Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, lets act as though this is a poll:

Is the mazuri tort diet a good diet choice for Sulcatas?

When you reply, give your reasons of why or why not.

Thanks!
Katie Francis
Geckophiles.com

Mazuri tortoise diet is not suffice for sulcatas. Other torts can handle the high amount of protein in this commercial diet but sulcatas do not. Although mazuri is a well respected tort diet that does work for many species it is made with cheap ingredients that the indusry calls filler ingredients (ex: corn, soybean hulls etc). If you were to look into the sulcatas natural environment and diet it would become obvious that mazuri is too nutrient rich.

I'm going to have to say no as well.
There are no existing scientific studies out there where anyone has researched the nutritional needs for each & every chelonian species; there are none for any reptiles that people now keep for pets.
There are no feeding field trials for chelonians as there are for dogs cats & livestock that have been domesticated for decades and/or centuries.

Wild sulcata are not out there grazing on soybean hulls & in fact all the more reliable printed material on them at the moment suggest that legumes should not be & are not part of their diet. According to known data so far, soy depletes them of calcium.
Soybeans are legumes.
Corn is very starchy also not part of their normal diet.

Yes pellets are convenient for humans but IMO pellets for chelonians are junk food.

I mentioned the other day the story about the guy I know who feeds pellet to his & that tort has had surgery twice to remove urinary stones.

In another case it's a long story that I will shorten.

My vet surgically removed eggs from a large female that belonged to a breeder. The large tortoise was eggbound so this had to be done.
Vet incubated half the eggs, the breeder the other half. Each had only one egg hatch.
Vet kept her hatchling on natural diet from birth- breeder kept her hatchling on pellet from birth.
A year & a half later the breeder's hatchling was twice the size of the hatchling fed natural diet.
Today 2 years later the vet still has the hatchling on natural diet it looks healthy has no pyramiding however the breeder's hatchling is dead.
I drew my own conclusions from that.. I have no need to feed mine any type of commercial food so I just don't do it.
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PHRatz

Thank you for your replies.

Ratz, how old is Destiny?
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Katie F.
Peach State Geckos
Breeding Mealworms
My Email
AIM SN: PeachyGex

"A herper's life is never dull" - ME

>>Thank you for your replies.
>>
>>Ratz, how old is Destiny?

Katie I don't know how she is. I can only guess that she was somewhere between 3 & 10 years old when she was found.
Someone dumped her out in the country, horribly pyramided and she was only 9.1 lbs when she was found, 12 inches long.
This coming July will make it five years since that happened & last Aug. she weighed 65lbs.. I haven't measured her lately but when she first got here should could fit in the 10 inch flower pot bottom we used for a water dish.
Today she uses a water heater tank drip pan which I think is about 18 inches & she's about to outgrow that. Today I'd say she's between 8 & 15 years old?
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PHRatz

Mazuri puts alot of research into their diets. Sulcatta's are pretty oppurtunistic in the wild even eating dead animals if the oppurtunity presents itself. So while they may not be eating soybean hulls in nature I am sure they would do so if the oppurtunity presented itself.

I don't agree that a good pelleted diet is junk food. In terms of nutrition everything has value. It's the overeliance on this item or that item that leads to problems.

I think the urinary stones could have been an individual case or from a variety of reasons which could also include abscense of water. Also, just as in humans, some animals are simply more prone to this or that. As such those animals need to have diets tailored to ensure they will remain healthy just as a diabetic avoids sugar.

As to the hatchlings surviving: Again looking at 2 animals doesn't really show anything. Hundreds if not thousands of hatchlings are birthed and started on commercial diets and do fine. There is increasing evidence that the reasons for pyramiding are complex and may be more directly related to lack of proper hydration and humidity.
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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'

This diet is tried and true by many of the best breeders in the nation. We use it on our group ourself and have never had any problems. It is not our sole dietary item as we have alot of natural graze but during breeding season it's a good boost.

Mazuri puts alot of research into their products and we have not experienced anything but good results from all their diets.
website

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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'

If you read the previous posts the original question dealt with feeding sulcatas. Many breeders,pet stores, and reptile lovers all around the world use mazuri. Unfortunately it is one of the best commercial diets available. That doesnt mean that its good for the tortoises. It is just easy, and thats why many use it. I said no before because commercial tortoise diets have a lot of the same issues as other animals commerical diets do. They are made of cheap ingredients that do not mimic the diet in the animals natural habitiat. Anything in moderation is acceptable. Some mazuri here and there will not harm an animal. But in excess it may have detrimental effects. I work closely with a veterinary nutritionist who spends her life working with these major companies to formulate diets. And it is true that they are all crap, even she will tell you that.

>>This diet is tried and true by many of the best breeders in the nation. We use it on our group ourself and have never had any problems. It is not our sole dietary item as we have alot of natural graze but during breeding season it's a good boost.
>>
>>Mazuri puts alot of research into their products and we have not experienced anything but good results from all their diets.
>>website
>>
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>>CDieter
>>'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'