Little Jo is definitely in a growth spurt. She is ravenous and eating like never before.
She made a ramming move at my fingers as I put down some oat grass yesterday! She was very hungry, and I think she thought I was competition for the first pile I put down for her. Rather than retreat like she usually does, she defended it. She's never done that before and can thrust forward faster than I expected. It was an interesting behavior to observe.
According to a friend who is a restaurant manager, it can be at least another week before we have romaine in stores again. UGH!! I was able to find some iceberg lettuce. All they had was small heads though, and the prices were raised. It's selling out due to the romaine recall.
This week it is bok choy, mustard greens, turnip greens, iceberg lettuce, carrot shavings, yellow squash, and butternut squash in her meals. The greens change with what is available. She also gets a few berries in each meal. I give her a calcium supplement once a week. I also grow her different types of grasses and some chia.
I make her meals on the weekend and store them in zipper bags in the fridge. I place paper towels in each bag to absorb the moisture which keeps the vegetables fresh longer. She eats about two and a half times her shell size every day. Whatever is left over goes to our poultry.
How big will she grow? It can vary a bit, but here are a couple of tortoises here and here to help you get an idea.
