Home's eating habits

[Scooter]

I have a Home's hingeback, unsure of her age. She will only eat bananas or food mixed in bananas. I am not sure what to do to get her to eat food without the banana, I have tried earthworms, mangos, a variety of greens, tomatoes and she is not interested unless the banana is there. She drinks and soaks regularly and is very active. Any ideas you might have for getting her to eat without bananas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Candy]

I would slowly remove the banana a little at a time.

 

[-EJ]

Try Mazuri tortoise diet. Moisten it to a pasty consistancy. Add Bannana baby food and mix it well. See if that works... if it does... that's all you need.

I have a Home's hingeback, unsure of her age. She will only eat bananas or food mixed in bananas. I am not sure what to do to get her to eat food without the banana, I have tried earthworms, mangos, a variety of greens, tomatoes and she is not interested unless the banana is there. She drinks and soaks regularly and is very active. Any ideas you might have for getting her to eat without bananas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

Besides EJ's good advice, you can take a ripe banana, then chop up the other foods that your tortoise is supposed to eat (I don't keep hingebacks, so I'm not familiar with their diet), chop the other foods up very small. Mix in the banana to coat all the other foods. Then, every time you feed the tortoise, use less and less banana until you don't put in any at all.

I had a Manouria tortoise several years ago who would only eat Pretty Pets tortoise food. That's what I did with her. It took me a year to wean her off the Pretty Pets. If I put too much veggies or fruit, she wouldn't eat. I had to do it real slow.

 

[Scooter]

Thanks for the advise. I currently mix all her food with the banana but I will try to start weaning her off and I will try the Mazuri tortoise chow with her. There is no place that sells it here in town so I will have to order it online. With the baby food, do I have to get organic or is the regular fine? I have just been mushing up banana so far but the baby food sounds easier.

 

[Tim/Robin]

They can be like children and only want to eat the yummy stuff. If the "yummy stuff" is available at EVERY meal, they're no dummies- they'll fill up on it and leave the rest. Everyone else is right, wean them off of the banana.

In addition to the other suggestions, they LOVE mushrooms (fresh not canned) and need some animal protein. For the protein some people feed Mazuri turtle or koi food
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ZVIGNU/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Wardley Koi food (available at Petsmart, Walmart)
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=13252671

Or a LOW FAT cat food
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11027218
Any of these would need to be moistened as they can be pretty hard and crunchy for a tortoise beak.

And either organic or regular baby food are fine. If you can afford the organic, then why not?

 

[Jacqui]

The normal favorites usually include mushrooms, earthworms (because they move), the bright orange and red fruits/veggies (such as papaya, mango, muskmelon/cantalope, cooked sweet taters). I would give some of these straight and some on the other side of the dish mixed with bananas. Try to very slowly lessen the amount of bananas you need to mix in with the food. With some you need to be very very slow about it and make very tiny percent changes over many days or even weeks.

Don't forget to also offer some greens like romaine (mainly because it seems to be the most liked store bought green to start them on), dandelions, hibiscus blooms (if you can find any). The ones listed are the "normal" first they start eating and it is really good for them, if you can start working them toward a more balanced diet which includes greens.

Patience is a must with these guys, some will take a year to really get them eating. Just face the fact your going to most likely be wasting a lot of food during this period. You might want to try freezing the extra fruits/veggies since being mushy (after being thawed from freezing most are this way) won't bother the tortoise and it lowers wasted amounts.

On the fruits you use, try to get them as ripe as possible. This seems to increase chances of being eaten.

When I had ones just willing to eat bananas, I would add things like TNT to it, so it would end up having more food value.

Just double checking...he seems fine otherwise except for being a picky eater? Hydration is good, can soak as he wants, food dish is near his hide so he feels more secure, lighting is not superbrite?

 

[Madkins007]

Quick note on the Mazuri- It is a Purina product, so any feed and grain store in your area that sells Purina probably can get Mazuri. If you have a zoo in your area, try to find the store they buy from- the odds are they are used to ordering the Mazuri line and may have it in stock.

 

[Meg90]

I was gonna say mushrooms too. You could try doing some banana puree and thinning it with water a pinch, and then "dressing" her food with it. The odor might get her to eat the rest of what you offer.

 

[Scooter]

Yep she is fine otherwise. She is soaking and drinking as she likes. She is roaming all over and climbing on everything in site lol. I have tried earthworms just out in front of her and on top of bananas and she waits for the worms to move off the banana then its it lol. When its just the worms she acts like she is going to eat them, then just walks past them. I will try to slowly remove the banana from her diet and see how it goes. I appreciate all the advice. I was going to post pictures but can't figure out how to do it in this forum lol, there is one in the intro forum.

