# Pearly's tips to feed picky eater



## Pearly

Hi guys, here's bit of info for the new tort owners. This is just what has WORKED FOR ME! And all this is fairly in accordance with guidelines provided here and in Tortoise Library.I hesitated to try any commercial food bcs of the grain content in all of the ones I've seen here in Texas, but one of my babies was do little and not eating at all, that after about 2 wks of trying everything else I gave in and put in couple of Mazuri pellets in with his chopped greens. The breeder included some samples with the shipment of my babies. One of them was bit of Mazuri. I soaked it in warm water and drained excess, mashed it some, and omg! Little Tucker ATE!!!! This is what had made me lean towards using some dry food. I never want to watch another starving tort or any animal. It was horrible! These are the brands that I use in rotation


(those are so tiny, at times I just sprinkle some on top of their salad and Tucker loves them!


, the big pellets Mazuri and the Land Tortoise Food, are soaked until very soft. The Land Tort. Food takes much longer and much warmer water to soften. I either mixed it in the salad or put it on top. Tucker selectively eats those first. Another thing about feeding babies or finicky eaters that has helped me is chopping things up very finely, and when they were tiny hatchlings I would put things in baby blender and serve as puree.

this was one of the try outs, when put things in separate piles: greens, fruit (papaya here, or cantaloupe), Mazuri, just to figure just what they like most. This knowledge comes handy with supplements. My babies love their protein so guess where their calcium goes?...

chopped cactus look... not very appetizing

here separate piles: greens, mazuri, cactus, cucumber, papaya

all mixed up, fruit on top just to get things going, extra cactus on the side and always abundance of fresh green leaves available to much on . I went without calcium supplementing for 9 mnths. Noticed corelation of intake quantity with presence of supplement. Once I figured what to feed them to get Tucker to eat I figured that good nutritional variety in sufficient quantity will do better then sparse supplemented feedings. All has been great but over past couple of winter months we've had less outdoor time and I've noticed tiny "give" on pressing tail area of the carapace and mid plastron. So calcium without D3 is back on the menu for few weeks and daily sunning outside. The vet was confident the above measures would suffice. I'll be adding more "Pearly's feeding tips" as I find more pictures to post. Hope this helps some new worried tort mom or dad


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## wellington

May I suggest that it would be beneficial to try and use the food soaking water too. Many of the benefits of the food will also be in the water. Also, if the babies will eat without their food being finely chopped or mushed up, this too is a benefit to their beak, nails (if feeding on a rock surface) and to their natural grazing ability, as they have to use their feet sometimes to be able to pull bites off. My hatchling leopard has been fed this way since he hatched and has no problems doing it. Just more natural. As for Mazuri. Oh yea, most torts love it and if growth is needed, Mazuri will put some on.


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## Linhdan Nguyen

Is the t-rex tortoise dry formula the ones with different colors ?


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## ZEROPILOT

I don't wish to side rail this great and helpful thread. I just want to mention that my Redfoot will not eat the Mazuri type LS.
The "Regular" Mazuri. (Red label) is something that my tortoises can not resist.
I would suggest purchasing a small amount of each before buying a big bag.
Or ask a member to send you a sample.


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## Pearly

wellington said:


> May I suggest that it would be beneficial to try and use the food soaking water too. Many of the benefits of the food will also be in the water. Also, if the babies will eat without their food being finely chopped or mushed up, this too is a benefit to their beak, nails (if feeding on a rock surface) and to their natural grazing ability, as they have to use their feet sometimes to be able to pull bites off. My hatchling leopard has been fed this way since he hatched and has no problems doing it. Just more natural. As for Mazuri. Oh yea, most torts love it and if growth is needed, Mazuri will put some on.


