Shirley the tortoise
Member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2015
- Messages
- 59
I've had Shirley about 18 months (she is three and a hermann), and last summer I wasn't really geared up to growing her food so she was predominantly fed from bought bags of salad from the super market (florette crispy, as I've seen recommended on this website) and the odd dandelion that I found. I'm still working on my plant identification but dandelions are a pretty easy spot!
This year, I have been able to grow some bits for Shirley - radish tops, some tortoise mix seed, strawberry leaves, geranium leaves, snapdragons etc. The problem is she just isn't interested in any of it and won't touch it. She's not ill and will still eat the bagged stuff so not an issue with temperature/humidity, these are all fine and unchanged. I've even grown some of the same stuff as comes in the bag (radicchio and lamb's lettuce) and she still won't eat it. I'm concerned that she is not getting enough variety in her diet if I just continue with the bought stuff.
Is Shirley just spoilt by posh supermarket salad? My instinct tells me to persist in trying my grown stuff (surely (don't call me Shirley) she will eat it when she gets really hungry?), but she's already lost a bit of weight so I don't want to push it. Any suggestions? Mixing my stuff in with bought stuff? Any one else had these issues?
This year, I have been able to grow some bits for Shirley - radish tops, some tortoise mix seed, strawberry leaves, geranium leaves, snapdragons etc. The problem is she just isn't interested in any of it and won't touch it. She's not ill and will still eat the bagged stuff so not an issue with temperature/humidity, these are all fine and unchanged. I've even grown some of the same stuff as comes in the bag (radicchio and lamb's lettuce) and she still won't eat it. I'm concerned that she is not getting enough variety in her diet if I just continue with the bought stuff.
Is Shirley just spoilt by posh supermarket salad? My instinct tells me to persist in trying my grown stuff (surely (don't call me Shirley) she will eat it when she gets really hungry?), but she's already lost a bit of weight so I don't want to push it. Any suggestions? Mixing my stuff in with bought stuff? Any one else had these issues?