Havent saw him eat

[felix161]

Ive had my russian tort for about a week now and have not seen him eat. I leave his dish in for most of the day and 12 hours later, when im ready to turn the lights out, i take it out and it dosent look like hes eaten.

Ive read how to care for him and what i should be feeding him. I give him kale, cabbage, collards, red and green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, bell pepper, Dandelions, and cactus leaves with the spins cut off. Also I have some tort pellets (not the fruity pebble ones) for fiber as well as a cuddle bone.

I mix all this up for him with different main ingredient every day. Lights come on soon after I wake up, twenty mins later hes up. I put his food dish ( a small terra cotta water catching base). As i said i leave it in most of the day and it just ends up being spread all over the incloser. Its always fresh when i put it in there.

During his bath time he goes to the bathroom. So, Im thinking he is a closet eater... maybe hes just eating a little bit? I do not know if he just dosent like the food.. The pet store was feeding him fruit and those fruity pebble type pellets. which i know is not good for him. idk whats going on. he seems healthy and active. Should i worry?

 

[hunterk997]

He is probably still adjusting. Some tortoises take months to adapt to you and their new surroundings. And the diet sounds good, except the bell pepper. I wouldn't feed that to a russian tort.


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[lynnedit]

More specific information about substrate, temps(on basking, warm, cool side), lighting and a pic of your enclosure would help.

http://russiantortoise.net/russiantortoisediet.htm
no fruity pebbles (if he liked them, you would gradually decrease and then stop them). No bell pepper; too sugary.
Dark leafy greens and safe weeds.

 

[WillTort2]

If you want to be certain he's eating try cutting your food leaves into perfect rectangles.

Then you can check for uneven edges.

Good luck.

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

I am sure he is just eating when you aren't around. If he's pooping something has to be going in. Also, why don't you just leave the food bowl in at night? I'd have food as well as water available 24/7 so it eats when it wants to. Maybe it would like eating at night due to the fact that lights are off and he isn't bothered.

 

[felix161]

thank you guys like ya said if hes pooping hes gotta be eating something. and he will get regular baths to hydrate if i still dont see any food eaten

 

[felix161]

UPDATE: made his food today consisting of mixed greens, dandelions and the turtle pellets rehydrated in a bit of water mixed it all together and put it in his encloser. I went out for a bit, came back and saw it was significantly smaller. YAY! I have yet to catch him eating anything nore has he eaten anything ive offered from my hand but I think we are making progress. Ill let him walk around in the yard today get some rays and give him a bath. Hopefully ill see him eat his dinner a lil later on.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Re: RE: Havent saw him eat

If you want to be certain he's eating try cutting your food leaves into perfect rectangles.

Then you can check for uneven edges.

Good luck.

Love this idea

Heather
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