African Sulcata Tortoise Questions?

Question

1. Can an adult African Sulcata eat alfalfa once in a while? I went to the farm store and they said it was okay because they were out of Timothy Hay, but one of my husbands friends just told him Alfalfa could get stuck in our Sulcata's throat.

2. Do Sulcata's hear and how good is their hearing?

He did come toward us when we call his name but sometimes he just ignores us, or is he actually hearing us at all?

3. Eye Sight- Our Sulcata is always running into things, like running into me, and moving furniture in the yard. How good is their eyesight?

Answer 1

no alpha hay  has too many prickly bits in it so it is not best to feed it that, tortoises do hear but not like we do they go more on vibrations, he will come towards you if he sees you as he thinks you are going to feed him but over time they can learn to recognize different voices and will come when you speak, as for running into things a tortoise eyesight is not great but you will know if he is blind as he won't be able to find and eat food, they are good at running into things my tortoises move things as well i don't think there is anything wrong with your tortoises eyesight but they just like to see if they can walk through things, they can not see wire though so if there is chicken or Avery wire they won't see it and try to walk through it, so they see but once again i don't think it is the same as how we see,

Answer 2

it could be blind and i wouldnt feed it alfalfa

Answer 3

1 Alfalfa hay is high in protein they need high fiber diet.

http://www.africantortoise.com/

2 Their hearing is not like ours they hear vibration. They dont hear sounds like words.

They see you and come because of that.

3 They have good eye site but seem not to realize how large they are. If the head fits the body should.