Reptile & Amphibian Forums

While I know that givng a tortoise a variety of fresh veggies, grasses and fruits is good for a tortoise..what is wrong iwth the commercial foods (Monster Tortoise......Tortoise chow) etc.. For example, monster tortoise has ALL of the required veggie matter required as well as vitamins........

(Truly interested in an honest discussion on this!)
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1.1 Cats -Siamese Emma, Asian Leopard Cat Hau-Li
2.2.Horses - Percheron Girl - Colea - Thoroughbred Machine to Tower and my beloved Brilliant Display (Rainbow Bridge)
1.0 Miniature Goat - Betty
1.0 Dog - Myrtle Mae (English Bulldog)
1.0 African Grey - Molly
?.? Cherry Head Red Foot Tortoise - Chumley

I've been using sulcata gold to supplement my hermanns diet. I also grow various weeds and a few other plants for him, both in his enclosure for him to graze on and in pots around the house (at least when the cats don't get to them). He also gets dandelion greens from the supermarket and the occasional collared greens or mustard greens or some other greens. I have also tried giving him zoomeds new food, but he shows a preference for the sulcata gold, so I have stopped using the zoomed one. He only gets the sulcata gold as a small part of his diet, its mostly for when I run out of greens or the weeds aren't growing well. Its nice to have something on hand.

Just make it part of a varied diet. I feed my russians stuff from my yard when it's available (wild violet leaves, dandelions, clover, plantain, etc.), various greens from the grocery store (endive, collards, turnip greens, kale, etc.) and a few veggies (carrots, squash) and maybe some apple.

Maybe once every week or two I give them some Pretty Pets tortoise food. In the early spring or late autumn when there are fewer weeds I might give them a few pellets every week.

I don't consider the canned tortoise foods as a complete diet. I count them as only one possible item in the diet and consider the weeds and greens as a higher priority.

PS I also add calcium/D3 supplements to the weeds & greens when the animals are indoors, and plain calcium if they are outdoors. Also if the animals are outdoors all of the time, I rarely give them pellets.

Pretty Pets ? It soaks up water and expands,and turns sour very quickly it not eaten right away.I wounder if it does this in the tortoises gut? It very high in protein,or it use to be years ago when it first came out.I would'nt eat it...maybe with milk. Vic

>>Pretty Pets ? It soaks up water and expands,and turns sour very quickly it not eaten right away.I wounder if it does this in the tortoises gut? It very high in protein,or it use to be years ago when it first came out.I would'nt eat it...maybe with milk. Vic
>>

I've used the product on and off for about 5 years, and this is the analysis I've always seen:

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min) 8%, Crude Fat/Oil (min) 3 %, Crude Fiber (max) 13 %, Moisture (max) 10 %, Ash (max) 11 %, Vitamin A (min) 19,000 IU/kg, Vitamin D3 (min) 800 IU/kg, Vitamin E (min) 200 IU/kg, Copper (min) 10 mg/kg.

That's much lower in protein than Mazuri or RepCal. And since I only give my torts as much as they will eat in 20 minutes, it doesn't have time to go sour. When I've found wet but uneaten pellets I forgot to put in the enclosure, they smell just fine many hours later.

Darn!

My tortoise loves Monster Diet with a fruit day and veggie day thrown in. I have read up on this and it has ALL the veggie matter and vitamins. Has anyone heard anythign bad about this?
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1.1 Cats -Siamese Emma, Asian Leopard Cat Hau-Li
2.2.Horses - Percheron Girl - Colea - Thoroughbred Machine to Tower and my beloved Brilliant Display (Rainbow Bridge)
1.0 Miniature Goat - Betty
1.0 Dog - Myrtle Mae (English Bulldog)
1.0 African Grey - Molly
?.? Cherry Head Red Foot Tortoise - Chumley

I don't know that it's a bad thing, but my torts seem to prefer anything over the Monster Diet. I was given a few of those black tubes it comes in as a free sample a while back and they ignored it completely. I haven't really tried it again lately, and they'd probably eat it if they were hungry enough, but when I mixed it in with other foods, they were pretty specific about picking everything else but the Monster Diet.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

It just goes to show you... different people/species are going to have different results. I was very surprised to see my guys jump all over it.

