouldn't be fed to sulcatas so I would get rid of the apple, the zucchini also I'm afraid and even the carrots ( on a daily basis).
Instead feed a mixture of leafy greens, no need to put it in the food procesor, just chop it up a bit.
Endive, Romaine, Dandilions, clover, chicory, escarole, watercress, collards ( collards should only be fed in small amounts).
To the greens add freshly snipped grass from your yard ( you can snip a bit with scissors and add it)and/or ground up Timothy hay.
The most important ingredient in a sulcatas diet is fiber, the grass and hay added to the greens will help provide it.

When it can go out and graze you can cut back on the greens.
You can also feed edible weeds ( clovers, dandelions) and flowers and leaves, hibiscus flowers and leaves, Mulberry leaves.

Fruits shouldn't be part of a sulcatas diet, I have never given my sulcatas fruit.
Instead I offer a bit of yam or opuntia cactus every now and then.
You can add a ( little) grated carrot/yam or squash to the geens etc, but I wouldn't do that at every feed.
Maybe once or twice a week in small amounts.

Sulcatas are GRAZING herbivores, in the wild their diet consists of tough grasses and other edible plants/flowers/weeds.
Feeding fruits to this species can lead to digestive problems, runny stools and even colic.
The leafy greens mentioned are okay for a sulcata that is being kept indoors for the winter,with grass snippings or ground up hay added in for fiber. But an outdoor grazing diet is the best diet a captive sulcata could be on.

I'm very lucky that I can house my sulcatas outdoors year round as I live in a warm climate.

Here's what they are fed.
They roam the yard and spend a good part of the day grazing on a variety of grasses, clovers and other edible weeds. Everyday they are given all the hibiscus flowers off several bushes grown out of their reach ( or they'd destroy the whole plant). They love hibiscus flowers, it's a healthy food for them, favorite color hibiscus flower is red.
I also give them Mulberry leaves from a tree in the yard and every 10 days they get prickly pear cactus ( opuntia cactus) I scrub the tiny spikes off and slice it up for them.

Endive and romaine lettuce is also fed to them every few days, and sometimes other greens such as watercress, collards, escarole.

That's it,
I do give them a little thinly sliced yam as a treat, but not very often.

For an indoor sulcata the leafy greens are fine as long as you add in the grasses and hay for fiber. And try to add other healthy, natural foods , edible flowers, leaves etc.

Turtle Cafe has a list of edible plants and you can also order mixes that can be grown indoors.

http://www.turtlecafe.net/habitats.htm

You'll find a sulcata care sheet here:

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/care/csulcata.html


For lots of sulcata info including Marissa's great sulcata care sheet visit Sulcata Station, linked below.
Hope this helps.
Terry.

: I bought a little food processor. Threw in some romain lettuce, zucchini, apple and carrot and then made it into a fine edible grade. Then I sprinkled it with some reptical.
: What do you think



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