Just a couple of feeding questions

[yuna1971]

Hi Cre, not sure what you meant by "tortoise food" - 5p a tray ??

I would go into babble mode but my hands are frozen.....as its flipping freezing here in Bristol, should be warmed up later though. xx

[Cre]

Originally Posted by yuna1971

Hi Cre, not sure what you meant by "tortoise food" - 5p a tray ??

I would go into babble mode but my hands are frozen.....as its flipping freezing here in Bristol, should be warmed up later though. xx

What I should have said was veg seedlings that needed growing. Worried about any pestisides now so will probably feed it to the hammy and piggy now lol who eat anything and everything! The good news is that Alfred is now loving dandilion leaves so a big step forward. Have got some weed seeds coming from the SW shop on Ebay so will have a go at growing them when they come. Tort table arrived today and have invested in a cover thing for the light so will sort them out this week, Feel a bit reluctant to move Alfred now she has settled into her new home so will take my time arranging her table. Cre x

[TortBabe]

You will get there Cre You can use the B&Q food as long as you wash out the roots and replant, wait about a month and then you can feed.

[yuna1971]

Cre, its a hard time of year to weed hunt and to get ID's. If you find you struggle growing weeds...(and dont worry, I am pretty rubbish at it - Clare is very good) then you can always think about pellets as an alternative - at least for this winter and then start the weed 'grind' (the homework) once spring comes.
A new owner like yourself MIGHT find that alternative easier. This isnt to say that weeds should be bypassed long term. You can still put some dandilion, a bit of plantain, mallow with your pellets - but it might relieve stresses on not knowing what looks like what and where to find them. It is hard now, plus there is the added worry of "rust mould" on some leaves, which again will cut your supply if this is all you seem to find.
So give that some thought Cre.
Watch your heights with your lighting. Did you say you had a combined bulb 160w? Watch the height restrictions with MV bulbs. This will be on the box and it must be followed. Keep the light shining vertically down and not at an angle.
Try and keep your substrate simple - either a sterilised topsoil/playsand mix (go for something like 70/30 ratio or 60/40) or just go for topsoil on its own. Big bags from Wickes and B &Q for this. Once this is in, you can start to decorate. Spider plants are fine, ok if tort nibbles it and easy to maintain. Other substrates such as crushed oystershell (SW Shop sells this in little bags) is a perfect compliment to the soil. I find it often gells the soil, keeps it together and makes the terrain more like their natural habitat.
I would make sure your table is in a room which is a warm one. Bigger ones are harder to heat and keep the draughts out. So smaller rooms are better, especially for winter.
I presume you are overwintering....IMHO, I think this might be best this year as you have just got your torty. xx Hope this all helps. See what others say.
Be careful also of growing plants/flowers - as Clare has said earlier, they MUST be took out of the trays you bought them in, soil all away from the root, old leaves & flowers off, then replanted in sterilised topsoil and LEFT outside to weather for a good 2/3 weeks before attempting to feed. xx

[Cre]

Thanks again, you are all so helpful, Alfred is now eating much better, it was quite difficult at the start because he truned up his nose to everything except flat lettuce, got him eating a bit of lettuce then swapped it for weeds when he was not looking and after he tasted the weeds once he was ok with it...woo hoo! I feel like I am getting the hang of this tortoise lark. He is having daily warm water baths and loving them lol. His light is in the correct position, near his light the temp is 35/37 degrees at the cooler end of table its 25/27 degrees and he has a hidey hole/bed at both ends of the table but prefers the bed at the cooler end. I have ordered some readigrass/flower mix from SW shop, and want to ask 1 more quick question, the grass pellets mentioned, are they the same as the grass pellets I feed my hamster and guinea pig? If so I have loads here and might try soaking them and mixing them whith some food this week......wont do anything until get the advice from you experts though!
Thanks again. Cre

[16 shells]

Originally Posted by Cre

Alfred has only been with me since Tuesday so I am a beginner at this. I have tried feeding him dandilion leaves, grass, weeds, teeny bit of grated carrot, teeny bit of tomato and 1/4 of a grape, he had not eaten anything except the grape but last night he did eat a flat lettuce leaf...quite quickly so he must have been starving! He has been pooping ok (in his water bowl lol) and is incredibly active . I am going to try shredding the weeds and mixing them with a bit of lettuce and sprinkling it with powder to see if that works.
Have you any other ideas? I dont want a fussy tortoise!
At the moment he is in a large plastic hamster cage with a 160w heat lamp/uv bulb so think I am doing everything right. His new tortoise table should be coming today.

If weed's become scarce try a little pelleted food like T Rex or Komodo, this will substitute for the nutrients and vit's the tort will miss out on with a salad diet. Theres virtualy nowt in lettuce.