Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it ok to feed Mazuri tortoise chow to Gophers? Does anyone have any experience feeding gophers in captivity? Let me know what diet you had them on. Thanks.

First off, Gopher tortoises are federally protected and cannot be kept as pets.
That being said gopher are grazers, like sulcatas. We give the ones we have at the zoo a mix of hays and grasses with a small amount of vegetables and yes we do give them some Mazuri. It is by no means a staple. I would say a good 80-90% of thier diet are grasses.

As far as protection is concerned, each state has different levels of protection. In Florida, they are listed as a "Species of Special Concern" at the moment. They are working to elevate them to "Threatened," but it has not happened yet. Hopefully, this will happen sooner rather than later. Florida requires a permit to keep them. Permits are not that hard to get IF you meet their requirements. Go to www.floridaconservation.org/ for more information.

As far as diet goes, at school I feed them a variety of things including mostly collard greens, followed by turnip greens, romaine, yellow squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, blackberries, strawberries, hibiscus, and occasionally mushrooms. I maintain 1.5 at school, and the 4 sexually mature females reproduced last year.

I will post a photo of their brand new enclosure as soon as I figure out how to post photos here.

Hope this helps,

Mike
Sandalwood Gopher Tortoise Reserve

Here is the photo of the SGTR. The enclosure was just finished Thursday. I have alot more work to do to make it ready for students, but it is getting there.

Mike

As far as protection is concerned, each state has different levels of protection. In Florida, they are listed as a "Species of Special Concern" at the moment. They are working to elevate them to "Threatened," but it has not happened yet. Hopefully, this will happen sooner rather than later. Florida requires a permit to keep them. Permits are not that hard to get IF you meet their requirements. Go to www.floridaconservation.org/ for more information.

As far as diet goes, at school I feed them a variety of things including mostly collard greens, followed by turnip greens, romaine, yellow squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, blackberries, strawberries, hibiscus, and occasionally mushrooms. I maintain 1.5 at school, and the 4 sexually mature females reproduced last year.

I will post a photo of their brand new enclosure as soon as I figure out how to post photos here.

Hope this helps,

Mike
Sandalwood Gopher Tortoise Reserve