Greens?

[wheezysmomma]

Soooo I'm wondering if anyone else's torts won't eat certain greens? I have figured out over the last fees days that Wheezy will not eat collard greens! Everytime I offer collards he picks through and will eat all the other greens and puts the collards all over his enclosure so my question is also do I just keep at it with him or start offering different greens and just not offer collards? I change the greens every few days (once the heads are used up I buy something different as I only keep 2 reptiles so sometimes takes me a bit longer to use up greens) I offer all kinds of greens, veggies and fruit so I'm not worried about offer other things just I know collards are soooo good for them should I just offer then anyone? Also don't want to waste tons of $ either! Thanks in advance still figuring this little man out he eats 2 salads a day 1st one has veggies and fruits and greens and 2nd salad is straight up greens.

 

[cmitch]

Mine won't eat them either

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

Mine will eat them. Now they do have their days where they'll just pick at them and leave some leftovers and other days, they'll lick the plate clean...but they will eat collards.

Just try to mix it up. Spring Mix salad, romaine lettuce, mustard greens, bok choy, turnip greens, chard...

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Every tortoise has its preferred greens. Some plants are preferred by certain tortoise species, others by certain individuals, and others depending on their mood or whether they've had it lately.

I think it's fair to say that collards tend not to be a favorite. They are rubbery and fairly high in oxalate, and the torties probably sense that. Having said that, collards are fine as part of a varied diet, and the less often they get it, the more likely they are to eat it.

 

[Yvonne G]

None of mine care much for mustard greens.

 

[wheezysmomma]

I feed a very varied diet as I feed my beardie veggies as well as her main diet. His favorite seems to be endive and radicchio and of course fruit but collards he will take All day to eat give him a endive, dandelion, escarole, squash zucchini raspberry blueberry salad and I have to make him 2 salads a day! What amount does everyone's torts eat? He is eating like 6cups of salad a day (this is guessed as I don't measure but I give my beardie 1 cup and he eats 3x that 2xday so about 6cups and he's only 7inches lol would he benefit from mazuri or other tort diet as well? Like do salad am and mazuri pm since he eats 2xday?

 

[Madkins007]

Mustards are a waste of time for me, too. Collards are not their favorites here, but they'll eat them if that is all they are getting.

 

[wheezysmomma]

Funny my beardie will eat it but not Wheezy! He left sooo much on his 2nd feeding today and is you give endive and escarole with radicchio he will CLEAN 2 Entire heaping plates a day!

 

[Mgridgaway]

Funny my beardie will eat it but not Wheezy! He left sooo much on his 2nd feeding today and is you give endive and escarole with radicchio he will CLEAN 2 Entire heaping plates a day!

You may want to cut down on the amount of food you're giving wheezy everyday. Typically you should only be feeding them once a day (the rule I and some others use is "as much as they can eat in one sitting.") I'd be worried that with wheezy's underdeveloped body he could get fat and compress his organs.

Anywho, my torts like collard greens just fine, but it's often the last thing to be eaten. Mushrooms go fast, as well as any fruit since it's given sparingly.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Mustards are a waste of time for me, too. Collards are not their favorites here, but they'll eat them if that is all they are getting.

My guys only eat mustard greens if it's been a long time since they've had any. And then it's hard to keep them interested in the rest of the bag, since that lasts for about a week. I don't know if it's the spiciness of it or what. They will eat mustard greens, but that's definitely a low priority for them.

 

[DaisyDuke]

Mine never liked collard greens until last week. I tried them a bunch of times last year but s/he never liked them. I got some recently by accident and gave them to her/him and s/he's been eating them fine. Sometimes just like with us humans their tastes change. My Sheldon loved blueberries but now won't couch hem

Dandelion and escarole seem to be the preferred greens with the occasional love of kale.
As long as Wheezy is eating some of the good greens he should be fine. They don't have to like everything
A little while from now you can try them again to see if he likes them.

