Formulated Diet For Stars

[cotley]

Interesting replies - I was genuinely just intrigued, it just seems on the face of it so far away from all those who state their ambition is replication of the wild.

I'm also interested in Ed's statements, and again, esp whether your stars were CB or WC, as I would have thought that is a major aspect. Were post mortems ever conducted? What kind of ages did you lose them at? Am I just in a comfort zone with UK CB stars a year old with even consistent growth fed just on weeds?

[miss_elle]

Well my stars are CB - 1 year. They get fed on weeds, grass, pansies, rose petals & other flowers, and the occassional salad - but I have noticed one has become slightly more pyramided than the other & want to ensure even growth - which is why I'd like to try the formulated diet to see if this helps.

What I'm a bit concerned with is my Nutrobal is turning the weeds mushy if its on them for longer than 2 hours - does this mean its off? A bad batch? Should I try a different supplement?

[cotley]

I never have food out for 2 hours - they've eaten all of it within an hour pretty much! I also have the food bowl near a basking spot, so if they do leave anything it goes crispy.

[EJ]

I got them as 2 inch wild caught animals. I don't see where that makes a difference one way or the other.

The ones I lost were all 2 inches and under.

Gross necropsies were done on all and there was always a massive amount of urates, reduced liver, massive amounts of bile, and pale kidneys.

Originally Posted by miss_elle

Are the stars you've been using it on CB or WC?

[cotley]

I would say it makes an enormous difference being WC or CB especially at that very young age (sub 2 inches).

The usually sub optimal import conditions (for a breed already well-recognised at not tolerating fluctuations in its living conditions anywhere near as well as most Meds for instance) surely vastly increases the health risks of succumbing to viral/bacterial/respiratory infections etc.

That's half the reason in itself we are advised to stay away from WC animals by and large (let's leave the 'ethics' out, that's a minefield when virtually every tortoise kept in captivity can only be f3/4/5 at best).


An elegans of that young age is clearly massively susceptible to dehydration - that alone through import could clearly weaken it surely.


That said - when you started having good results with Mazuri, were those tortoises from the same conditions? IE WC and under 2inches?

[EJ]

You are correct in the aspect that wild caughts are way more stressed than captives. That actually lends support to the idea that if this diet can pull through a wild caught animal it should be more than enough for a captive born animal.

The remaining animals I have are from the exact same group. I can't say that those animals would have survived regardless of the diet I use... they are the strongest of the group... but I highly suspect that the diet I currently has everything to do with their current development and survival. This, again, is based on current and past observations of behavioral patterns with quite a few Stars.

Originally Posted by cotley

I would say it makes an enormous difference being WC or CB especially at that very young age (sub 2 inches).

The usually sub optimal import conditions (for a breed already well-recognised at not tolerating fluctuations in its living conditions anywhere near as well as most Meds for instance) surely vastly increases the health risks of succumbing to viral/bacterial/respiratory infections etc.

That's half the reason in itself we are advised to stay away from WC animals by and large (let's leave the 'ethics' out, that's a minefield when virtually every tortoise kept in captivity can only be f3/4/5 at best).


An elegans of that young age is clearly massively susceptible to dehydration - that alone through import could clearly weaken it surely.


That said - when you started having good results with Mazuri, were those tortoises from the same conditions? IE WC and under 2inches?

[miss_elle]

I've found somewhere I can get Mazuri so I'll be ordering it today. It's most probably gonna be too much for me so I may end up offering SW people some if they want it

[rodneyvet]

Im interrested

[sarah]

Originally Posted by miss_elle

I've found somewhere I can get Mazuri so I'll be ordering it today. It's most probably gonna be too much for me so I may end up offering SW people some if they want it

Is it pure Mazuri or Nazuri? I have Nazuri and its not as good its like slop when you water it down, smells awful and my reds dont like it much. They loved pure Mazuri

[EJ]

Never heard of Nazuri.

Originally Posted by sarah

Is it pure Mazuri or Nazuri? I have Nazuri and its not as good its like slop when you water it down, smells awful and my reds dont like it much. They loved pure Mazuri