Getting our girl to eat "real" food!

[Fierce Turtle]

We are the proud new owners of an 8-year old Russian Tortoise named Alexandra(Alex for short). I will be a brief history on her as best I can. She has lived her entire life indoors in a 40-gallon glass aquarium and I have no idea what they used for substrate. They fed her ONLY a diet consisting of Rep Cal Maintenance Formula Tortoise Food which we refer to as "fruity pebbles." I don't think she has been outdoors or ever seen a green leafy vegetable ever!

We currently have her housed in a GIANT plastic pool under our deck outside where she gets plenty of sun, walking around space, a cool "hidey spot" and we have enclosed the area under the deck so she is 100% safe from any predators. We take her out every day to "stretch her legs" and let her roam around the backyard, supervised of course, for at least an hour. We soak her every other day in warm water and she wanders around the yard and "dries off" under the watchful eye of her "big sister's" a dog & cat that follow her around everywhere!

The real issue we are having is getting her to eat anything else but that pellet food. We have tried all different kinds of greens, vegetables and such and she doesn't show much interest in them. I see people here talk about how much their tortoises LOVE to eat greens & veggies but not our girl. Can anyone please give me some advice on how to get her to eat "real" food and not the fruity pebbles??

THANK YOU!!!

 

[lismar79]

Tortoises are creatures of habit. It is hard to get them to change and it takes a long time. I had the same issue. You need to puree up the fruity peebles and mix it with fine chopped good greens in little amount over time slowly decrease fp and add more and more greens till its all greens.

 

[Yvonne G]

She's been fed the fruity pebbles for such a long time that she doesn't recognize real food anymore. Here's a helpful hint:

Put a small handful of the fruity pebbles in a bowl and cover them with warm water. After they're totally softened, mash them up with a fork. In the meantime, chop up some dark, leafy greens, weeds or whatever. Then put the fruity pebble mush in with the greens an stir it all up, making sure all the greens are covered. Start out small, not using too much of the greens, and if she accepts it and eats it all, you can slowly, over time, reduce the amount of mush and increase the amount of greens.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

Finely chop up the greens and mix in the pellets in whatever way you normally feed them (soaked or dry). Start with just a little tiny bit of the new stuff and gradually over time up the ratio of new to old.

It is obvious that you mean well, but there a couple of things I see that frequently lead to disaster and you are heading right for both. First: Your dog is not your tortoises friend. Dogs are the number one killer and mauler of tortoises. The number of tortoises harmed by "external" wild predators pales in comparison tot he number that are chewed up by the family dog annually, and in almost every single one of those cases the people never thought their loving family dog would ever do such a thing in a million years. Bottom line: NEVER let the dog have access to the tortoise. Not even for one single second while you answer the phone, tend to dinner, check on the kids, etc…

Second thing: Letting them run loose in the yard is a mistake. It will end in disaster in one way or another. They need to be contained in an area that is designed and made safe for them. There are lots pf good examples in the enclosure section.

These might help:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/semi-underground-russian-box.98590/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/heating-an-outdoor-russian-night-box.116180/

 

[Fierce Turtle]

THANKS for all the helpful hints/links and will put it to good use! Will it hurt her if she doesn't seem real excited about eating the pellet/greens combo and won't eat it for a day or so?

Also want to clarify that she does NOT have access to the backyard unless we have soaked her and she is walking around drying off then back in her enclosure she goes. We stay out there with her at all times and she is never alone in the yard. And thank you for the suggestion about the dog too!

 

[Yvonne G]

they can go for quite a while without eating. Keep trying for a week or so and if she still won't try it, you've probably used too much of the greens. Decrease the amount until she eats it.