Marley is not eating the orchard grass or timothy I put in there for him. I have fed him turnip greens, a small amount of kale. I know his diet should consist of grass and weeds but he just ignores it. What should we do to get him to eat what he should? Is there something else to try? Where to I get the cactus pad or dandelion greens I have read about? Also how do I tell the humidity? Is there something to buy to gage it? I don't think we are getting him what he needs. I need to change his substrate as well and am reading different things that almost go against eachother.... I am a little confused!
vegetable is ok, but pick some has more fibre
try to cut the grass into little bits! grass are hard to eat than greens thats why they ignore it. I was in the same situation with you before.
I have been chopping the hay and grass real tiny ( also recomended by the vet ) for the passed two weeks, still ignoring it!! LOL. I know it is important for him to eat the hay I have even tried to wet it and mix it in with the greens....guess he is too smart for that too!!
I feed my leopards lettuces (romaine, green leaf or red leaf), dandelion, and kale, lightly sprinkled with calcium powders once a week. While they're free in my backyard they like to eat certain weeds. They seem to like certain type of weeds and ignore the others; I can't tell you which one that they like as I'm not a weed expert
so I don't know their names/what they're called. When they were babies they like lettuces and dandelion only. I read somewhere that not after leopards are much older would they start to eat grass/hay. Mine still won't and they are about 5 yrs old now, even though there are lots of them in my backyard.
Some articles mentioned that variety of greens would be the best. I tend to agree but yet I know someone who lives in San Diego area who feeds her leopards only romaine, and she's been very successful and her leopards, more than 30 yrs old now, have produced lots of healthy babies.
Depending on where you live, you could buy dandelion greens at certain grocery stores or farmers markets. Here in San Jose/San Francsico bay area they're available at Cosentino's, Lunardi's, or certain Lucky stores (not all, depending on location).
I would buy the inexpensive coffee grinder, and grind the hay up with that. Ive done that for hatchlings then mist the greens with water and mix with the hay dust. They cant avoid it then
Thanks Anja, that is what I have been doing now. I am alternating greens for some variety the vet said Carrot sometimes is good to get him some v A. He loves that treat !! I cut up the hay and grasses real real fine and mix it in with the greens a little moist. You are right, now he has no choice!! LOl.
Neither my yearling or my 6 month old would eat grass. But I moved last week and didn't have time to run to the store for more greens so I didn't feed them for four days...(bad mommy I know). Finally on day five I was confronted by the two of them when I turned on the lights. They were both crammed into the food bowl staring me down lol. So I threw in some grass and clover from the yard. A couple hours later when I went back to the house to get them and their table to bring them to the new house (they were the last to move, had to set up extension cords -.-) all of the grass was gone! I guess they were just that hungry to try it. Now they actually graze when I take them outside. I would not recommend starving your baby (not that mine starved, the yearling is a whopping 630 grams) but a little tough love works sometimes i guess.
when we got our baby leo, he was kinda picky too.
he'd only eat certain things.
so we tried rep-cal tortoise food.
![[Image: pictortoisefood.jpg]](http://www.mulberryfarms.com/pictortoisefood.jpg)
you add a small amount of apple juice or water to the pellets so they become soft.
our leo prefers apple juice being added. i guess it just makes them taste even better.
they are all different colors & flavors so your tort gets a variety.
& they're often called tortoise fruit loops.
my leo, alfred, & my rf, zoe, LOVE them.
Marley Wrote:Marley is not eating the orchard grass or timothy I put in there for him. I have fed him turnip greens, a small amount of kale. I know his diet should consist of grass and weeds but he just ignores it. What should we do to get him to eat what he should? Is there something else to try? Where to I get the cactus pad or dandelion greens I have read about? Also how do I tell the humidity? Is there something to buy to gage it? I don't think we are getting him what he needs. I need to change his substrate as well and am reading different things that almost go against eachother.... I am a little confused!
My boy Pickle loves dandelions- won't tough grass or orchard hay- you can also talk one of your local produce companies or a specialty grocery store's produce guy, and they can bring in cactus pads or dandelion greens for you-
I agree with the above poster. My baby isn't too fond of hay either, but eats dandelions, clover, and other fresh weeds with great enthusiasm. Experiment with different things, maybe he'll prefer a broader leafed weed.