Yes! Thank you for catching it! Also for the picky eater baby another trick maybe soaking Mazuri in fruit juice (or carrot juice, just to sweeten the flavor). Our babies graze when outside and if there is anything growing in their nursery that they like but that's in no way enough to meet their calorie/nutrition requirement. Majority of the nutrition still comes from the salads I chop up for them. Their first meal is in the morning, they never finish that meal. Then Depending on the number of snails they catch during their garden time, they eat second meal (often very good size) after their bath in pm. You know how hard it was to watch Little Tucker at just 1.5-2inches not eating? His tiny legs were soooo skinny!!! This and then having him missing for 4 weeks must have scarred me and made me become overbearing and keeping him from developing natural independent eating habits. In my defense, I'm am "old school", and do what women in my family have done for generations: we love, we nurture, we FEED! When someone is happy and celebrating - we feed them good food, sad-we also feed them, sick or injured- we feed, believing that good food will restore them and help them be whole again. Guess, I do this same with my children and my pets... Oh well, must be in my genes


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## Pearly

Linhdan Nguyen said:


> Is the t-rex tortoise dry formula the ones with different colors ?


I believe it was. That was a "sample size", one of the couple that I had bought soon after realizing that I could get our little Tucker to eat Mazuri, and then fresh greens and stuff mixed with it. I was searching for alternatives and variety


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## Pearly

ZEROPILOT said:


> I don't wish to side rail this great and helpful thread. I just want to mention that my Redfoot will not eat the Mazuri type LS.
> The "Regular" Mazuri. (Red label) is something that my tortoises can not resist.
> I would suggest purchasing a small amount of each before buying a big bag.
> Or ask a member to send you a sample.


I'm glad you brought this to my attention, i didn't realize there were different types of mazuri! Do you happen to have a picture of the bag of that "regular one?


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## Linhdan Nguyen

Pearly said:


> I believe it was. That was a "sample size", one of the couple that I had bought soon after realizing that I could get our little Tucker to eat Mazuri, and then fresh greens and stuff mixed with it. I was searching for alternatives and variety


Thats the one i have also, and my russians LOVE it but i was thinking, are those colors natural? The grassland and mazuri tortoise foods are all brownish green (ground up veggies?) But this has color. So i was a little worried about sugars and unnatural ingredients in their food.


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## Pearly

Linhdan Nguyen said:


> Thats the one i have also, and my russians LOVE it but i was thinking, are those colors natural? The grassland and mazuri tortoise foods are all brownish green (ground up veggies?) But this has color. So i was a little worried about sugars and unnatural ingredients in their food.


Any color in any type of animal feed is supposed to be food grade. Those labels often have ingredients listed, but with names of things I can't even pronounce. What I do is buy domestic product only, and use it only as supplement or occasional treat just to give more variety. Those tiny colorful flakes are Tucker's favorite! They are small enough for him to manage dry and I think he loves the little crunch. I use them once a week just as sprinkle over his salad to get him interested in his food. He always picks every single colorful flake before getting to the salad. I also use them and other favorites to mix in their less favorite greens. It's kinda like feeding a picky toddler, you trick them into eating what's good for them.


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## Linhdan Nguyen

Pearly said:


> Any color in any type of animal feed is supposed to be food grade. Those labels often have ingredients listed, but with names of things I can't even pronounce. What I do is buy domestic product only, and use it only as supplement or occasional treat just to give more variety. Those tiny colorful flakes are Tucker's favorite! They are small enough for him to manage dry and I think he loves the little crunch. I use them once a week just as sprinkle over his salad to get him interested in his food. He always picks every single colorful flake before getting to the salad. I also use them and other favorites to mix in their less favorite greens. It's kinda like feeding a picky toddler, you trick them into eating what's good for them.


I cant pronounce some of them either  which is why im a little iffy about them. But if theyre not the primary diet then it should be fine. 
and yes Khaleesi loves the ones with purple and red. Max likes the red ones too. The yellow ones seem to always be left behind .


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## Yvonne G

I always chop up the food like you do, for the babies. If it's all mixed together like you do it, they have to eat it all, and they do. Once they have become little eating machines and will eat anything, then you can feed them whole foods (not chopped up). You don't feed the chopped up food long enough in a baby's life for his beak to become overgrown.


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## Yelloweyed

@Yvonne G - when do you stop mincing/chopping the food for the baby torts? My Russian will be 1 year this month and my CA desert torts are 7 months old.


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## Yvonne G

It's about the time I put them outside - probably around a year or a bit more.


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## ZEROPILOT

Here is the good old regular Mazuri that I buy in 25 pound bags. Note the red label.....Crocodile, lizard, turtle and tortoise formula.


