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sulcata help, please.

O

oiamsobuff

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Hello. I've had the little guy for 6 days, but I've been feeding him romaine lettuce, with tortoise dust, or jurrasi-cal supplement. After registering, I've read that they need grasses, and the protein in supplements can be bad for them, so I ordered Turtle Cafe's "Healthy Tortoise Graze Grassland" mix. I'm worried. What should I feed him until the grasses come?
 
about the protein levels

yeah this and that...many torts and including spurs are fed beyond the advised protein levels of recommendations and have no apparent problems. Some do get the pyramid sculpture of shell but with us breeding and keeping and seeing literately thousands of spurs, none have been exactly on death role or grossly looking to a point on feeding any plant or vegetable matter. Maybe a solid diet of something would be harmful but again to what detrimental affect > shell I guess ? We fed some grasses in season, store bought alfalfa and shoots out of season and always squash of several types. No didn't feed to much of the leafy green stuff. Very occasionally a pre-made manufactured food for torts. I think that some info on feeding some reptiles are of opinions that may or may not be based on knowledge or scientific evidence. Kind of like feeding a python nothing but chicken will give it problems when i know of several zoos that feed nothing else than chicken. Or feeding a fossorial snake nothing but rodents instead of a mixed diet of lizards will shorten its life or complications of females having viable eggs. I know of breeders of the southeast that lets their sulcatas free roam feed on anything growing in their very large pens. So this is my opinion and method of tried and true and with breeders now in their 20ties raised from hatchlings...........
 
I have had two sulcatas for four years. I have done a lot of research on diet and sometimes find the information conflicting, but www.sulcata-station.org is helpful. My tortoise eat mostly grasses, but they love mustard and turnip greens which are readily available from the grocery store. Lettuce doesn't really give them a lot of nutrients, just mostly water. They also love fruit, but you are not supposed to feed them fruit!
 
are you in a warm dry climate? if so take them outside and let them graze on pestiside free weeds. If this isn't available you can get them some dry grass or pet grass from your neighborhood pet store. Another thing sulcattas love is hibiscus leaves and flowers (make sure they haven't been sprayed with anything) hatchlings can dehydrate quickly so soak them a little each day. I ordered some seed mixture and got a terracotta flower pot saucer then I put a wet paper towel in it and spread out the seed,cover with plastic wrap and pop a feww small holes in it. Within 3-4 days you'll have a paddock of grass for your little guy.
 
I bought grass seed from turtle cafe and used 7 flower planters on my windowsill to grow grass for him. He's had runny stool once, but other than that, he's fine. He gets a bath every day and a half hour jaunt in the sunshine.
Thanks everyone for replying.
 
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