Hand feeding

[rocky1998]

I sometimes place my tortoise infront of the food and he just stares at it... So I was thinking how bout i help him eat, but now he waits for me to feed him , he does eat himself but I hate hand feeding him it might become a habit I really don't want it to become a usual thing because he needs to do it himself but then again I can't let him not eat. ?? Any suggestions ?

 

[JoesMum]

The suggeston- don't hand feed him


Torts are not terribly clever. Yours is not the first one on TFO to see you as the food rather than the stuff you are holding. The result is that the hand fed tort won't eat the same food left on the ground.

It's time for tough love here.

Go back to basics and establish the routine.

Lights on.
Soak before he's warmed up properly to ensure he stays hydrated.
Prepare food and leave it on a flat stone or tile in the enclosure.
Put tort back in enclosure after soak.
Walk away and leave him to it.

He will get hungry and will put two and two together and start eating... it just might take a few days. He won't come to any harm without food for several days... some are harder to crack than others, but they will give in.

You must not give in. If you start hand feeding because you feel bad, you are back at square one. Good Luck!

 

[rocky1998]

Okay il do that, if jut read your soaking tips and I won't hand feed him in the future.. Thanks for the advice

 

[SargentBanjo]

I put a strawberry in my hand today and he ate off of it! Cutest thing ever!

 

[Mrturtle527]

I do exactly as JoesMum does each morning, he now has the routine down pat and this weekend when I slept a little late Mr. T was actually pacing around waiting for his routine to start - he had old food from the day before, but wouldn't touch it.

I only hand feed him if its a treat - like a strawberry or something. On rare occasion does my 5 year old feed him by hand as well.