my cherry head will only eat bananas HELP

i can't get my baby cherry to eat anything except bananas how can i remedy this

Tough love.
Have you tried mixing the other foods finely chopped in with mashed banana. Every day use less banana and more other stuff until there is no banana. Then start leaving the other stuff in bigger pieces.
Honestly, I would drop bananas completely all at once. When your tort gets hungry he will eat.. it may even take a couple days.
What other foods have you offered? Any proteins?

i try using mazuri , spring mix, hibiscus, he won't eat it , i have yet to give him any protein still trying to figure out whats the best protein to give him

Bambam1989 said:

Tough love.
Have you tried mixing the other foods finely chopped in with mashed banana. Every day use less banana and more other stuff until there is no banana. Then start leaving the other stuff in bigger pieces.
Honestly, I would drop bananas completely all at once. When your tort gets hungry he will eat.. it may even take a couple days.
What other foods have you offered? Any proteins?

Click to expand...

I agree with this.

gianni colameco said:

i try using mazuri , spring mix, hibiscus, he won't eat it , i have yet to give him any protein still trying to figure out whats the best protein to give him

Click to expand...

Mushrooms (store bought so you know their safe), cooked chicken(no seasoning or oils), hard boiled eggs (smooshed up, shell and all), earthworms. A little animal protein is good for the redfoots torts.

I always have to chuckle when I see threads like this. Captive turtles and tortoises can only eat when their person gives them. If you don't give him bananas, he can't eat them, can he. They won't starve themselves. He may hold out for bananas, but if you don't ever give them to him ever, ever again, he can't eat them. Keep putting the food shown in the above posts in front of him, and no bananas, and I guarantee he'll eventually eat it.

Yvonne G said:

I always have to chuckle when I see threads like this. Captive turtles and tortoises can only eat when their person gives them. If you don't give him bananas, he can't eat them, can he. They won't starve themselves. He may hold out for bananas, but if you don't ever give them to him ever, ever again, he can't eat them. Keep putting the food shown in the above posts in front of him, and no bananas, and I guarantee he'll eventually eat it.

Click to expand...

you have to chuckle? i have tried feeding him other things and he wouldn't eat them so I was not trying to starve a hatchling that was just born if he won't eat anything else he was already stressed enough being brought into a new home, hence the reason i asked the question in the first place. I'm sorry that you are such an "expert" that a question about a tortoises food makes you laugh. Get off your high horse

gianni colameco said:

you have to chuckle? i have tried feeding him other things and he wouldn't eat them so I was not trying to starve a hatchling that was just born if he won't eat anything else he was already stressed enough being brought into a new home, hence the reason i asked the question in the first place. I'm sorry that you are such an "expert" that a question about a tortoises food makes you laugh. Get off your high horse

Click to expand...

Dang you asked for help and you got good advice. These guys have saved my “stressed hatchling” more then once. They know what they are talking about. You are the one needing an attitude adjustment. You may be stressed out about your baby but don’t take it them for helping when you asked for it.

gianni colameco said:

you have to chuckle? i have tried feeding him other things and he wouldn't eat them so I was not trying to starve a hatchling that was just born if he won't eat anything else he was already stressed enough being brought into a new home, hence the reason i asked the question in the first place. I'm sorry that you are such an "expert" that a question about a tortoises food makes you laugh. Get off your high horse

Click to expand...

Yvonne is a very respected member of the forum. Her seniority gives her the right to be a little blunt. She has got years of experience dealing with torts of all ages and, with her tort rescue experience, seen the side effects of torts being improperly cared for.
I'm sure she was not attempting to upset you, but please remember- advice is advice, even when it's not sugar coated.

Hi there. Can we see some pictures of your little tortoise?
Once you give them one particular thing and they glom on to it, it may be hard to get them to accept other things.
If you stop the bananas now, it would be a very good start to a new, varied diet for him!
Give him some chopped mustard greens mixed with at least two other healthy veggies and a bit of crushed hard boiled egg, MIXED in and he will eat if he is healthy and not sick in any way. Just needs a bit of patience on your part. It'll pay off!