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## ZEROPILOT

I have Redfoot and they are a little odd in that they are true OMNIVORES and also tolerate sugar/fruit as a regular part of the diet.


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## wellington

Pearly said:


> Yes! Thank you for catching it! Also for the picky eater baby another trick maybe soaking Mazuri in fruit juice (or carrot juice, just to sweeten the flavor). Our babies graze when outside and if there is anything growing in their nursery that they like but that's in no way enough to meet their calorie/nutrition requirement. Majority of the nutrition still comes from the salads I chop up for them. Their first meal is in the morning, they never finish that meal. Then Depending on the number of snails they catch during their garden time, they eat second meal (often very good size) after their bath in pm. You know how hard it was to watch Little Tucker at just 1.5-2inches not eating? His tiny legs were soooo skinny!!! This and then having him missing for 4 weeks must have scarred me and made me become overbearing and keeping him from developing natural independent eating habits. In my defense, I'm am "old school", and do what women in my family have done for generations: we love, we nurture, we FEED! When someone is happy and celebrating - we feed them good food, sad-we also feed them, sick or injured- we feed, believing that good food will restore them and help them be whole again. Guess, I do this same with my children and my pets... Oh well, must be in my genes


Hey, I don't blame you a bit. Do what works and if it can make you feel better too, even better


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## Pearly

Linhdan Nguyen said:


> I cant pronounce some of them either  which is why im a little iffy about them. But if theyre not the primary diet then it should be fine.
> and yes Khaleesi loves the ones with purple and red. Max likes the red ones too. The yellow ones seem to always be left behind .


I like how you named your torts


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## Pearly

Yvonne G said:


> I always chop up the food like you do, for the babies. If it's all mixed together like you do it, they have to eat it all, and they do. Once they have become little eating machines and will eat anything, then you can feed them whole foods (not chopped up). You don't feed the chopped up food long enough in a baby's life for his beak to become overgrown.


That's a great way to summarize the principle behind it Yvonne. In nature many animal mothers masticate (chew) the food and swallow while hunting or foraging. Then once back in the nest/den with her babies, she regurgitates this soft, warm, easy to manage meal. Human babies go through stages where food has to be first liquid, then pudding consistency, then puree, soft, chopped, finger foods, then finally regular food. I believe in doing WTHIT (whatever the heck it takes) to get tiny baby to eat. I even decided to forgo calcium supplement for few months bcs Tucker wouldn't come near any food with supplement. Now I put their calcium in the food I know they can't resist. In this case it's cooked shrimp, and some fruit. And @Yvonne G your comment about the beak gives me reassurance I needed. Thank you.


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## Linhdan Nguyen

Pearly said:


> I like how you named your torts


Why thank you. I can only take half the credit, my boyfriend named Khaleesi.


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## Pearly

Yelloweyed said:


> @Yvonne G - when do you stop mincing/chopping the food for the baby torts? My Russian will be 1 year this month and my CA desert torts are 7 months old.


My babies are about 10 months old, and they wouldn't get enough nutrition in form of whole leaves, larger pieces of fruit/veg etc. With each meal my daughter and I put out some fresh leaves of dandelion, or escarole, parsley, radicchio. The nibble on them but never enough for me to feel satisfied . Maybe it's bcs they eat well and are never really hungry? I don't know, but meanwhile I don't mind chopping, it gives me opportunity to make sure they eat good variety. If people agree on anything they all seem to agree that in feeding VARIETY is the key


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## Pearly

ZEROPILOT said:


> Here is the good old regular Mazuri that I buy in 25 pound bags. Note the red label.....Crocodile, lizard, turtle and tortoise formula.


I have never seen this one around here


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## jaizei

Pearly said:


> I have never seen this one around here



The smaller bags of Mazuri original recipe were discontinued. You have to order it online, either in 25 lb bags from Mazuri or resellers if you want smaller amounts.


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## Pearly

jaizei said:


> The smaller bags of Mazuri original recipe were discontinued. You have to order it online, either in 25 lb bags from Mazuri or resellers if you want smaller amounts.


