Am I doing something wrong?

MFekete

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OK I keep food available in with my tortoise all day. He has grasses weeds and mazuri. He refuses to eat any of it?? But when I get him out to soak him he will eat romaine lettuce. It's like that's all I can get him to eat? Am I doing something wrong? Is it because he is only 10 weeks old? Is the breed just picky? Help
 

wellington

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It's because you keep feeding him the romaine. Next time, chop up the romaine very small. Sprinkle it over the better for him foods and spritz with water. If he wants the romaine, he will have to eat the better stuff to get it. As he eats this, slowly put less and less of the romaine, until he is eating only the good stuff. Then leave the romaine out of the equation.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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OK I keep food available in with my tortoise all day. He has grasses weeds and mazuri. He refuses to eat any of it?? But when I get him out to soak him he will eat romaine lettuce. It's like that's all I can get him to eat? Am I doing something wrong? Is it because he is only 10 weeks old? Is the breed just picky? Help
Torts are like kids they will always eat candy but your in for a fight to get them to eat vegys ! Just be a good daddy and they will eat the vegys :)
 

TMartin510

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It's because you keep feeding him the romaine. Next time, chop up the romaine very small. Sprinkle it over the better for him foods and spritz with water. If he wants the romaine, he will have to eat the better stuff to get it. As he eats this, slowly put less and less of the romaine, until he is eating only the good stuff. Then leave the romaine out of the equation.
Haha that's a very good idea!
 

dmmj

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I agree with all above. Lettuce tastes good which is why they eat it. But it has very low nutritional value
 

MFekete

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Thank you I will do just that. I cut fresh grass and weeds from the yard daily and leave it in his cage.
 

MFekete

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I have been giving him a sample piece at night before bed this is our bonding time. Is that still ok to do
 

johnsonnboswell

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You become the food god, the source of all good, the bringer to sunshine. The concept of bonding time isn't especially useful with tortoises. He'll associate you with good things anyway. Bed time snacks aren't good, even good food, because he needs warmth to digest.
 

Tom

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There might be other things going wrong here too. It is not normal for them to be picky. A healthy sulcata baby should eat everything in sight.

What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area and over night low?
What heating and lighting equipment are you using to achieve these temps?
UV?
Where did you get this baby? Most breeders don't start them correctly…
Can you post a pc of your set up?
 

MFekete

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It's because you keep feeding him the romaine. Next time, chop up the romaine very small. Sprinkle it over the better for him foods and spritz with water. If he wants the romaine, he will have to eat the better stuff to get it. As he eats this, slowly put less and less of the romaine, until he is eating only the good stuff. Then leave the romaine out of the equation.
Was wanting to let you know I tried what you said and it worked :) thank you so much :)
 

MFekete

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OK so here is the set up, the temperature stays about 80 to 90 and he has a cool side that he can go to. He has a shallow water dish I keep his water in and then he has his Terra cotta dish with fresh cut up grass and weeds in it. He is still very picky he eats the pieces of grass that have a small piece of the romaine hooked to it. How is my enclosure maybe something in it is wrong
 

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Angel Carrion

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OK so here is the set up, the temperature stays about 80 to 90 and he has a cool side that he can go to. He has a shallow water dish I keep his water in and then he has his Terra cotta dish with fresh cut up grass and weeds in it. He is still very picky he eats the pieces of grass that have a small piece of the romaine hooked to it. How is my enclosure maybe something in it is wrong
Is the water dish big enough for him to climb in and soak when he wants?
Is that a red bulb I see? What kind of bulbs are you using? Take the red bulb out, it can confuse them to the point where they eat the substrate, and I think it can hurt their eyes. How are you keeping humidity up?
 

MFekete

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Yes the red bulb is what the pet store told be to get it. I'm spraying it down and yes he can soak in water dish. What do I use for heat?
 

johnsonnboswell

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Pet stores sell stuff. It's how they stay in business. They give terrible advice. No red lights.

I didn't catch what you're using for UVB. No coil bulbs, they're dangerous, damage eyes, and affect appetite. A mercury vapor bulb will give heat too as well as UVB.
 

Angel Carrion

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[QU OTE="MFekete, post: 1173878, member: 68463"]Yes the red bulb is what the pet store told be to get it. I'm spraying it down and yes he can soak in water dish. What do I use for heat?[/QUOTE]
Very rarely does a pet store give good advice and such. Most of what they sell for turtles and torts is either completely useless or very harmful, sometimes to the point of death.
Take the red bulb out now. Using a UVA basking bulb for heat along with a UVB strip light that is NOT a coil bulb then using a CHE (ceramic Heat Emitter) Connected to a thermostat at night for nighttime warmth is one way to have the needed heat and UV rays during the day and the needed heat at night, or you can use a Mercury Vapor Bulb by itself during the day and have the CHE at night if needed. A mercury vapor bulb produces heat, UVA, & UVB all in one single bulb.
 

Angel Carrion

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What do you use as substrate?
Placing some type of cover/lid over most of the enclosure is one way to retain needed heat and humidity. You can use a wooden board, plexiglass, or if that tote came with a lid, you can cut a hole big enough for the lights to shine through and clip the lid to the tote.
 

Tom

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OK so here is the set up, the temperature stays about 80 to 90 and he has a cool side that he can go to. He has a shallow water dish I keep his water in and then he has his Terra cotta dish with fresh cut up grass and weeds in it. He is still very picky he eats the pieces of grass that have a small piece of the romaine hooked to it. How is my enclosure maybe something in it is wrong

Looks like you got the typical bad pet store advice. The following is constructive criticism. Not intended to be mean, but instead intended to show you what is wrong and help to explain why your tortoise is not eating well.

You've got the wrong bulbs, wrong thermometer, possibly the wrong substrate, you've got your bulbs mounted wrong, your enclosure is too open and you've got the wrong temps. That is all I can see from the pics. Here is the correct care info:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

This is not your fault and it happens to lots of people. The good news is that you found the right place for the right info, so hopefully everything will turn out fine.
 

Angel Carrion

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Back before I joined this forum, I got bad care advice from a vet, even. So don't feel bad; you're not alone. The important thing is you are here now and all of us that have learned our lessons listening to bad info can help you not make the same mistakes, and instead do the best for your beloved chelonian. :)
 
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