I believe it was tested and developed in the LV area at a DT rehab/head start center for a good number of years.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

My guy, (chumley) likes a variety...he will eat Monster Diet and rep-cal tortoise food. I was making myself crazy getting all the vegetables listed (he hated everything)...he would only eat KIWI (i wasted $9.00 on a papaya).....and then I tried these...........he loves them. He seems healthy...and is putting on weight....soo........i gues they are all individuals.........

Tyler..are you the same chameleon tyler?????
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1.1 Cats -Siamese Emma, Asian Leopard Cat Hau-Li
2.2.Horses - Percheron Girl - Colea - Thoroughbred Machine to Tower and my beloved Brilliant Display (Rainbow Bridge)
1.0 Miniature Goat - Betty
1.0 Dog - Myrtle Mae (English Bulldog)
1.0 African Grey - Molly
?.? Cherry Head Red Foot Tortoise - Chumley

Just a word of caution, they can get addicted to the processed stuff and not eat any of the natural goodies. I would mix the pellets with the veggies and fruits so he can't pick out anything specific.

What's wrong with that. So far I haven't found anything wrong with the Mazuri diet...

The Monster Diet looks just as good.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Yep, I'm the same "chameleon Tyler" LOL... I have had a hard time keeping chameleons here in Vegas with the hot weather (this is my 7th year), and work has kept me so busy I can't keep up with the work involved with the chameleons. I've always had torts in the background, but got my new house with some more yard space, settling down, getting married in March etc., just needed some changes in life LOL... Your username looked familiar, I was gonna ask if I knew you somehow.

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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

I was the one that gave the Blue Cham to LeLe......they were too hard to keep up with and I did not want them to die from my neglect...but this tortoise....I am hooked.....
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1.1 Cats -Siamese Emma, Asian Leopard Cat Hau-Li
2.2.Horses - Percheron Girl - Colea - Thoroughbred Machine to Tower and my beloved Brilliant Display (Rainbow Bridge)
1.0 Miniature Goat - Betty
1.0 Dog - Myrtle Mae (English Bulldog)
1.0 African Grey - Molly
?.? Cherry Head Red Foot Tortoise - Chumley

Ok, I remember... I hear ya on the work involved with the chams. I've been so busy lately with other things I felt like I was neglecting them pretty bad (still putting in 2-3 hours a day). With 200 chameleons, 2 or 3 hours a day IS neglect! I'm down to a handfull now though, so the workload is alot easier.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

I did quite a bit of research and got quite a bit of help from both here, and the tortoise trust regarding diet and supplements.

I use Zoomeds Forest Tortoise Diet and their Grassland Tortoise Diet as far a commercial food goes. I also use collard, mustard, dandelion, and turnip greens both fresh and sundried. I grow plenty of grasses and a variety of weeds and feed both green and dried. Naturally dried grasses and weeds have a much lower protein content than fresh green versions of the same plant.

I also use sweet potato, endive, prickly pears, and oputia cactus. I have found that the Glendale spineless species is the easiest to work with... Obviously... And the fruit is very tasty!! Cactus margaritas and tortoise gazing is a great way to spend a warm afternoon

I rotate many of the items, and also switch between completely diced up... mashed up meals to I hope that little beak is ready to work for it's dinner tonight.

No matter what is on the menu I always include semi dry Burmuda grass, and collard greens. I have stopped using multi-vitamin supplements for my torts and chucks, but still offer it once a week or so to the iguanas. I use calcium with D3 for the non-shelled group, and Tums for the tortoise... Vic told me to try this, and seemed to swear by it...

Of course, I am really a beginner with tortoises, but have kept Rock Iguanas, and Chuckwallas for over 20 years. Through experimentation, trial and error, and all the input from other herpers... I can honestly say that my scaled family has never been happier or looked healthier.

Just my 2 cents on diet,
-Kory

you'll have to find it out yourself once the basic are covered.

The key is give them choices, and that goes for everything...not just food