I don't know when I'd use 25 lbs, if I only need like maybe 15-20 pellets per week...


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## Pearly

calcium supplement day!!! They'll eat it but only when mixed into minced cooked shrimp spoiled rotten kids!!!


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## Pearly

yesterday's meals: green (escarole, little collard green), mango, tiny strip of red bell pepper, and minced cactus.

i usually put it on some veggie or lettuce leaves for easier clean up,

and add little soaked/mashed mazuri, some sprouts, and VOILA! Good to go!

i usual do my chopping once a day and leave some copped stuff for another feeding just as time saver. Now I wouldn't chop the greens too much ahead, as they would lose their crunch, become soggy and yacky.


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## Kori5

You are a great tort mom . I have a spoiled on too and he hates Mazuri, both types. Although he loves the LS more.


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## Pearly

Kori5 said:


> You are a great tort mom . I have a spoiled on too and he hates Mazuri, both types. Although he loves the LS more.


Thank you, yes, it's our who finds Mazuri LS and his protein irresistable. He's the little cherryhead. Shellka always darts for any fruit and she's the best snail hunter I've ever seen


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## Pearly

Pearly said:


> Thank you, yes, it's our who finds Mazuri LS and his protein irresistable. He's the little cherryhead. Shellka always darts for any fruit and she's the best snail hunter I've ever seen


Meant "our Tucker" , i don't know why the spellchecker does what it does at times


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## Prairie Mom

I love really well illustrated posts like yours! Nice job!


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## Pearly

Prairie Mom said:


> I love really well illustrated posts like yours! Nice job!


Thank you. I do too


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## Pearly

calcium supplement day on a Sunday! Mixed with this minced shrimp they will devour it to the last bite. I only give calcium 1x per week. If that! My babies eat very well and my Picky Eater is turning into an eating machine so I feel there is no need to go crazy with supplements. They are just supposed to "fill in the gaps". Or.., is it different with tort diet? If someone knows that it is (different) please tell me all about it.


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## jaizei

Pearly said:


> View attachment 174526
> calcium supplement day on a Sunday! Mixed with this minced shrimp they will devour it to the last bite. I only give calcium 1x per week. If that! My babies eat very well and my Picky Eater is turning into an eating machine so I feel there is no need to go crazy with supplements. They are just supposed to "fill in the gaps". Or.., is it different with tort diet? If someone knows that it is (different) please tell me all about it.



Your tortoises eat better than I do. 

A little extra calcium shouldn't hurt.


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## Pearly

jaizei said:


> Your tortoises eat better than I do.
> 
> A little extra calcium shouldn't hurt.


Haha! They get tons of it in their food  but I'm not against supplementing. Just don't like to overdo it. Especially when they eat diverse diet (and lots of it!!!) are active, pee&poo and look/feel like lil' walking rocks. They have cuttle bone in there too which they used to nibble on almost daily. Interesting that they used their cuttlebone all the time when they were not eating their food as eagerly. Now they eat like they've never seen food before and seem to ignore the cuttlebone.


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## John Franzwa

Awesome thread I learned a lot thanks I will defiantly be using this info a lot!


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## Fredkas

This is a good discussion to help my problem. The picture say all of it. Thank you very muchhh!!!


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## Pearly

Little update to my feeding thread. Found couple other pelleted tort food in little pet store.

. My babies are not too crazy about it. It looks like ground up hay, very fiberous, but the label says "forest tortoise food".

and this one is completely different texture, very smooth, takes longer to soak than the first one. Tucker seems to like it much more than the other, but not nearly as much as they like Mazuri or the teeny tiny colorful pellets

. We also have a great wuick fix for a bribe

omg! They love those tiny freeze dried shrimp! I always give them couple of those each time I have them do something that disagreeable to them so they don't mind so much

they also love the smell of these but these anchovies are so dense in texture I chop them up into crumbles and sprinkle small bit over chopped cactus mixed with chopped greens to get them to start eating. I know I know! This is not "natural" and "they should graze" in everything. But to me there's nothing natural about keeping rainforest tortoise in central Texas subdivision house/backyard and I just want for them to eat, grow, be healthy, never worry about food and have happy life as my family little "captives"


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## Pearly

John Franzwa said:


> Awesome thread I learned a lot thanks I will defiantly be using this info a lot!





