Zoo Med Natural Grassland Tortoise Food, 8.5-Ounce

I buy all the time from Amazon

My 4 year old sulcata tortoise loves these treats! He won't eat them dry, so I have to add warm water and calcium powder, but they're his favorite snack! We put it on subscription so they come once a month, but the nutrients keep him going! Great value for the size too!

I have two pancake tortoises (Merry and Pippin). For the first couple years I had them, I fed them mixtures of deep leafy greens--e.g. kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, etc. However, I noticed that their poop wasn't always solid or frequent. The container for this food categorizes pancake tortoises as grassland tortoises, so I chose this food from the line of Zoo Med tortoise food products.At first, I just mixed this food in with their greens because I was unsure if I could get them to move away from eating leafy things. I also sprinkled a calcium supplement on the food. Almost immediately, I could tell that their pooping quality had improved. However, after a few years of that, I noticed some pyramiding on one of my tortoises (Pippin). Once I noticed that, I decided to fully convert them to this food because it is especially balanced for their nutritional needs. The container recommends gradually mixing increasing amounts of this food with greens to switch them over. Since I had been mixing it with their greens for a while, I just went ahead and switched. To my surprise, they gobble this up as eagerly as the greens. I also sprinkle a calcium supplement (Zoo Med) and multivitamin (Rep-Cal Herptivite) on it. I switched them over at the beginning of the year, and Pippin's shell looks slightly improved. She is still pretty small, so I'm hoping she will grow out of the pyramiding as she continues to eat this food blend.Overall, it's pretty easy to prepare. I typically do a 1:1 ratio of water to pellets and let it sit for 5-10 minutes as I'm getting ready in the morning. Originally, I was putting the food in a plastic reptile food dish. Because this blend has a bit higher water content, it would sometimes develop some fuzzy mold if it was left in the enclosure for more than a day. I swapped out my dish for a basic terra cotta flower pot dish and that works much better. It's still best to change out the food every day (because it dries out eventually), but now it doesn't mold since the terra cotta dish absorbs some of the water.

I’m guessing it’s a good supplement to his diet, seems to like it especially if I dampen them a little first

Honestly, I'm just reviewing this size before I buy the largest they have because this stuff is amazing. It smells terrible, like someone mixed a kale smoothie with dirt and wood chips, but beyond that, my desert tortoise absolutely loves this stuff. Just soak however much you need in water for a few minutes (for reference sake, Franklin is about the size of a large grapefruit and 1/4 cup is plenty). Mash it up, add in whatever treats your buddy might like and you're good to go. It took a couple days for him to transition, but I just made the first few batches really watery and used it like a dressing with his veggies to get him used to the flavor, then thickened it up after a few feedings. I've definitely noticed an improvement in energy and he gobbles it up, so it's definitely a hit for my tortoise. If you're looking for a good food for your tortoise, whether as a whole diet or as a supplement, definitely give this a shot.

My spur thigh tortoises love this food. If yours don’t at first they will. I soak the pellets in a little water for a minute then they are soft enough for them to eat. They gobbled it up in no time.

It took 3 adults to open this

The media could not be loaded. My sulcata loves this stuff. At first I was hesitant to give him any packaged food, but then after a LOT of research I decided to go with this. He's 6.5 years old now and I've been feeding him this stuff since he was around six months. At first he wouldn't touch it since it was new. I mixed in the grass and weeds he would normally eat for about a week or two. Now he'll eat it straight.When he was little 3-5 pellets soaked was enough. They expand a lot when fully soaked. Now he's over 30 lbs. I put half a cup into a container, cover with water (cold is fine), and soak for 15 min or longer. I put more water than will soak into the pellets just to make sure they become fully hydrated. Then I pour the remaining water out, and plop the food on the grass for Charley. I do this about every other day to supplement his diet of grazing in the yard.Charley has been eating the Zoo Med Grassland Tortoise Food for six years now. His shell is beautiful with no pyramiding, and he's healthy and strong. So many opinions out there criticizing these types of food. Charley strongly disagrees with their opinion. He says, "Check me out fool!" as he eats another serving.