In praise of pre alpin

[Ozric Jonathan]

We've had posts about Pre Alpin food before but I don't think we've had one for ages and I know there are new people joining the forum all the time who might not know about this food. And some people are coming back after a break and might have missed other posts.

Over the past couple of months I've been really keeping at it and now all my tortoises will eat at least some Pre Alpin. There are different forms of this food but they all seem quite similar except for the Baby version which is ground up a lot more and very much more expensive as well.

I've become convinced that Pre Alpin is a really natural food and more natural even than fresh weeds and plants from my garden. I wouldn't stop feeding stuff from the garden though, because I have a lot of fun growing it and the tortoises love it.

But Pre Alpin is more like the food the tortoises would get in the wild as it is really high fibre and does not have a high water content. Where I live it's usually quite wet and the ground is quite fertile leading to lush growth and leaves with high water content. This food goes through the gut quite quickly. But the hermann is designed to digest food really slowly, breaking down coarse and fibrous material very gradually. This is what happens with Pre Alpin.

Although I'm adding water to the dried Pre Alpin it's still got a much lower water content than fresh weeds.

This stuff is very low protein so there isn't a problem of feeding too much of it. It's bulky.

In the past I've fed some Pre Alpin but I always had at least a couple of awkward customers who didn't seem to like it. But just by being persistent I've got them all eating it now, several days per week and on the other days I'm feeding garden weeds.

Feeding is one of those questions where keepers often have strong views and I'm not saying there is something terrible about artificial foods. But now that I've got mine to eat Pre Alpin, I don't think I would use anything apart from that and garden stuff. Unless I was worried about a tortoise being underweight or maybe recovering from some kind of health problem. For me anyway, that's where the artificial foods such as Mazuri etc come into the diet.

Once the Pre Alpin has water added, it expands greatly and there is usually some wastage. When it has dried out, the tortoises don't eat it and this means throwing a bit away but it's very cheap. That is apart from Baby Pre Alpin which is expensive and I've not been able to find out why it so much more expensive.

So if you haven't tried Pre Alpin and like to take a natural approach to feeding then it's worth considering it. (I don't sell it or work for them or anything!)

[Pussygalore]

Great post, I used to use it for all of my torts and found that mixing it wet in with the weeds/plants there was very little left over. You can buy the adult version and put it through a grinder to make it the same consistancy as the baby making it easier to get awkward or young torts eat it as it sticks to the greenery better. I also feel that most of our weeds etc are always far 'richer' than any torts would find in the wild and adding the Alpine made me feel that I was making their food more like they would naturally find. I always soaked mine and it does swell to a lot more so you don't need to use very much, it also keeps well if in a lidded container this is where I used to buy mine from.
http://www.tortoiselady.co.uk/page8.htm

[Wyannis]

I have the pre alpin baby and mine like it but I have only been using it on the odd occasion when I have run out of weeds, usually only in winter. Would I be better to feed then pre alpin regularly? Maybe one day a week or something? I must say I always feel guilty if I have given them that instead of fresh weeds.

[Pussygalore]

seeing as its mainly used for fiber then there's no harm in using it whenever you want, the only thing would be if they are outside in the summer and grazing when they shouldn't need extra food at all. If though you are having to feed them outside then I see no harm in adding Alpine to their food either once a week or everyday its up to you, it can't do any harm.

[emma_mcraf]

Great post, Jonathan. Five of my torts will eat it but the others refuse to entertain the idea, but I shall persist seeing as you have had great success at getting all of your torts to eat it.

[Pussygalore]

have you tried grinding it, wetting it so it sticks to the more yummy food, if its really tiny they can't not eat it.

[Alan1]

I had to con mine into eating it by mixing pellets into it. I think I still have some left

[emma_mcraf]

Originally Posted by Pussygalore

have you tried grinding it, wetting it so it sticks to the more yummy food, if its really tiny they can't not eat it.

Oh yes, every trick in the book. They're pretty savvy!

[Suze65]

I feed pre alpin every day and have never had any trouble getting them to eat it, my question is, other than fibre, how much nutrition is In it, I was under the impression, it's not a complete food, and there's not much nutrition left in it. I would really like to know, what the nutrition content is?

[Pussygalore]

have a look at the link under the section Pre Alpin you'll find all the details of the products there.
http://www.tortoiselady.co.uk/page8.htm