Fredkas said:


> This is a good discussion to help my problem. The picture say all of it. Thank you very muchhh!!!


Glad to know. This is the whole Point of making this thread, to help others who worry about their pets like I did. It took me a lot of reading, searching the local stores, experimenting to get to this point where I'm half way confident in what I'm doing here, so if anyone else can benefit from my work than all that has been more than worth it.


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## Pearly

Wanted to share another couple of newly discovered commercial tort formulas

my babies seem to LOVE this one. The label says "appetite stimulating" so it maybe on of the possibilities to entice those picky eaters to food. I just put a sprinkle of it on top of the salad and mixed it in a bit. My babies first went fishing for those orange cubes before eating all the rest.

and another pelleted type, only these are moist pellets. I'm not sure if this will be my torts' favorite but they in general like most commercial tort food


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## Tidgy's Dad

Pearly said:


> Little update to my feeding thread. Found couple other pelleted tort food in little pet store.
> View attachment 179151
> . My babies are not too crazy about it. It looks like ground up hay, very fiberous, but the label says "forest tortoise food".
> View attachment 179152
> and this one is completely different texture, very smooth, takes longer to soak than the first one. Tucker seems to like it much more than the other, but not nearly as much as they like Mazuri or the teeny tiny colorful pellets
> View attachment 179155
> . We also have a great wuick fix for a bribe
> View attachment 179156
> omg! They love those tiny freeze dried shrimp! I always give them couple of those each time I have them do something that disagreeable to them so they don't mind so much
> View attachment 179157
> they also love the smell of these but these anchovies are so dense in texture I chop them up into crumbles and sprinkle small bit over chopped cactus mixed with chopped greens to get them to start eating. I know I know! This is not "natural" and "they should graze" in everything. But to me there's nothing natural about keeping rainforest tortoise in central Texas subdivision house/backyard and I just want for them to eat, grow, be healthy, never worry about food and have happy life as my family little "captives"


I bought the Zoo Med Forest Tortoise food by mistake once, when i didn't have my glasses.
Though it's not exactly the right stuff for Tidgy, i feed it sometimes and she adores it, one of her favourite ever things.
Silly tort.


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## Prairie Mom

Pearly said:


> Wanted to share another couple of newly discovered commercial tort formulas
> View attachment 183635
> my babies seem to LOVE this one. The label says "appetite stimulating" so it maybe on of the possibilities to entice those picky eaters to food. I just put a sprinkle of it on top of the salad and mixed it in a bit. My babies first went fishing for those orange cubes before eating all the rest.
> View attachment 183637
> and another pelleted type, only these are moist pellets. I'm not sure if this will be my torts' favorite but they in general like most commercial tort food


I wonder what the main ingredients consist of? They look almost fruity?


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## Nisi

Can you list good flowers for leopard torts to eat. I am going to my brothers to steal some of his grass since his isn't treated and my friend has a natural garden she is willing to bring me clippings . Just want to make sure I don't poison him.


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## Tidgy's Dad

Nisi said:


> Can you list good flowers for leopard torts to eat. I am going to my brothers to steal some of his grass since his isn't treated and my friend has a natural garden she is willing to bring me clippings . Just want to make sure I don't poison him.


Try http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/tortoise_home_1.asp
they are a tad on the safe side ( wisely so) but give a good idea of what is safe for you tortoise to eat.


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## Pearly

Nisi said:


> Can you list good flowers for leopard torts to eat. I am going to my brothers to steal some of his grass since his isn't treated and my friend has a natural garden she is willing to bring me clippings . Just want to make sure I don't poison him.


