Box Turtle Diet

This recipe feeds 5 Adult Box Turtles twice. (Refrigerate the leftovers for the next meal. Do not refrigerate more than about 3 days)

1.5 cups Mazuri Tortoise Diet (dry)
1.5 cups warm water
1-cup butternut squash (1/2 inch chunks)
1-cup greens shredded (collards, dandelion, turnip, mustard)
¼ cup sweet potato (1/2 inch chunks)
¼ cup of one of the following: corn, green beans, peas, other squash (any combination of these will do also)
1/8-cup fruit of some sort: strawberry, raspberry, grape, kiwi, no citrus

Soak the Mazuri Tortoise Diet in approximately 1.5 cups of water. After it soaks it all up it might be too dry therefore you can add more water. Let stand until all is absorbed. When mixed it should all join together in one big blob. [See Photo 2] I don’t leave any dry pieces in there.

In a separate bowl microwave the raw veggies and greens with about a tablespoon of water, covered until they are mushy (about the consistency you would eat them at/3 min. on my microwave). If you make use of any canned veggies they do not need to be microwaved. [See Photos 1 & 3] Obviously frozen veggies should be microwaved but maybe not for as long as the fresh ones. When using frozen chopped greens they only need to be dethawed as opposed to cooked. Use your best judgment here.

Mix together the veggies and the now soaked Mazuri Tortoise Diet until the veggies are evenly distributed in the blob of tortoise diet. No need to mix it so the veggies become one with the Tortoise Diet. Leave it chunky and colorful. Let this cool sufficiently before serving. [See Photos 4 & 5]

Once a week add half a small can of good quality lean canned dog food such as Science Diet to this mix and mix it in good.

Once a week you can add a pinch of powdered calcium (no D3 added) if desired. The Mazuri Diet is 2:1 Calcium Phosphorus and the greens are far above that so no supplementation should be necessary. What I do sometimes if I run out of greens is add the calcium supplement that day. There should be no reason at all to add a multivitamin to this mixture.

The veggies listed above can be varied. The amounts can be varied. In fact I encourage you to do so as a varied diet is the best. These are only GUIDELINES and do not need to be strictly adhered to. ANY other veggies can be used as long as you do not get stuck on feeding the same one over and over. The only veggies I ALWAYS feed are the butternut and the greens.