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Should I be cutting Moonpie's food up or give her whole leaves from her spring mix? Should I cut her strawberries and bellpepper and stuff in small pieces? She is about a year old.
Cutting it up?
- Thread starter DanaLachney
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I wouldnt cut it up too small, i like to cut them in big strips, spring mix is pretty small , you may beable to leave it whole, just watch and see if she is struggling getting ahole of the big peices in her mouth. try cutting the straw beryy in half and let her eat it like that. the bigger the peices the more work they have to do and it will help keep the beak in shape.
I cut my veggies & fruit really small. Then I will add bigger pieces to let him decide if he wants to eat it. My greens are just ripped up a few times and thrown in. I like cutting the veggies because it helps keep his beak trimmed while grabbing bites off his dish.
I don't cut anything up. I like Emrys to be able to tear into things to work his beak properly, but I guess it all depends on the individual tortoise. Obviously if Emrys struggled I'd cut things up smaller, but as it is he has no problems chomping through leaves, peppers, carrots, a full cuttlebone...
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Just seems like she slightly struggles to me. Like her movements and biting is REALLY slow when she is eating idk she ate a little more this morning but never more than a piece or two of something when she does eat
You kind of have to take it on a case-by-case basis. If the baby is having trouble biting off pieces, or if they take in a long piece and don't bite it, it just keeps going and going down the throat, then that baby might need his food cut up smaller for a while until he gets some strength in his "bite."
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emysemys said:
Yes Yvonne that's what I was thinking too! I'm gonna try that tomorrow, I just wanted others perspective on the subject. Some say it's better to leave it whole others say cut it. But like I said she's at least a year old shouldn't she have more strength by now?
If I had one I thought were struggling at this age, I would do some of her meal cut up, but I would also leave her some long pieces and some tougher stems to eat the rest of the day. That way, you can feel okay that she is eating, but your also giving her things to help strengthen her bite and keep her occupied and stimulated during the day.
What are you going to try for protein? Some of us feed it on "Protein Sunday?" You could start with a boiled egg or boiled chicken. I did buy a can of sardines packed in water and he loved it. I'm getting ready to buy butter & Phoenix worms.
At that age we do not cut food up, unless it is like a whole item that is large.
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Momof4 said:
Well last Sunday I did boiled egg but I heard they shouldn't eat chicken eggs. So I bought some tilapia this week and on Sunday I'm going to fix her some I'm just unsure how I should cook it. Only worms I can find close to me are mealworms at petsmart live or frozen. I do however have some dried mealworms left from my RES I thought maybe if I moistened them she would eat them? Idk if she should though. But I can get some sardines too
Jacqui said:
Right now she's still in "hiding mode" so nothing stimulates her lol
ALDABRAMAN said:
Such as strawberries. Should I give her the top of the strawberry with the green on it?
I feed the entire strawberry.... well sometimes it seems the bottom part is partially missing between the time it leaves the package and when it enters the tortoises enclosures.... 
Butterworms are really nice because of their color and fruity smell.
Butterworms are really nice because of their color and fruity smell.
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Jacqui said:I feed the entire strawberry.... well sometimes it seems the bottom part is partially missing between the time it leaves the package and when it enters the tortoises enclosures....
Butterworms are really nice because of their color and fruity smell.
Where can I find butterworms?
DanaLachney said:Jacqui said:I feed the entire strawberry.... well sometimes it seems the bottom part is partially missing between the time it leaves the package and when it enters the tortoises enclosures....
Butterworms are really nice because of their color and fruity smell.
Where can I find butterworms?
You can buy online from many places, including Carolina Pets. You can also find them in some WalMarts in the fishing department frig. They are used in fishing, so perhaps a local bait store even. None of my local pet stores carry them, but check those places out, o.
Just FYI- Nothing wrong with chicken eggs. Boil or lightly scramble them to keep them from being too messy, and you can include some of the shell if you want but some torts don't seem to like the shells.
As far as cutting stuff up- what Yvonne said.
As far as cutting stuff up- what Yvonne said.
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Jacqui said:
Oh good there is a Co-op close by I'll try there
Madkins007 said:
Oh, I get so many mixed messages sometimes lol
DanaLachney said:
Welcome to the wonderful world of tortoises!
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Jacqui said:
I'm lovin it too! Just feel like I'm running in circles sometimes lol
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