Somehow I had missed your question. I think any flower of nontoxic is good diet item for grazing tort. Dandelion, hibiscus, rose, pansy, marigold, snapdragon, calendula, dianthus, squash, zucchini, pumpkin blooms... maybe clovers... look around and see what you've got growing around


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## Cymmie

I do what you do except I have two types a pellets (zoomed grassland tortoise food) and the mazuri LS. I never thought about doing a rotation with them. Teo gets pellets about two times a week, because he just went in to the vet and he was underweight due to his RI (as you may remember from my other thread). I decided to get mazuri to use instead to help put on some weight cause I know it does. But I don't know why I haven't rotated them XD Funny thing is I use a huge amount of veggies/greens/weeds/some fruit for Teo and he loves it. He also has his sprouts which I plan to plant some outside of his cage because the poor sprouts can't even grow for two whole days before they meat the horrid tortoise mouth. But what I usually do to get him to eat his pellets is I soak them with just enough warm water to get them moist and then because he can be a picky little man I usually mix them with canned pumpkin/sweet potato (all organic) if I need something quick. Or if I have some sweet potato pre cooked or squash or whatever I mix it in. He of course gets plenty of that raw and grated in larger grated sizes. I grow various things for him, my blue tongue, and my insects that I feed to my various other reptiles.


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## TempestRising

Really great post on feeding our 'Babies'! I received Sunni and Sheldyn on May 2 they both weighed 45g (I'm guessing they are 4 or 5 months at the most) since then Sheldyn is now (5/28/17) 60g and Sunni is 55g. I have noticed that Sheldyn will hog the food dish leaving Sunni to pace the edge or nibble on what he/she can get. Soooo... I was getting worried because Sunni is very active but just seemed not to be eating enough in my opinion. I'm super glad I was able to search the forum and find a solution. It doesnt look very appealing (I'm gonna work on that LoL) but Sunni ate a full hardy meal today that included *Pureed hibiscus flower, chickweed, mushrooms, beet tops, and Mazuri (I ordered a 12oz bag from an Amazon Verified Seller) soaked in warm coconut water and calcium supl mixed in. I've decided to separate them for a bit to get Sunni eating regularly again. After a good soak in separate containers (pic is of their soak yesterday) I brought Sunni inside to eat alone for 30 minutes then once he/she roamed off and hid under some moss I brought Sheldyn in from his sun time and he/she ate good as well. They are both bedded down for the evening... night temps are 80F (cool end) - 86F (warm end) and humidity is 91%.... I think they had a pretty good day! #SideNote @Pearly I totally live in Pflugerville! So glad to have someone to turn to close to home! If you don't mind I'll definitely be asking for your tips as these guys settle in and grow! Thanks again!


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## Fredkas

I think the best way is separate them and let them have their own enclosure.
Tortoise rarely do well in pair.


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## TempestRising

I completely agree on seperating them for now. My husband has agreed to us getting another hatchling in July hopefully after 3 months of quarantine (I'm going to get him/her from the same breeder so hopefully 3 months will be good before introducing the 3rd tort). We are working on a larger closed chamber enclosure where I can divide it into private sections and they still have adequate space to be okay. Here is this mornings observations. Sheldyn is definitely a Baby Bully! He hogged the food this morning again I had to be sure this is what was happening. I went ahead a soaked Sunni and then refreshed this mornings meal (Cantalope Green Leaf Lettuce Blueberries Mazuri Soaked in warm Coconut Water and Strawberries are Sunni's favs so I sprinkled sum on top just to get him/her going....) AND I got nibbles then no interest. Sunni did poop which I think looks consistent and regular for her. But because I'm a New Nervous Netty I ended up resoaking sum fresh Mazuri mixing with Strawberries and laying on Greenleaf because she is curious and will wonder near the lettuce. I then put the food and Sunni in a separate space turned off the lighting opened the blinds to let the natural light go into the enclosure... Temps were about 82 to 86 throughout and humidity above 90%... Sunni did eat a portion that made me feel that she is just being bratty BUT better safe than sorry so I will be keeping my eye out! Pics of this mornings ordeal below! LoL! My 1year old was my shadow this AM! He thinks he is my helper! NOT! Just a tripping hazard. I spilled rain water for saoking all over my dining room floor!


