My baby sulcata tortoise is hungry

[crystal]

Hi
ok i got a hatchling sulcata on a whim about a month ago and i didnt really know too much about them. ive been doing all kinds of research and ever website says something different about what they should eat. i was feeding him real leafy lettuce (not iceburg) and then i read that it was bad for him. then i read i should feed him only alfalfa hay so i started feeding him that. then i read he should only eat commercial tortoise food so i got that. he only likes the lettuce. i take him out about every other day to walk around the yard and he eats a bunch of clover and grass and dandelion greens.
so i guess what im asking is what should i feed him to prevent pyramiding and keep him super healthy?
i love the little guy and i wanna make sure hes very well taken care of.
thank you so much!!
-- crystal

[Patrick Long]

Well, there is a lot of things that you can/should do to prevent pyramiding. Vitamins and supplements are the number 1 thing, followed by natural sunlight.

I acutally just got a very very nice grazing seed mix, from www.sulcatafood.com and it looks to have a nice variety of seed. It will be sprouting here in the next few days.

I usually stay away from all lettuces i do like:

collards
red cabbage
carrots
I even do tomatoes and bell peppers (only if I have some left over. I use it more as treats)
hibiscus
roses
geraniums
nastourshims
summer squash
even pumpkins and sweet potatoes

oh if you can find prairie hay.....they like that too. at least mine do.

You can do apples and bananas as treats as well, but use those sparingly.

If Emily reads this, What is that cactus called that you gave me??????

[mlededee]

Opuntia cactus. It is super nutritious and most torts love it. You can get it here: http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/cat...a928f6cefd1775.

There is lots of other good tortoise food, seed mixes, etc. on that site so take some time to browse around!

[Halfdawg]

Sulcata's need a low protein diet. Since he is young romaine lettuce is not bad for him. Also stay away from fruits you can give some as treats like, strawberry, water melon once in a while as a treat but the ph of the fruits is not good for his flora in his stomach if you feed it to them all the time. Orchard grass is very good, this was the main item I feed all my adults and they do very well on it (oxbow brand) and drop the alfalfa hay there is to much protein in that stuff and it pretty rough. Bermuda grass is also good along with the clover and dandelion greens. There is some commercial tortoise chow out there that a lot of people have great success with. Lots of natural sunlight is great for him also make sure you soak him in some water every other day for about 20 minutes and that he has available a shallow dish of water at all times