Alfalfa

[wilddragons16]

Does anyone know whether they can eat horse alfalfa pellets, moistened? I have some, the ingredients are sun dried alfalfa, that's it. Anyway, it comes in 50 lb bags,and it would last a long time. And it is cheap, and I figured that the more greens the better, and beautiful dragons marked alfalfa as green. Anyone got an idea? thanks

 

[Taterbug]

People use them for iguana though I'm not sure how it's prepared, alfalfa is a great food.

The catch is, dragons might not find the pellets or reconstituted pellets palatable. They are recommended for dig boxes because usually the dragon doesn't like the taste. As long as there are no additives it probably wouldn't hurt to try but may not go over well.

On the other hand it is great for dig boxes.

 

[wilddragons16]

Thanks! As long as it isn't bad, I'll give it a try.

 

[icelore]

I wouldn't feed any dehydrated greens. Veggies, especially leafy greens, loose a lot of their vitamins when dried. Additionally, the lower moisture level would be an impaction worry to me.

There is a massive difference between alfalfa plant and dried pellets.

 

[wilddragons16]

were can you get alfalfa greens?

 

[icelore]

were can you get alfalfa greens?

The only place I've ever seen fresh alfalfa is at feed stores for livestock. Alfalfa sprouts are even more nutritious though, and you can usually find those at grocery stores, or even sprout the seeds yourself. I personally force seeds to sprout in a quart mason jar. Soak the seeds the first day, then rinse them off and leave them in the jar wet the second, repeating the rinsing process every two days. They sprout within 1-2 weeks. Also works for other yummy sprouts like mung beans.

You can also just throw some seeds in a pot - alfalfa is a really forgiving plant, and you can just cut some off it every day. It's low maintenance and grows back quick.

 

[wilddragons16]

Great! that sounds really easy!

 

[Taterbug]

I was under the impression that the sprouts are much less nutritious than the mature plants. Well, fresh anyway, I haven't looked up the differences w/ fresh vs. dried dried yet. It makes sense the vitamins would degrade though.