---

That is a good idea about the puree. I live in Jacksonville, FL and have found the feed store that supplies the zoo here but they did not have tortoise feed, so I guess I will have to order it myself lol. All the local pet store has is the ZooMed tortoise diet which is eats in her bananas lol.

 

[chairman]

From my experience with my torts, individual Homes seem to have widely varying appetites. It probably depends on exactly where they were living when they got captured.

On the positive side for what you're doing with the tortoise diet in bananas thing, my torts were fed in a similar approach involving cucumbers and tortoise diet when I was going through school in FL and were/are quite healthy. Of course, I do not know if feeding Homes a high-fruit diet is as dangerous parasite-wise as it is for other torts, but I'm sure someone would have warned you about such a danger if eating too much banana would have that kind of effect.

There are several "favorites" that my torts refuse to touch- including mushrooms and hibiscus flowers. Only one of mine will graze in the yard, and he'll only eat certain grasses, completely ignoring clover and dandelion, which are supposedly favorites as well. Good news for you, one of the grasses he will chew on is St. Augustine (crab grass to northerners who don't understand how hard it is to keep the stuff alive and green when you WANT it around).

Mine won't eat mazuri, or at least zoo med's version of it for "forest tortoises." It is available at my local p e t s m a r t. You may have more luck with the mazuri brand, though, as it contains more sugar by volume than the zoo med stuff, unless you count the dried fruits found in the zoo med stuff, and then I don't know how they compare. I would think that the more pure sugar in mazuri could be more attractive, though.

The only part of lettuce that either of mine will eat is that white, crunchy bit towards the center. They won't touch spring mix.

I have also found that my Homes seem to like certain fruits in different states. Mine prefer their mango very well aged, their papaya damaged but not really aged, and their melon and banana very fresh.

One of my torts also loves slugs. You could try offering a couple if you can find some.

My final thought is on worms- I know you've said that she's not interested, but I would suggest tossing a couple in there and leaving them. If you add a small plant (sans pot) like echevaria or aloe, the worms should be able to survive quite well, but will still surface frequently enough to get preyed upon. Also, both echevaria and aloe are a) available year round and b) on the edible list for Home's. You might even be able to find aloe growing wild near you; I lived in Daytona Beach and I remember having a patch of aloe that we eventually gave up trying to kill. Mine have only ever trampled the plants to death with no thoughts of eating them, but they both survive well enough to make the investment worthwhile.

 

[-EJ]

You are right in that these pelleted diets are similar. Mazuri was the first. It is formulated by animal nutritionists.

I wonder what you are talking about when you mention sugar?

I don't know how to put into words as to the direction this conversation has taken.

I'll leave this one note... I push Mazuri hard... not because I get kickbacks... but... because it has made keeping tortoises so much easier. I'll leave it at that.

From my experience with my torts, individual Homes seem to have widely varying appetites. It probably depends on exactly where they were living when they got captured.

On the positive side for what you're doing with the tortoise diet in bananas thing, my torts were fed in a similar approach involving cucumbers and tortoise diet when I was going through school in FL and were/are quite healthy. Of course, I do not know if feeding Homes a high-fruit diet is as dangerous parasite-wise as it is for other torts, but I'm sure someone would have warned you about such a danger if eating too much banana would have that kind of effect.

There are several "favorites" that my torts refuse to touch- including mushrooms and hibiscus flowers. Only one of mine will graze in the yard, and he'll only eat certain grasses, completely ignoring clover and dandelion, which are supposedly favorites as well. Good news for you, one of the grasses he will chew on is St. Augustine (crab grass to northerners who don't understand how hard it is to keep the stuff alive and green when you WANT it around).

Mine won't eat mazuri, or at least zoo med's version of it for "forest tortoises." It is available at my local p e t s m a r t. You may have more luck with the mazuri brand, though, as it contains more sugar by volume than the zoo med stuff, unless you count the dried fruits found in the zoo med stuff, and then I don't know how they compare. I would think that the more pure sugar in mazuri could be more attractive, though.

The only part of lettuce that either of mine will eat is that white, crunchy bit towards the center. They won't touch spring mix.

I have also found that my Homes seem to like certain fruits in different states. Mine prefer their mango very well aged, their papaya damaged but not really aged, and their melon and banana very fresh.

One of my torts also loves slugs. You could try offering a couple if you can find some.

