Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have friend who recently rescued a sulcata that had received very poor care. She's new to tortoises but is committed to doing the right thing. I offered to try to come up with a listing of appropriate food items. I found a lot of conflicting info on the web, much of which I know is wrong or not applicable to this species.

The best info I've found has been on the Tortiose Trust Website but, they don't have any good grocery list type pages.

If anyone can point me to an on-line resource that would have appropriate foods along with some type of information about how frequently they should be fed and what proportion of the diet they should make up, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!
Alice

Grocery store type greens should make up a very small percent of a sulcatas diet. Grasses and weeds should be the main part of the diet. You can buy seeds and grow them yourself and just harvest to feed. I grow mine indoors in containers and cut what I need (I don't have a sulcata, but you could grow the foods the same).

http://www.sulcata-station.org/diet.html

You can buy seed mixes here: www.turtlestuff.com

I live in upstate New York so in the winter I feed Timothy, Orchard, and Bermuda hay. I can find the hay at Petsmart in smaller amounts. I get larger supplies from Carolina Pet Supply. You can also get hay from Oxbow Hay Co. I also grow grass from seed in kitty litter boxes. I get the sulcata seed mix from Carolina Pet Supply. I find dandelion in the grocery store as well. Every other day I mix dandelion, escarole, endive or chickory with the hay. I always keep a 75%grass and 25%weeds/greens ratio. On the off days he grazes on hay in his enclosure.

Julia