# My tortoise only eats dandelions



## nicole.selway (Apr 20, 2017)

I got my horsefield tortoise 3 days ago and it's my very first! I've tried a few different weeds but obviously haven't had enough time to experiment every thing. All it seems to eat are dandelions and lettuce, I've tried a few different weeds but they aren't touched. I've also put cuttle fish in its enclosure as it has lots of calcium but it doesn't touch that either. Do you have any weeds that your tortoise loves and I could try? What are the best weeds/food for my tortoise to have the healthiest diet possible? Also, I am quite confused as to how much my tortoise should be fed and how often, I don't want to over feed or starve it. Every time I put a dandelion/ lettuce/ cucumber in its enclosure it is eaten immediately!


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## TammyJ (Apr 20, 2017)

Hello there and welcome!
There are good diet and care sheets for this species of tortoise, which you should just read and then you will know what to offer him. If you keep feeding him just the dandelions and lettuce, it is likely that he will reject other offered items more and more until it is very hard to get him to eat anything else. 
Others here will offer more expert advice. Once again, welcome and thank you for joining. Some pics would be great!


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## JoesMum (Apr 20, 2017)

Hi Nicole

Your tort is very new and will take time to settle. The fact that its eating anything is great at this stage; many go on hunger strike for the first couple of weeks. 

Your tort's diet should be weedy leafy greens. It can't digest sugars properly - they cause digestive and kidney problems - so fruit, pepper, carrot and tomato should only be fed very sparingly and very occasionally if at all. 

Cucumber contains little fibre and few nutrients; it's likely to give your tort the runs. It's best not to feed it frequently. 

Look up greens that grow around you and those that you can buy on The Tortoise Table Plant Database for suitability to feed
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/

To introduce a new food
- Chop the foods that your tort will eat very small and wet them

- Chop a tiny amount of new food very small and mix it with the rest

- If your tort eats all of it, at the next feed increase the new food in the mix slightly and decrease the original food by the same amount 

- If your tort refuses then leave it in place for 24 hours before clearing it and replacing it with a fresh mix in exactly the same proportion as before. 

Note:
- It's essential a tortoise that refuses food is soaked for at least 30 minutes each day in warm water so it stays hydrated 

- A tort can go many days without food and come to no harm

- A hungry tort will eat. You have to be strong and not give in. 

Have you read the TFO care sheets for Horsfields? They're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too. 

Beginner Mistakes 
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Baby Russian Care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/

Russian Care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

If you would like us to check your setup, just post photos of your enclosure and lighting and we'll be happy to help


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## Lyn W (Apr 20, 2017)

Hi and welcome I was told to think of the shell as an upturned bowl and to initially feed enough to fill that.
If he leaves some give less, if he eats all of it ,offer more, let the tortoise be your guide. My tort stops eating when he's had enough.


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## nicole.selway (Apr 20, 2017)

Thankyou for all your help! Do I put food in the enclosure for my tortoise once a day?


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## JoesMum (Apr 20, 2017)

To settle a new tort
- Put the lights on a timer so they go on and off at the same time each day. You can do it yourself, but it's easier with timers. 

- First thing in the morning, before your tort has warmed up properly, soak your tort for at least 20 minutes in warm water. Use a high-sided, flat-bottomed bowl that your tort can't see over or through. The water should be deep enough to come just up over the join between the shell and the plastron. 

- While your tort soaks, tidy the enclosure and place a mound of food roughly the size of your tort's shell. 

- Pop your tort back and leave him/her to it. 

Always feed in the morning as your tort naturally eats early in the day not late at night. If everything is eaten then offer more. Don't worry about food going limp; your tort honestly won't care - clear any leftovers daily.


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## RosemaryDW (Apr 20, 2017)

JoesMum said:


> Hi Nicole
> 
> Your tort is very new and will take time to settle. The fact that its eating anything is great at this stage;



Ditto.

Give it some time; your appetite would probably be a little off too, if you'd just had a big move. 

Welcome to the forum!


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## eternalnewb (Apr 20, 2017)

Hi Nicole, 
I have a Russian as well and I recently got my second tortoise, a Hermanns. For quite a few days after I got him he didn't eat much and wasn't eating many of the weeds and greens I was giving him. By the end of his first week with me he had settled in and he started eating more and now he seems to try a little bit of everything I offer. While not a weed, a big favorite of both my tortoises right now are endive and radicchio, these have always been a favorite of my Russian and my little Hermann's hurries to eat his endive first every morning.


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