My final thought is on worms- I know you've said that she's not interested, but I would suggest tossing a couple in there and leaving them. If you add a small plant (sans pot) like echevaria or aloe, the worms should be able to survive quite well, but will still surface frequently enough to get preyed upon. Also, both echevaria and aloe are a) available year round and b) on the edible list for Home's. You might even be able to find aloe growing wild near you; I lived in Daytona Beach and I remember having a patch of aloe that we eventually gave up trying to kill. Mine have only ever trampled the plants to death with no thoughts of eating them, but they both survive well enough to make the investment worthwhile.

 

[Jacqui]

I agree that they like all animals, have their own likes and dislikes.

Take the mushrooms, it is the one food item taken by the most hingebacks according to talking with folks thru the years. My very first group of Homes completely disliked and ignored mushrooms for years. I thought I had the only "strange" hingebacks. Today they will eat them and so do almost everyone of the about 40 hinges I keep (almost 20 are Homes).

With the hibiscus I remember a group of Erosas in this case, they ignored anything not fruit or worms for almost two years. Finally one day, I had a spare hibiscus bloom after feeding everybody who got them. So I just tossed one into the Erosas thinking it would once more be wasted. Imagine my suprise, when one rushed up and started chowing down. You could just see the light bulb going on. She ate it that bloom and several more I rushed out to pick for her. Since then, she will eat willing (not part of a hidden secret ingrediant covered over by fruit mixture) of several types of greens and blooms. She also showed her cagemate that these things are indeed food sources. Side note this was a group who for in the beginning only wanted to eat bananas. Took a month to even get them interesting in worms. Then slowly over time other fruits, bugs, and even today they like cooked chicken and the ZooMed.

I am one of the folks that happens to believe variety is a big part in the diet health and even mental health of my tortoises. Okay, so I also happen to like that little thrill moment of, "Alright he ate this new food item". (Takes so little to make my day. )

Interesting yours like crab grass, that one mine have yet to touch. Sorta a side question here, have you ever tried any creeping charlie vine weed? Mine really like that stuff.

I too have tried the Zoo Med forest with mixed reviews by my groups too. Some really like it and some totally turn up their noses. There seems no middle ground on liking it levels.

Another thing often liked are snails. There is of course the posibility of getting the flukes from wild snails. I myself keep wanting to get some canned snails atleast to try on mine, but always end up spacing it off when I get to the grocery store.

Aren't having hingebacks fun?

Jacqui

From my experience with my torts, individual Homes seem to have widely varying appetites. It probably depends on exactly where they were living when they got captured.

On the positive side for what you're doing with the tortoise diet in bananas thing, my torts were fed in a similar approach involving cucumbers and tortoise diet when I was going through school in FL and were/are quite healthy. Of course, I do not know if feeding Homes a high-fruit diet is as dangerous parasite-wise as it is for other torts, but I'm sure someone would have warned you about such a danger if eating too much banana would have that kind of effect.

There are several "favorites" that my torts refuse to touch- including mushrooms and hibiscus flowers. Only one of mine will graze in the yard, and he'll only eat certain grasses, completely ignoring clover and dandelion, which are supposedly favorites as well. Good news for you, one of the grasses he will chew on is St. Augustine (crab grass to northerners who don't understand how hard it is to keep the stuff alive and green when you WANT it around).

Mine won't eat mazuri, or at least zoo med's version of it for "forest tortoises." It is available at my local p e t s m a r t. You may have more luck with the mazuri brand, though, as it contains more sugar by volume than the zoo med stuff, unless you count the dried fruits found in the zoo med stuff, and then I don't know how they compare. I would think that the more pure sugar in mazuri could be more attractive, though.

The only part of lettuce that either of mine will eat is that white, crunchy bit towards the center. They won't touch spring mix.

I have also found that my Homes seem to like certain fruits in different states. Mine prefer their mango very well aged, their papaya damaged but not really aged, and their melon and banana very fresh.

One of my torts also loves slugs. You could try offering a couple if you can find some.

My final thought is on worms- I know you've said that she's not interested, but I would suggest tossing a couple in there and leaving them. If you add a small plant (sans pot) like echevaria or aloe, the worms should be able to survive quite well, but will still surface frequently enough to get preyed upon. Also, both echevaria and aloe are a) available year round and b) on the edible list for Home's. You might even be able to find aloe growing wild near you; I lived in Daytona Beach and I remember having a patch of aloe that we eventually gave up trying to kill. Mine have only ever trampled the plants to death with no thoughts of eating them, but they both survive well enough to make the investment worthwhile.