 

[wheezysmomma]

Yeah I've been wondering about how much he eats but everywhere I look you can't find an answer as to how much they should be eating everyone says grazing well it's not grazing if I only feed once a day so I wasn't sure? How does a tort get fat off salad? (another question I've wondered about lol since us humans eat salad to loose weight.) he usually cleans the first plate and picks at the second but he poops a Lot lol

 

[Mgridgaway]

As far as I've heard, torts can't really get fat of greens, but they can get too fat off of fruits and certain veggies. Fruits that have lots of sugar in them, like most fruits we eat. They're good in small quantities, but not en masse. Here's a good list from Mark over at Tortoise Library:

Fruits- good choices- use freely
Papaya, figs, mango, kiwifruit, pomegranate and other 'tropical; fruits
Pineapple
Strawberry
Cactus fruit
Cherries
Bell peppers, any color
Squash, pumpkin

Fruits- OK choices- use sparingly
Melon, all kinds, including horned melon
Blueberry, blackberry, mulberry
Apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot
Banana, grapes
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Naval oranges

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Tortoises can get fat from greens. Like all herbivores, they have a long digestive tract full of bacteria that can break down plant fiber, so that the host animal can get energy from them. In other words, tortoises can get more calories out of greens than we can. If they eat enough, they will get fat.

 

[Mgridgaway]

Tortoises can get fat from greens. Like all herbivores, they have a long digestive tract full of bacteria that can break down plant fiber, so that the host animal can get energy from them. In other words, tortoises can get more calories out of greens than we can. If they eat enough, they will get fat.

Hmm. That's news to me. I've been told by a few sources on this site that tortoises can be given as many greens as they want.

So much conflicting information!

 

[wheezysmomma]

Thanks for all the info but again see this is my problem! Can they or can't they? How much is too much? Can someone tell me if this is too much? Every am he gets a greens salad (usually 2-3 different kinds of greens which i switch up as soon as those heads are used up) with a kind of veggie shredded into the greens (squash, zucchini, bell pepper etc) a few berries (usually raspberries, blueberries or strawberries) I cut them up small (so he has to work to find them not just 2 big berries on top) it's about the size of a small plate (not a dinner plate size the other smaller size) and piled up, then in the afternoon he gets a smaller size amount not piled as high of Just greens which he usually finishes. Is this too much? I dont want to over feed him But he seems to want to eat a LOT!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Thanks for all the info but again see this is my problem! Can they or can't they? How much is too much? Can someone tell me if this is too much? Every am he gets a greens salad (usually 2-3 different kinds of greens which i switch up as soon as those heads are used up) with a kind of veggie shredded into the greens (squash, zucchini, bell pepper etc) a few berries (usually raspberries, blueberries or strawberries) I cut them up small (so he has to work to find them not just 2 big berries on top) it's about the size of a small plate (not a dinner plate size the other smaller size) and piled up, then in the afternoon he gets a smaller size amount not piled as high of Just greens which he usually finishes. Is this too much? I dont want to over feed him But he seems to want to eat a LOT!

There are two good rules of thumb for how much to feed a tortoise, and they probably both mean about the same thing:

1) Feed as much as your tortoise will eat in about 20 minutes.

2) Feed a pile of food with a volume (not mass!) roughly the same as that of your tortoise.

 

[wheezysmomma]

ok thank you he eats over a dinner plate in a 20min span depending on what greens are in it. he's been eating soooo much but i don't want him to get overfed and be overweight as that stresses me too but don't want him to be hungry either its such a toss up

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Redfoots don't really need to fatten up nearly as much as Testudo species. Redfoots do experience some seasonality in food availability and activity (wet vs. dry season), but of course that's not nearly as much as temperate tortoises, which must hibernate for as much as half the year during the winter. So, while Mediterranean tortoises must fatten up, much like a squirrel or a bear, redfoot tortoises just need to maintain a nice, healthy weight all year round - not too fat, not too thin.

 

[wheezysmomma]

Thanks yeah I know they don't need to pack it on but he eats a lot and if I don't give him the 2nd plate he wants outside where he continues to eat if he hasn't had the extra. So I worry he's not getting enough in the am if I only do 1 feed