# Baby Redfoot wont eat greens?



## Rosey (May 23, 2011)

Hello all! Rosey and Ruby got a new friend recently...a baby redfoot hatchling. I'm calling it Little One for now. Well the problem with Little One is that it won't eat its greens. I feed spring mix in the morning and a small nighttime snack of a vegetable mixed with a few Rep-Cal pellets for the added fiber. (The pellets are a recent addition to their diet..before I only fed them lettuce and veggies but they had runny poo a lot so I added the pellets and that cleared the runny poo up). Anyhow Little One won't eat its salad in the morning or its veggies, it only wants pellets. Thinking I could get it to eat I didn't let it have any pellets for the last 2 days and the little thing has hardly eaten anything. How can I get it munching on the greens? I've tried mixing things into thee lettuce like strawberry and it appears Little One doesn't even like strawberries! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Also the 2 big girls share a tortoise table with the baby. So far it seems everyone gets along just fine. The only thing I worry about is that sometimes in the hide the big girls (6 and 7 inches) play pile on on top of Little One. Little One never seems distressed about it so I haven't intervened. Is this ok? I built little one its own house with an entrance only big enough for it but it still chooses to be piled on top of by the girls instead of using its own house....


----------



## dmmj (May 23, 2011)

I don't recommend a tough love method for babies. For now I would mix up the greens with the pellets she loves so much and then go from there, make the greens finely chopped so it sticks to the pellets and she has to eat them.


----------



## coreyc (May 23, 2011)

I would separate them he could be stress out by the bigger ones. I would not put a hatchling in with them I also don't think it likes getting piled on it has no choice it goes in a hide first the other two come in it's to small to move so it is stuck I would set up two tables .


----------



## Rosey (May 23, 2011)

I would hate to seperate them. Seemingly Little one Loves Ruby. He follows her everywhere just like she's its mom. (I do feed seperately though the girls can be quite the little pigs lol).


----------



## Madkins007 (May 24, 2011)

The following behavior is pretty typical- Red-foots are a semi-social species and know that following a more experienced tort can lead to good food, hides, etc. They are also often found in the wild sharing hides.

I would not worry about separating them as long as there are several good hides offered so the little one can sleep somewhere else that it would consider nice if it wanted to. BUT- there REALLY is a risk that the little one is being stressed, so do what seems right for the little one.

As far as the food- tortoises can go a long time without food. If the baby was REALLY hungry, it would eat whatever was in front of it. However, since it is eating decent quality pellets, I would not worry about this much. However, I would only offer a single pellet every meal or two so if it wants more food, it has to eat the other stuff.


----------



## GeoTerraTestudo (May 24, 2011)

I had a redfoot tortoise from age 4 months to about 3 years in Florida before donating her to the Flamingo Gardens Zoo when I moved back to Colorado. While I had her, she fed very well and had good growth. Here is what I fed her:

- Greens: romaine lettuce, endive, escarole
- Weeds: clover, dandelion
- Fruits: tomatoes, grapes, strawberries, watermelon
- Animal: live snails and snail shells
- Commercial: RepCal, Mazuri
- Supplement: vitamin and mineral powder

She ate like a champion and had good, firm droppings. Being a forest tortoise, redfoots eat much more fruit than grassland tortoises, which barely eat any fruits or animals at all. I would give your little guy a lot of variety, and let her eat more fruit. Then she will probably be happy to include greens in her diet.


----------



## drift2sea (Jun 10, 2011)

i just brought my boy home and he about the size of two fists lil older than a hatchling.same problem just not with pellets but strawberries second to apples.he will rather sprint across my living room for a strawberry than starve with every kind of green i throw at him.mustard greens, red lettuce ,red cabbage, carrots,ect.all i use is fresh clean produce,if he would eat lets just say hed be eating better than me lol.rarely will he take a bite of mustard greens.he also stole my daughters cheez it it looked like he was smiling.i think some tortoise just love junkfood.i was given the advice of also mixing fruit with the veggies gradually decreasing the amount of fruit gradually each day till hes left with the veggies and i can treat him with the fruit.this is my battle plan.


----------



## Madkins007 (Jun 11, 2011)

Drift2sea... you are a little in error. It is not a matter of 'some tortoises love junkfood'- ALL TORTOISES will eat badly given half a chance. They evolved in places where there is not much tasty, nourishing food*, so when they did find it, they pigged out on it. 

(*- Yes, I know rain forests LOOK like they are full of good food, but they are actually amazingly low in nutrients in most parts of most plants. That is why there are relatively few animals in the rain forests, and dang few big ones.) 

Cut out the junk and just offer greens. It may take a few days, maybe even a week, but it will eat it when it is hungry. Torts have REALLY SLOW metabolisms and don't need a lot of food so don't let it talk you into anything.



On a side note- I am not really a grammar cop, but using proper grammar- punctuation, capitalization, etc. makes posts easier to read and understand, and therefore easier to answer as well.


----------



## jackrat (Jun 11, 2011)

Have to agree with Mark on this one. A little tough love won't hurt him a bit. After a few days,mustard greens will start looking pretty good to him.


----------



## drift2sea (Jun 11, 2011)

Madkins007 said:


> Drift2sea... you are a little in error. It is not a matter of 'some tortoises love junkfood'- ALL TORTOISES will eat badly given half a chance. They evolved in places where there is not much tasty, nourishing food*, so when they did find it, they pigged out on it.
> 
> (*- Yes, I know rain forests LOOK like they are full of good food, but they are actually amazingly low in nutrients in most parts of most plants. That is why there are relatively few animals in the rain forests, and dang few big ones.)
> 
> ...


I tried unsweetened canned pumpkin today,she loves it.I think she finds the mustard greens to be too acrid.Swapped it out with really fresh firm kale she ate some with fresh cucumber.Took her outside today to get some sun and she also went to town on the grass,its all organic untreated lawns here.Just had to experiment and see what she likes.Im using the fruit as a treat now.She looks good now shiny carrapace and good skin.The diet is starting to work with the Vitashell and me treating the plastron for the shell rot.Im jut kind of mad Petco sold me a nonpurebred Red foot.She was advertised as one.


----------



## drift2sea (Jun 12, 2011)

drift2sea said:


> Madkins007 said:
> 
> 
> > Drift2sea... you are a little in error. It is not a matter of 'some tortoises love junkfood'- ALL TORTOISES will eat badly given half a chance. They evolved in places where there is not much tasty, nourishing food*, so when they did find it, they pigged out on it.
> ...


My bad,listed as a purebred Cherryheaded redfooted tortoise.Mike identified the breed as a northern Redfoot.


----------



## Madkins007 (Jun 12, 2011)

My guys rarely go for mustard either, unless they are rather desperate. Another justification of a balanced, varied diet.


----------



## Yvonne G (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi Rosey:

Sorry for taking over your thread, but I hope the other fellow's eating problem and offered solutions will be of help to you and your tortoise too.


----------



## micalcriss (Jun 15, 2011)

Well that is true that baby Red foot wont eat greens as it the green take more time in digestion and it need to be chewed properly for a longer time as the Baby Red foot are small so they wont eat green.


----------