 

[Scooter]

Thank you all for the great ideas. I will be trying them out and I will keep you posted on how it goes.

 

[chairman]

I wonder what you are talking about when you mention sugar?

I don't know how to put into words as to the direction this conversation has taken.

EJ, when I mentioned sugar I was just referring to one of mazuri's ingredients... cane molasses. The zoo med stuff contains its sugar in the form of 'evaporated cane juice,' which is probably similar to the molasses, and whatever sugars are naturally occurring in dried papaya and mango. The only direction I meant to take was that if Scooter is trying to wean his tort off of banana and onto something else, I haven't had success with a product similar to mazuri, but that mazuri's formulation (ie having a sweetener higher on the ingredients list than the other product) may make it more appealing than the stuff I found. I certainly don't have any problems with the mazuri product or with feeding torts foods that contain naturally occurring sweeteners. Especially Homes hingebacks, whose caresheets generally include more fruit (sugar) than most other tort species.

Jacqui, I find myself doing the same thing feeding-wise with my torts. I keep offering them new things just to see what happens. Hopefully one of these days they will start eating the mushrooms and maybe some more greens. I don't recall ever seeing creeping charlie on any approved feed lists, so I wouldn't have tried it. Given your success, and my constant search for greenery that my torts will eat, I'll give it a shot. And they will be getting hibiscus again in the spring... at the very least the plants look pretty in the enclosure! But on your snail note- I happen to know that at least some parts of the greater Jacksonville area (where Scooter is located) are just crawling with these tiny little garden snails. Including the shell, my hingebacks could probably fit a half dozen or so in their mouths at one time. Are those the snails that torts can eat? I always wanted to offer some, but I was concerned about the snail-to-shell ratio and whether it could cause impaction issues, or if the shell was just another vitamin/mineral source.

 

[-EJ]

If you give it a little thought... evaporated cane juice= sugar.

Molassas is a natural occuring binder... that is what it is used for in Mazuri. Mazuri is not at all sweet so the quantity has to be small.

Again... I push this diet because it is easy and many animals seem to respond very well to it.

When you try ro duplicate a 'natural' diet you are playing russian roulet. You are not only guessing what they will eat but you are also guessing that you are providing all the required nutrients.

I wonder what you are talking about when you mention sugar?

I don't know how to put into words as to the direction this conversation has taken.

EJ, when I mentioned sugar I was just referring to one of mazuri's ingredients... cane molasses. The zoo med stuff contains its sugar in the form of 'evaporated cane juice,' which is probably similar to the molasses, and whatever sugars are naturally occurring in dried papaya and mango. The only direction I meant to take was that if Scooter is trying to wean his tort off of banana and onto something else, I haven't had success with a product similar to mazuri, but that mazuri's formulation (ie having a sweetener higher on the ingredients list than the other product) may make it more appealing than the stuff I found. I certainly don't have any problems with the mazuri product or with feeding torts foods that contain naturally occurring sweeteners. Especially Homes hingebacks, whose caresheets generally include more fruit (sugar) than most other tort species.

Jacqui, I find myself doing the same thing feeding-wise with my torts. I keep offering them new things just to see what happens. Hopefully one of these days they will start eating the mushrooms and maybe some more greens. I don't recall ever seeing creeping charlie on any approved feed lists, so I wouldn't have tried it. Given your success, and my constant search for greenery that my torts will eat, I'll give it a shot. And they will be getting hibiscus again in the spring... at the very least the plants look pretty in the enclosure! But on your snail note- I happen to know that at least some parts of the greater Jacksonville area (where Scooter is located) are just crawling with these tiny little garden snails. Including the shell, my hingebacks could probably fit a half dozen or so in their mouths at one time. Are those the snails that torts can eat? I always wanted to offer some, but I was concerned about the snail-to-shell ratio and whether it could cause impaction issues, or if the shell was just another vitamin/mineral source.

 

[Luvthemtorts]

Careful using fresh snails. They can carry some wicked nasties in their gut.

 

[Jacqui]

Jacqui, I find myself doing the same thing feeding-wise with my torts. I keep offering them new things just to see what happens. Hopefully one of these days they will start eating the mushrooms and maybe some more greens. I don't recall ever seeing creeping charlie on any approved feed lists, so I wouldn't have tried it. Given your success, and my constant search for greenery that my torts will eat, I'll give it a shot. And they will be getting hibiscus again in the spring... at the very least the plants look pretty in the enclosure! But on your snail note- I happen to know that at least some parts of the greater Jacksonville area (where Scooter is located) are just crawling with these tiny little garden snails. Including the shell, my hingebacks could probably fit a half dozen or so in their mouths at one time. Are those the snails that torts can eat? I always wanted to offer some, but I was concerned about the snail-to-shell ratio and whether it could cause impaction issues, or if the shell was just another vitamin/mineral source.

