Mazuri pellets?

Hey I just got a baby tortoise and I work at a reptile place with many sulcatas, which is what I have. We feed everything Mazuri pellets. I have read up on tortioses and I read in a couple different places NOT to use Mazuri because it has too much protien. Is this true? I know that MANY zoos use the Mazuri diet for all of thier tortoises and they have some of the oldest in the world, so it cant be all bad can it? And if it did have too much protien then why would they continue to produce it? It would be cheaper for them to just leave out that protien if it wasnt benefitial for the tortoises.... Any thoughts on the subject would be great :)

I have leopard tortoises and I feed them the mazuri once a week and greens the rest, mostly grasses.

Mazuri was originally designed for Galopagos tortoises if I am not mistaken. I believe they have a higher protien requirement probably because of their huge size. I have read that most tortoises dont need much protien so I give it to them sparingly. I have also read too much protien can be hard on their kidney's. My thought is better safe than sorry. I hear they grow faster on straight Mazuri but I am in no hurry to raise my torts and possibly damage their kidney's in the process.

I also feed some mazuri to mine... But not as a daily routine. I stick with grasses and weeds, and save the mazuri for a treat\suppliment. It is also handy in the winter when my grass and weeds are not as available...

I too use Mazuri, but not as a main staple.

Flowers and grasses make up most of the diet. We have a whole garden of edible flowers and weeds for our Torts.

Our 13 year old Sulcata is the hardest to keep up with. He will beg you for an apple a day if you let him.

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Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle

I have leopard tortoises and I feed them the mazuri once a week and greens the rest, mostly grasses.

Mazuri was originally designed for Galopagos tortoises if I am not mistaken. I believe they have a higher protien requirement probably because of their huge size. I have read that most tortoises dont need much protien so I give it to them sparingly. I have also read too much protien can be hard on their kidney's. My thought is better safe than sorry. I hear they grow faster on straight Mazuri but I am in no hurry to raise my torts and possibly damage their kidney's in the process.

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Actually Raul, it was designed for Aldabras. However, they have a very similar diet to the Galops. While I am no expert on torts, as I have only had mine for about 6 weeks, I did a fair amount of research as well. With that said, I am currently keeping 2 Aldabras, and feed them a diet of 25% Mazuri, 25% fruit and 50% vegetables (mostly dark greens, mine love Kale).

I know this is a weird question but where can I buy grasses to feed to my baby tort? I live in an apartment complex so i dont really want to go out and pick anything because I have no clue what they could have sprayed.... Would a feed store have different grasses? Or should I just go to the grocery store and get some organic veggies instead of grass? I would like to keep a well rounded diet thats why I am asking.

I have a Greek tort and get him organic spring mix/baby lettuce lettuce mixes in the grocery store. I also get him green and red lettuce, frisee, curly endive and dandelion leaves. He gets yellow squash, kale, turnip greens and mustard greens too but not as often, all from the grocery store.
I wash them, salad spinner them and put them in zip-loc baggies w/a paper towel and they last for at least a week, usually longer.
No clue what is sprayed on the lawn here so I never give him anything from outside but luckily have friends who grow flowers so during the summer have access to those for him as well.
I have seen grass/hay for sale in my little local pet shop but Turtle doesn't really need them, he does well on just greens. I know Sulcatas should have more grasses though...

I have grown my own grass before from seed. I made a little grass tray and would put my leopards in there to graze when they were little.

Here is a link to get a grass seed mix designed for torts.
http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/cat...roducts_id=179