Here's my trick to get a picky eater to try other foods:

Mash up a banana (or a piece of a banana) until you've got runny pulp. Then chop up into tiny pieces some of the food you're trying to get him to eat. Add the banana and stir it all around so all the other foods are coated and smelling like banana. Over time - and take a lot of time, don't rush - reduce the banana and increase the good stuff.

I 100% agree with Yvonne.
A tortoise will pick and choose like a child and only eat foods that it likes best. Even ignoring all other foods for a long period of time. Days or weeks.
It will not starve itself to death. Although I know it is hard to watch them not eat.
(For example, I had a sick adult eat almost nothing for 3 months and survived.)
Smear some banana all over something like some kale or a hibiscus leaf. Or grind it all together into a mush so that "junior" can't pick and choose.
I've seen this before. We all have. AS long as your temperatures and humidity, etc are all dialed in now, be patient and you'll be fine.

Yvonne G said:

Here's my trick to get a picky eater to try other foods:

Mash up a banana (or a piece of a banana) until you've got runny pulp. Then chop up into tiny pieces some of the food you're trying to get him to eat. Add the banana and stir it all around so all the other foods are coated and smelling like banana. Over time - and take a lot of time, don't rush - reduce the banana and increase the good stuff.

Click to expand...

I was too late on my post....
What she said.............

gianni colameco said:

i try using mazuri , spring mix, hibiscus, he won't eat it , i have yet to give him any protein still trying to figure out whats the best protein to give him

Click to expand...

Do you have a dog or a cat?
If so, offer a small amount of dog or cat food. Moistened.

What if you tried a food processor and just added a little banana for flavor? I tried this yesterday to prevent my guy from picking only one thing from the bowl to munch on. Worked really well!

Bambam1989 said:

Yvonne is a very respected member of the forum. Her seniority gives her the right to be a little blunt. She has got years of experience dealing with torts of all ages and, with her tort rescue experience, seen the side effects of torts being improperly cared for.
I'm sure she was not attempting to upset you, but please remember- advice is advice, even when it's not sugar coated.

Click to expand...

so that gives her the right to be rude. i don't think so a human being is a human being and you should treat every one with respect, the reason she acts like that is probably because she hasn't had social interaction with anything accept a tortoise in years

Destben said:

Dang you asked for help and you got good advice. These guys have saved my “stressed hatchling” more then once. They know what they are talking about. You are the one needing an attitude adjustment. You may be stressed out about your baby but don’t take it them for helping when you asked for it.

Click to expand...

i am extremely appreciative of the advice, i was talking about one person in particular, where i am from you don't act smug because you think your better than someone because you have been in an internet group longer theres just no reason to be that way when you can just be a civil person and not act like that. idc what you think if i see someone being rude i will address it. i understand people who spend much of their time on the internet don't have the best social skills but its still no an excuse thank you

how long do you think he can go without eating before i should just give in and not risk him starving, days? weeks?

gianni colameco said:

i am extremely appreciative of the advice, i was talking about one person in particular, where i am from you don't act smug because you think your better than someone because you have been in an internet group longer theres just no reason to be that way when you can just be a civil person and not act like that. idc what you think if i see someone being rude i will address it. i understand people who spend much of their time on the internet don't have the best social skills but its still no an excuse thank you

Click to expand...

I'm just going to say that if anything, this response is a bit "rude", and in bad taste. You read her message out of context and are being distastefully defensive. Everyone here is attempting to help you.

I don't care what you think but, if I see someone being rude, I will address it. (Probably a better way to word that.)

gianni colameco said:

i am extremely appreciative of the advice, i was talking about one person in particular, where i am from you don't act smug because you think your better than someone because you have been in an internet group longer theres just no reason to be that way when you can just be a civil person and not act like that. idc what you think if i see someone being rude i will address it. i understand people who spend much of their time on the internet don't have the best social skills but its still no an excuse thank you

Click to expand...

The fact that she can laugh should make you feel better, just saying. If it was something she saw as serious she would not have. As for her seniority..... she has experience and that’s what you ask for is it not? Your “social skills” need some adjusting because everyone else can tell she meant nothing by it other then these kinds of posts are seen ALOT.... I posted one like two weeks ago because my tort is addicted to mazuri tort food and was skipping her veggies.