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## Pearly

TempestRising said:


> I completely agree on seperating them for now. My husband has agreed to us getting another hatchling in July hopefully after 3 months of quarantine (I'm going to get him/her from the same breeder so hopefully 3 months will be good before introducing the 3rd tort). We are working on a larger closed chamber enclosure where I can divide it into private sections and they still have adequate space to be okay. Here is this mornings observations. Sheldyn is definitely a Baby Bully! He hogged the food this morning again I had to be sure this is what was happening. I went ahead a soaked Sunni and then refreshed this mornings meal (Cantalope Green Leaf Lettuce Blueberries Mazuri Soaked in warm Coconut Water and Strawberries are Sunni's favs so I sprinkled sum on top just to get him/her going....) AND I got nibbles then no interest. Sunni did poop which I think looks consistent and regular for her. But because I'm a New Nervous Netty I ended up resoaking sum fresh Mazuri mixing with Strawberries and laying on Greenleaf because she is curious and will wonder near the lettuce. I then put the food and Sunni in a separate space turned off the lighting opened the blinds to let the natural light go into the enclosure... Temps were about 82 to 86 throughout and humidity above 90%... Sunni did eat a portion that made me feel that she is just being bratty BUT better safe than sorry so I will be keeping my eye out! Pics of this mornings ordeal below! LoL! My 1year old was my shadow this AM! He thinks he is my helper! NOT! Just a tripping hazard. I spilled rain water for saoking all over my dining room floor!
> View attachment 209167
> View attachment 209168
> View attachment 209169
> View attachment 209170
> View attachment 209171
> View attachment 209172
> View attachment 209173
> View attachment 209174
> View attachment 209175
> View attachment 209176


Omg!!!! Your Baby is absolutely adorable!!!!!


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## TempestRising

Pearly said:


> Omg!!!! Your Baby is absolutely adorable!!!!!


Thank you! He is growing 2 fast! He started walking at 10 months and just gets into EVERYTHING! Lol


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## Pearly

TempestRising said:


> Thank you! He is growing 2 fast! He started walking at 10 months and just gets into EVERYTHING! Lol


As lil toddlers should enjoy your little cuties before they get bigger, stinkier, mouthier....


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## Greta16

So hopefully someone here can help and I won't have to start a new thread. My soon to be 6 mo old Hermanns is really driving me crazy. A little over a month ago I'm gonna guess she started eating her mazuri. This was about the time I switched over to fresh weeds as they started growing outside. For a few days she wouldn't eat the greens then voila, she did. Now it seems all she wants to eat is her mazuri. She hardly touches her greens. When I got her in march she weighed 28g and now she's 30g. Should I be chopping up her greens with the mazuri? I'm afraid she'll only eat that and never touch her greens again?!


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## Pearly

Greta16 said:


> So hopefully someone here can help and I won't have to start a new thread. My soon to be 6 mo old Hermanns is really driving me crazy. A little over a month ago I'm gonna guess she started eating her mazuri. This was about the time I switched over to fresh weeds as they started growing outside. For a few days she wouldn't eat the greens then voila, she did. Now it seems all she wants to eat is her mazuri. She hardly touches her greens. When I got her in march she weighed 28g and now she's 30g. Should I be chopping up her greens with the mazuri? I'm afraid she'll only eat that and never touch her greens again?!


I would! Chop things up and add soaked mazuri pellets. Now, remember that Mazuri IS NOT BAD for them so we don't havAt first you e to act like we's bribing toddler with candy to get few mites of food. You may want to start with more Mazuri/less greens, or 1/2&½, and then slowly start changing over. I feed Maxuri rotating with other brands of dry commercial tortoise pellets almost daily at breakfast, where it makes up for about ¼ of their feeding portion. My babies are 2 yrs old and i just weighted them today Shellie weighs bit over 3 lbs (approx 1.5kg) and Tucker is little over 2lbs (approx 1kg) and they are 8 and 7 " long carapace respectively, not big but both feel very solid when i pick them up, which tells me I must have done something right in feeding those 2 babies their first 2 yrs of life. My approach is similar to feeding a young child (do whatever it takes to get them to ingest some stuff that their growing body needs as building blocks) and/or principles of nutrition in recovering from major surgery or illness. It all takes time and lot of patience. Kids and animals typically don't like sudden changes so things need to be done gradually over period of time. Play with kinds of foods, consistency (chop, dice, blend even), colors (try adding flowers for visual/olfactory appeal). You are one step ahead already by knowing what your tortie's favorite is! Use it to your advantage. Keeping my fingers crossed for you


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## TempestRising

Pearly said:


> As lil toddlers should enjoy your little cuties before they get bigger, stinkier, mouthier....


