Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It seems to have a more diverse set of ingredients than Mazuri. Any thoughts?

Ingredients
Ground Corn, Ground Oats, Ground Wheat, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Wheat Middlings, Fish Meal, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Dicalcium Phosphate, Corn Oil, Dehydrated Alfalfa Leaves, Wheat Germ Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Cane Molasses, L-Lysine, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Dehydrated Raspberries, Dehydrated Strawberries, Vitamin A Supplement, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, DL-Methionine, Spirulina, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Propionic Acid (a preservative), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Carbonate, Riboflavin Supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Ethoxyquin (a preservative), Manganous Oxide, Niacin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of vitamin K activity), Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Oxide, Cholecalciferol (source of vitamin D3), Beta Carotene, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Cobalt Carbonate, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Artificial Color, Natural Flavor.

My guys wouldn't eat it! They wouldn't eat mazuri either. Oh well!

Christina
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0.0.1 Hatchling Indian Star Tortoise (Sitara)
1.1 Russian Tortoise (Willy & Mikey)
0.1 Ornate Box Turtle (Lily)
1.0 Red Eared Slider (Chester)
0.0.2 White's Tree Frog (Kermit & Phil)
0.0.1 Red eyed Tree Frog (Justin)
0.0.1 Big Eyed Tree Frog
0.0.2 Bubbling Frog
0.0.2 Tiger Leg Tree Frogs (Akari & Shiro)
0.0.3 Amazonian Milky Tree Frogs
0.0.1 Dwarf Megophrys
0.0.2 Rainbow Burrowing Frog/Ornate Hopper
0.0.1 Asian Blue Webbed Gliding Tree Frogs
0.0.1 Albino Pacman Frog
0.0.1 Budgett's Frog
0.0.2 Starry Night Reed Frogs
0.1 Praire Dog (Timmy)
0.2 Chinchillas (Layla & Snickers)
0.3 mice
0.1 dog (Holly)
2.0 Cats (Champ & Bear)

Oh and a husband

Find any ingredient on that list your tort is likely to come across in the wild?

Didn't think so.

Skip it as food.

I guess it can be argued that unless you're keeping species native to the US or where ever and keep them in their native range... you're probably not feeding anything that they would encounter in the wild.

I still don't understand... Nutrients is nutrients. They are composed of molecules that have evolved to fullfil a specific function. Does it really matter where they come from as long as they are made available (in whatever form) to the organism that requires it?
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Looks like the same old corn and grain mix with a side order of vitamins and minerals.

Except it has fish meal. My understanding is that you don't want to add animal protein to the diet of herbivorous tortoises. It would increase the protein content of the food and add amino acids that would improve the quality of the plant proteins.

This might be OK for some rainforest species like hingebacks, but might not be a good thing for tortoises from arid habitats.

The salad topping stuff you posted earlier looked like a better product. Or just chop up some timothy hay (or yard grass) and mix it into the greens.

The lawnmower does a good job of chopping. The mix I use has about 3-4 species of grasses in addition to Dandelion greens, clover and whatever else pops up. (the neighbors love my lawn)
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Dandelion greens, clover and whatever else pops up. (the neighbors love my lawn)

I have one of those lawns, too. Funny thing is, it looks a lot greener than the lawns of people who hire professionals to maintain them in weed-free sterility.

My russians are outdoors spring to fall, and from their fecal output I can tell they consume a lot of grass along with the weeds and greens, so I don't need to do any chopping. And in the winter, when I could use some clippings to supplement the food for my leopards, the lawn isn't being mowed. So I use timothy hay.