Sulcata tortoises are grazing tortoises. They graze on grasses throughout the day. Sulcatas need this high fiber diet to stay healthy. Sulcata tortoises that are fed a lot of grocery store greens may not be getting all the fiber that is needed for a healthy sulcata tortoise diet. So, it’s very important to get a sulcata tortoise to eat grass.
You need to start offering grass young. Sulcata tortoise breeders should offer sulcata tortoise babies grass as soon as they start eating. If the tortoise is started off on grocery store greens, it can be hard to switch to a proper diet. So, when you buy your baby sulcata and bring it home, you have to deal with converting the sulcata to a healthy diet.
What Grass is Safe for Sulcata Tortoises?
There are many different types of grass that is safe for sulcatas to eat. Popular grasses for sulcatas include rye grass, Fescue grass, Bermuda grass and oat grass.
Get a Baby Sulcata Tortoise to Eat Grass
A baby tortoise that has been fed grocery store greens won’t always take to eating grass. And it definitely won’t always be an easy battle to convert a baby sulcata from a diet primarily of greens to one of grasses. So, don’t expect a baby tortoise to immediately convert to eating a grass diet.
When adding grass to a baby tortoise’s diet, you can try offering full blades of grass on a plate. You may see your tortoise nibbling and trying it out, but he may not devour every bite right away. It’s going to take time.
Try different types of grass. If you pulled grass from your yard, consider trying a different type of grass. You can purchase cat grass (oat grass) from a local pet store and offer it as a quick alternative to lawn grass in your yard.
Offer new growth. New grass growth is usually going to be a light shade of green than older growth. It’s going to be more tender and easier for smaller sulcata tortoises to eat.
Chop up the grass. Chop the grass into small pieces. and offer it with the greens that you know your tortoise will eat. To ensure that your tortoise IS eating the grass bites, chop up the greens too. Chopping up everything, makes it harder for the tortoise to pick out what it likes and and what it doesn’t like to eat. Over time, reduce the amount of greens and increase the amount of grass.
Plant grass in the enclosure. Some tortoises won’t eat grass that’s laying down, but they’ll eat grass that is standing up. In your indoor enclosure, try planting grass. Either plant grass seeds or pull up a chunk of grass from your yard and place it in the enclosure.
Continue trying. Don’t stop. Offer grass daily. Because grass should be close to 80% of a sulcata tortoise’s diet, you want to keep trying until the tortoise will eat grass.
