Where you live can have a lot to do with whether or not you can find prickly pear cactus, especially the spineless variety. Plus is that most nurseries have them in stock, or can order them at the very least.

I don't know. Personally, I don't offer my tortoises any commercial food, with the exception of the red footed tortoises I've owned, who I fed vitamin fortified, soaked and softened cat food or commercial tortoise food. These served only as supplements, however. My sulcatas are raised on a diet of leafy greens and mixed grasses, the latter composing the majority of the diet. When my animals were young, they subsisted primarily on mixed weeds (i.e. dandelion, clover, sow thistle, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, hibiscus leaves, althea flowers (such are excellent in the summer in South Texas), hibiscus flowers, winter grass, etc.), and this diet was supplemented with leafy greens (i.e. romaine lettuce, mustard greens, collard greens, kale,etc.) and other vegetables (zuchini, calbaza, pumpkin, yellow squash, cucumber, and an occasional piece of fruit). Keep in mind one does not feed all of these items at every feeding. If you wish to grow some of these items yourself, their frequency will vary seasonally, which will also assist your animal in adapting to the local climate, so long as it is not so unlike it's native one.

T.G.

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