he only eats Romain lettuce

Reptilony

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My tortoise only likes Romain lettuce and won’t eat anything else. I’ve tried adding a little more variety each time but he just won’t eat it. Can someone help?

Mix his romaine very finely with something else and let it get hungry, it won’t starve itself. Put just a tiny amount of the new thing in the finely chopped mix and incease quantity every day.
 

Lyn W

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What sort of tortoise is he?
When we know that we can point you in the direction of his caresheet which will tell you all about diet, temps, humidity substrate etc.
 

Lyn W

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If you look through the threads in the Russian section that you posted in about Bonding you will find 2 caresheets for Russian Torts.
Read through those and ask as many questions as you need.
Torts can be picky eaters but Romaine alone is not a good source of nutrition as I'm sure you realise, so you need to start offering other foods suggested in the careheet, mixed up with the Romaine.
If you can post pics of your tort and his enclosure members can advice on any changes you could make (if needed) to make sure your tort is happy and healthy.
 

ZEROPILOT

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I had this issue with my Greek tort Oli: he refused to eat anything but lettuce. When Ed ( @ZEROPILOT ) was kind enough to send me mazuri for Oli, my tort refused to eat it. @Lyn W suggested mixing the mazuri with the lettuce, I tried it and thank goodness it worked.

Thanks @Lyn W , thanks @ZEROPILOT .
You have GOT TO BE OUT of that Mazuri by now.
P.M. or Email me and I'll be happy to send more.
I need to buy another bag anyway.
As Gillian says. Mixing it with other items. Even the juice of other things works to get them eating.
 

Lyn W

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You have GOT TO BE OUT of that Mazuri by now.
P.M. or Email me and I'll be happy to send more.
I need to buy another bag anyway.
As Gillian says. Mixing it with other items. Even the juice of other things works to get them eating.
Yup that works well too.
If Lola is being picky I squeeze some cucumber juice on his food and then he soon eats it.
 

Gillian M

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You have GOT TO BE OUT of that Mazuri by now.
P.M. or Email me and I'll be happy to send more.
I need to buy another bag anyway.
As Gillian says. Mixing it with other items. Even the juice of other things works to get them eating.

Thanks A LOT Ed.

Will send you a PM NOW.
 

RosemaryDW

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He can't eat it if you don't offer it to him. They won't starve themselves.

Bingo! He’s not driving to the store for the romaine by himself; you are. :)

I know it can be hard for humans not to feed our pets but a tortoise isn’t like a dog or cat; they are capable of going long periods of time without food because food sources where they live can be very limited, especially when it’s hot and/or dry.
 

Toddrickfl1

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He's only eating romaine because you've spoiled him. Stop giving him romaine and give him something else and after a few days he'll give in. He won't starve himself to death.
 

Gillian M

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He's only eating romaine because you've spoiled him. Stop giving him romaine and give him something else and after a few days he'll give in. He won't starve himself to death.
So true. I went through this with Oli. It was so tiring to get him to start eating anything besides lettuce. But later on it did work, thank goodness.
 

AllieKat1997

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My boy has been picky too, don’t worry! You’re definitely not alone! I didn’t fed mine romaine lettuce for two days. Day three he didn’t eat and I put my foot down. I don’t care how long they can go without food, they gotta eat! I gave him is normal food mixture and put a tiny little bit of the new food in his bowl, increasing the amount of new food slowly. It is working so far! Good luck, and don’t give up! (Mine was far to smart to care that I had, at one point, had cut the lettuce up finely and slipped the new food in. He wasn’t fooled and he wasn’t impressed. Slowly increasing the portion of new food vs old food is what has been working. Every tort is different!)
 
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