Tortoise Group Information Sheet #27

MegaDiet, the Wonder Food

MegaDiet is a complete tortoise food. No vitamins, minerals, or vegetables are needed. It’s easy and worry-free! The 1½ lb bag costing $8.00 lasts a large tortoise about one month. You can buy MegaDiet from Tortoise Group online or from Satellite Sellers in the Las Vegas area.

We introduce MegaDiet by softening it for 15 or 20 minutes with an equal amount of water. Once accepted, tortoises larger than 3 ½ inches in shell length may eat dry MegaDiet pellets.

Some tortoises need a little time and coaxing to accept MegaDiet. You know how stubborn they can be! Have patience and don’t give up if your tortoise refuses MegaDiet at first. Salad combinations are very difficult to make complete. The Tips on Offering MegaDiet offer some creative and effective ways to help your tortoise accept the very best tortoise diet.

How to Offer MegaDiet

  • MegaDiet is a complete tortoise food. Don’t dilute it with vegetables. Adding vegetables only creates an unbalanced diet. Make available growing plants such as dandelions, grass, and various flowers and shrubs we suggest so the tortoise can eat these at will and certainly before it fully accepts MegaDiet.
  • Soften MegaDiet using equal amounts of water and MegaDiet. Wait 20 minutes until completely soft, like cookie dough (not juicy). Mix enough for 2-3 days.
  • Offer softened food when tortoises are out, have finished basking, are eating available forage or are letting you know that they are ready for what you might have for them. Place food on grass or in a shallow dish. Feed individually to avoid competition. If refused, return food to container immediately. Discard uneaten portion if you can find it but don’t leave out a substantial amount.
  • You may want to tempt tortoises used to vegetables by softening pellets with lettuce liquefied in a blender, unsweetened apple juice or grated fresh sour apple. If necessary, mix with the finely shredded broccoli, zucchini, or other vegetables they are used to – no lettuce. Use fresh, never frozen. Gradually lessen the amount of vegetables. Once you start using MegaDiet, never feed vegetables by themselves. Tortoises will tend to hold out for them and may never accept MegaDiet.
  • Don’t give vitamins or mineral supplements, and no sweet fruit. All can cause serious medical problems. For example, sugar predisposes the intestines to parasites.
  • Offer dry pellets in a low, heavy dish about 4” in diameter. Place dish in same dry shaded place each day. Countersink the dish if possible. Take the dish in before dark – cockroaches love MegaDiet. Tortoises smaller than 3½” in shell length need softened pellets. Tortoises larger than 3½” in shell length may eat dry pellets, but start with softened pellets.
  • Be patient! Use tough love! It may be several days or weeks until your tortoises accept MegaDiet, and they will. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when”. A tortoise will not starve if it has access to grass, flowers, and dandelions. Drinking water should always be available. Keep MegaDiet in the refrigerator. Never freeze.

    • Information Sheets of Interest

    #4 Comparison of Nutrient Values of Foods; Feeding Do’s and Don’ts
    #12 Planting Spineless Prickly Pear Cactus for Your Tortoise
    #13 Transplanting Dandelions
    #19 Growing Dandelions from Seed
    #21 Plants to Grow for Tortoises

    Tips on Offering MegaDiet

  • Soften MegaDiet to cookie dough consistency. Try unsweetened apple sauce, grated sour apple or liquefied lettuce instead of water
  • Soften and roll up in a grape leaf, rose petal or other favorite leaf (not lettuce)
  • Hollow out half a cherry tomato and fill with softened MegaDiet
  • Soften and stud the surface thickly with rose petals or desert willow flowers.
  • Go cold turkey. Offer plain – no muss, no fuss – and conversion tends to be faster
  • Email tips to Kathy at kutiger@earthlink.net

    • New Tip

    Form the softened MegaDiet into a nice long narrow fence. The tortoise can chomp right along the row. What a great idea! Of course it’s good to be on hand to fix up a new fence when most of the MegaDiet is gone. With this technique, my tortoise eats every morsel.

     
    Tad eats along his MegaDiet fence like corn on the
    cob. Fence stays intact so he can easily eat it all.

     

    MegaDiet Contents (notice all the vitamins and minerals!)

    Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein minimum 12.0%, Crude Fat, Minimum 4.0%, Crude Fiber minimum 10.0%, Total Ash Maximum 9.0%, Moisture Maximum 12.0%

    Ingredients: Corn Soybean Meal, Wheat, Alfalfa Meal, Oats, Molasses, Limestone, Soy Oil, Dicalcium Phosphate, Lecithin, Salt, di-Methionine, I-Lysine, Manganese Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Niacin, Zinc Sulfate, Magnesium Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Potassium Iodate, di-Aipha Tocopheryl. Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Vitamin A Acetate, d-Calcium Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, Menadion Dimethylpymiidinol Bisulfite (Source of Vitamin K), Riboflavin, D-Activated Animal Sterol (Source of Vitamin D3), Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Natural and Artificial Flavors and Ascorbyl Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C).

    TG/ Jan 02

    Infosheet list