The people I have talked to have used all types of snails, including the small ones found in aquariums and wild in ponds. The larger snails would make the most sense, but I believe in trying what you have available. Some feed them whole and alive, while others smash the shells first. The shells would give a tiny tiny bit a calcium too.

I would also think of it like this, you have a lot of snails in your area it sounds like. If you place your Hingebacks into outside environments, those snails will be in there too. Trying them out inside in a more secure location to observe the tortoise reactions will give you a better idea of it they will eat them. Once they are loose in the outside enclosure, you loose a lot of your ability to monitor exactly what they are eating....especially with something so small.

Flukes seem to be the most common bad thing coming from snails.

 

[Luvthemtorts]

Flukes are the most well known since they are of clinical importance to humans, however parasitic worms of various genus are more likely to be encountered here in the states.
I'm not suggesting the removal of snails from their diet but rather a routine fecal examination to control parasitic burdens should they be offered.

Jacqui, I find myself doing the same thing feeding-wise with my torts. I keep offering them new things just to see what happens. Hopefully one of these days they will start eating the mushrooms and maybe some more greens. I don't recall ever seeing creeping charlie on any approved feed lists, so I wouldn't have tried it. Given your success, and my constant search for greenery that my torts will eat, I'll give it a shot. And they will be getting hibiscus again in the spring... at the very least the plants look pretty in the enclosure! But on your snail note- I happen to know that at least some parts of the greater Jacksonville area (where Scooter is located) are just crawling with these tiny little garden snails. Including the shell, my hingebacks could probably fit a half dozen or so in their mouths at one time. Are those the snails that torts can eat? I always wanted to offer some, but I was concerned about the snail-to-shell ratio and whether it could cause impaction issues, or if the shell was just another vitamin/mineral source.

The people I have talked to have used all types of snails, including the small ones found in aquariums and wild in ponds. The larger snails would make the most sense, but I believe in trying what you have available. Some feed them whole and alive, while others smash the shells first. The shells would give a tiny tiny bit a calcium too.

I would also think of it like this, you have a lot of snails in your area it sounds like. If you place your Hingebacks into outside environments, those snails will be in there too. Trying them out inside in a more secure location to observe the tortoise reactions will give you a better idea of it they will eat them. Once they are loose in the outside enclosure, you loose a lot of your ability to monitor exactly what they are eating....especially with something so small.

Flukes seem to be the most common bad thing coming from snails.

 

[-EJ]

yall do realize this is a moot point if you use Mazuri... sorry... couldn't resist.

Flukes are the most well known since they are of clinical importance to humans, however parasitic worms of various genus are more likely to be encountered here in the states.
I'm not suggesting the removal of snails from their diet but rather a routine fecal examination to control parasitic burdens should they be offered.

Jacqui, I find myself doing the same thing feeding-wise with my torts. I keep offering them new things just to see what happens. Hopefully one of these days they will start eating the mushrooms and maybe some more greens. I don't recall ever seeing creeping charlie on any approved feed lists, so I wouldn't have tried it. Given your success, and my constant search for greenery that my torts will eat, I'll give it a shot. And they will be getting hibiscus again in the spring... at the very least the plants look pretty in the enclosure! But on your snail note- I happen to know that at least some parts of the greater Jacksonville area (where Scooter is located) are just crawling with these tiny little garden snails. Including the shell, my hingebacks could probably fit a half dozen or so in their mouths at one time. Are those the snails that torts can eat? I always wanted to offer some, but I was concerned about the snail-to-shell ratio and whether it could cause impaction issues, or if the shell was just another vitamin/mineral source.

The people I have talked to have used all types of snails, including the small ones found in aquariums and wild in ponds. The larger snails would make the most sense, but I believe in trying what you have available. Some feed them whole and alive, while others smash the shells first. The shells would give a tiny tiny bit a calcium too.

I would also think of it like this, you have a lot of snails in your area it sounds like. If you place your Hingebacks into outside environments, those snails will be in there too. Trying them out inside in a more secure location to observe the tortoise reactions will give you a better idea of it they will eat them. Once they are loose in the outside enclosure, you loose a lot of your ability to monitor exactly what they are eating....especially with something so small.

Flukes seem to be the most common bad thing coming from snails.