Fussy Feeders

[Jovski]

My torts are the fussiest eaters and getting them onto a diet of varied flowers and weeds is proving nigh on impossible. They are kinixys nogueyi - western hingebacks and i know they need some fruit in their diet as well as some protein from live food like earthworms. I've been collecting wild weeds using the tortoise table's plant database and i'd prefer to take advantage of the healthy, natural, wild grown weeds and flowers i have available but they won't eat any of it. I tried offering just the good foods and gave in after a fortnight of them not eating at all with no sign of interest. After that I tried mixing it in with prefered food and they go straight for their prefered foods and pick around the others. I tried cutting up mushroom/cucumber small so they accidentally get the preferred foods until they grow to like it which helped a little with phoebe, but not george. I tried squeezing cucumber juice on the food that didn't help either.

They happily eat mushrooms and george will currently only eat if mushrooms or cucumber is nearby. He'll also nibble romaine lettuce, strawberry, apple and radicchio. Phoebe isn't as bad and will eat all of that plus lambs lettuce, wild rocket, dandelion leaves/flowers, pansy leaves/flowers and forget me not. They also happily attack their cuttlebone and get bathed several times a week, as well as soaking themselves in their water trays. I put supplements on their food every other day and im going to make some limestone flour 'cakes' for them to boost calcium intake. They are housed separately.

Does anyone know how to get a very stubborn tort to eat their healthy greens?

 

[JoesMum]

Chop it up very finely and serve it wet, so it sticks together and cannot be picked out. Start with a tiny amount of healthy stuff and gradually change the proportions over a few weeks until the proprortions are the right way round.

DON'T GIVE IN!

A healthy tort, with regular soaks, can go weeks without eating... it takes amazing strength on your part to hold out until he decides that he is hungry! We are here to offer moral support as many of us have been through picky eating with our torts, our children, or both!

 

[rideburton87]

For my young torts to eat grasses I definitely had to put my food down and made that the only offering. You said you gave in after a fortnight.. It litterly took my two weeks to get my new Leo to eat grass after only being fed a diet of mazuri from the breeder. But I stuck with it and wouldnt offer anything else and now it it will eat anything I put infront of it. It may take a while but they will eventually give in.