Hello everyone =) I am new to this community and look forward to everyone's advice !

[Jhonny Parks]

My name is Jhonny and I have recently taken a new family member home by the name of "Sir Gilbert Grape". He is a Russian Tortoise that my family found and I am really excited to show him to to the community =) I do not know how old he is. We found him walking in my front yard located in Connecticut, USA. I have him in a nice 120 gallon tank at the moment with water, fresh greens daily for him to eat, which he loves. I would like to get him on pellet food as well so I recently purchased "Flukers Land Tortoise Formula" to give him addition to his greens, and have had no luck of any sort in him showing any interest in consuming it whatsoever. Does anyone have any advice on how to introduce this food to him in such a way that he will start eating and and enjoy it? Thank you so much everyone =)

- Jhonny

 

[turdle yerdle]

Well Koopa doesn't eat his pellet food either nor is he interested in it at all, I tried to feed him the Zoo med grassland tortoise food but he didn't like it, so I took the advice of other and sprinkled it onto his normal food. But he is a smart tortoise so he found a way to only eat his greens. . So now I don't feed him the Zoo med stuff, but I occasionally try it again.

 

[turdle yerdle]

Also welcome to the forum!

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome Jhonny !

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Jhonny, and welcome to the Forum!

I'm sorry to say, but I really doubt you're going to be able to get a tortoise that's used to running free to eat pellets. In fact, being cooped up in an aquarium is going to be pretty hard on him too. Fresh weeds, leaves and plants is the best diet. If you can't find fresh stuff outside, then endive, escarole, turnip greens, etc. would be ok to feed him.

Most of us use pellets as a treat rather than as the main part of the diet.

 

[Jhonny Parks]

Fantastic advice everyone, thank you so much =) I have been feeding him kale, turnip greens, and Radicchio so far, switching it up every week. I am very glad to hear the pellets are used as a treat rather than main diet, or I would have a serious problem on my hands lol. Thanks again everyone =)

 

[Jhonny Parks]

I would also like to add that there are no tortoises wild in CT. so this must have been someone's pet that escaped from somewhere around my area, there's just no telling what they were feeding him in the past, or how long he was wandering free during the summer and early fall. I tried to find out if anyone was missing a tortoise and found no results or replies whatsoever so I rescued him =)

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi Jhonny

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Jhonny, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hello and Welcome

 

[KaitlinKeefe_]

what a handsome Russian! welcome!

 

[saginawhxc]

Welcome to the forum. Please keep your ears open for somebody looking for this guy as he is certainly an escaped pet.

On that note, if you end up keeping him please note that they are the escape kings. So make sure to always contain them in a secure enclosure.