Lol so true as I am learning with my 10 yr old! Also would like to note that Sunni has gone back to eating vigorously and has been very active the last few days. Today was protein day and they had boiled shrimp which they LOVED and prickly pear cactus which they also seemed to enjoy very much! I'll continue to take note of what they like as I add variety and get their menu and schedule more panned out! Thanks again for this thread it was a major help!


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## Pearly

TempestRising said:


> Lol so true as I am learning with my 10 yr old! Also would like to note that Sunni has gone back to eating vigorously and has been very active the last few days. Today was protein day and they had boiled shrimp which they LOVED and prickly pear cactus which they also seemed to enjoy very much! I'll continue to take note of what they like as I add variety and get their menu and schedule more panned out! Thanks again for this thread it was a major help!


Very very welcome


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## TempestRising

So good news there was some weight gain that I feel means I have a little picky eater on my hands lol. I was really nervous there tho...!

May 28 2017
Sheldyn 60g Sunni 55g
June 4 2017
Sheldyn 67g Sunni 63g


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## Greta16

Pearly said:


> I would! Chop things up and add soaked mazuri pellets. Now, remember that Mazuri IS NOT BAD for them so we don't havAt first you e to act like we's bribing toddler with candy to get few mites of food. You may want to start with more Mazuri/less greens, or 1/2&½, and then slowly start changing over. I feed Maxuri rotating with other brands of dry commercial tortoise pellets almost daily at breakfast, where it makes up for about ¼ of their feeding portion. My babies are 2 yrs old and i just weighted them today Shellie weighs bit over 3 lbs (approx 1.5kg) and Tucker is little over 2lbs (approx 1kg) and they are 8 and 7 " long carapace respectively, not big but both feel very solid when i pick them up, which tells me I must have done something right in feeding those 2 babies their first 2 yrs of life. My approach is similar to feeding a young child (do whatever it takes to get them to ingest some stuff that their growing body needs as building blocks) and/or principles of nutrition in recovering from major surgery or illness. It all takes time and lot of patience. Kids and animals typically don't like sudden changes so things need to be done gradually over period of time. Play with kinds of foods, consistency (chop, dice, blend even), colors (try adding flowers for visual/olfactory appeal). You are one step ahead already by knowing what your tortie's favorite is! Use it to your advantage. Keeping my fingers crossed for you


Thanks. For some reason I couldn't get on here yesterday, it just kept saying connecting to server. Anyway. I chopped up her greens with her mazuri yesterday and she didn't touch it. I'm just gonna keep it up everyday! This morning it was raining and I didn't have her stuff already picked and I was late and I've got a bunch of family stuff going on...so I put in some Belgian endive (grocery store crap) to tide her over til I could come home and pick her some stuff.. well, I've never seen her run so fast. Ugghh, she saw those grocery store greens and ran.


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## TempestRising

I was wondering what you think about this product. I found this on Amazon wondering if it would be something I could add to their diet. It seems really safe plus it takes some time for my Hibiscus to bloom in between feedings.


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## Rferrin

I was given a tort about a year ago, was told it was a desert tortoise, and I was told that I needed to "figure out" what the previous owner fed it.. well, I know he/she will eat corn on the cob, kale, hibiscus but not much more, I have tried the vitamin pellets and those don't seem to work, tried soaking them but still nothing, he/she will eat grass leaves from the bushes and as gross as this is, I found him/her eating dog poop, (that came to an abrupt halt!) and he snuck out and went to visit the neighbors mulberry tree, we have since reinforced his enclosure so he/she doesn't get lost but I'm concerned about the lack of eating


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## TempestRising

Hi! @Rferrin I'm new here but reading through this thread entirely and trying a few of the ideas really helped my RFs have a more steady and varied appetite. Not sure what type of tort you have (any pics?) Maybe finding out what type of tort you have first will better help you figure out the best diet for him/her. To help with my RFs feedings I had to try a variety of weeds and leafy greens I also added these dry foods on alternate days. Then began to introduce veggies and fruits.


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