Horsfield tortoise diet

Moonpieroy

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Oct 23, 2018
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i got my tortoise from someone on facebook who cant keep the tortoise anymore. So i dont know what kind of stuff the previous owner used to feed him.

i give him fresh leaf and few pallets every day, normally he doesnt touch any leaf. he always dive in looking for pallet then leave all the leaf to rot.

Ive done some research it said they cant eat pallet only. However ive tried all the salad mix i can find from different shop hes not interested in any of them. At a point he seems to like kale and cabbage but then i look up online some website said feeding kale or cabbage must be moderated, some website said any dark green collar green is their regular diet, which include kale and cabbage. So Im very confused.

Right now Im trying to force him to eat fresh leaf by not putting any pallet in his everyday food. However he could stop eating for days, it's almost like a silent protest. As soon as i put pallet in he finish the pallet right away.

I dont know what to do. Is it simply because he doesnt like any kind of salad mix I got him(spinach, lettuce, rocket, etc..) if this is the case would any of you recommend something i can get?
Also i know pallet should be part of their diet because they are vitamin calcium supplement. But in my case should i stop feeding him pallet for a while so he would have no choice to eat leaf?
 

Yvonne G

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Try softening the pellets with water, then mash them up with a fork. Chop up some greens into tiny pieces and mix them into the pellet mush until all the greens are coated. If he eats it that way, you can slowly, over time, reduce the pellet mush and increase the greens. Don't be in a hurry. Take a long time to do it.
 

Cathie G

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i got my tortoise from someone on facebook who cant keep the tortoise anymore. So i dont know what kind of stuff the previous owner used to feed him.

i give him fresh leaf and few pallets every day, normally he doesnt touch any leaf. he always dive in looking for pallet then leave all the leaf to rot.

Ive done some research it said they cant eat pallet only. However ive tried all the salad mix i can find from different shop hes not interested in any of them. At a point he seems to like kale and cabbage but then i look up online some website said feeding kale or cabbage must be moderated, some website said any dark green collar green is their regular diet, which include kale and cabbage. So Im very confused.

Right now Im trying to force him to eat fresh leaf by not putting any pallet in his everyday food. However he could stop eating for days, it's almost like a silent protest. As soon as i put pallet in he finish the pallet right away.

I dont know what to do. Is it simply because he doesnt like any kind of salad mix I got him(spinach, lettuce, rocket, etc..) if this is the case would any of you recommend something i can get?
Also i know pallet should be part of their diet because they are vitamin calcium supplement. But in my case should i stop feeding him pallet for a while so he would have no choice to eat leaf?
My Russian really likes fresh romaine lettuce. It's one of the few grocery store greens I can mix into little Mr.picky's diet. He loves weeds.
 

Kelly.324

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My Russian isn’t too picky thankfully but he loves edible flowers, given that it’s winter and I don’t have a garden I’ve been buying a mixed salad bag from Waitrose that has edible violas in for £1.50 a bag, might be worth trying for your guy?
 

RosemaryDW

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Tortoises can get very focused on a single type of food, particularly if it’s all they’ve been fed for a long time.

Additionally, a new tortoise is usually going to eat less (or even nothing) until they get used to a new enclosure. This is very difficult for us humans to watch but tortoises are built to go long periods of time without eating, weeks and even months. Be as patient as you can; your tortoise won’t starve itself to death.

Use the advice Yvonne gave above about chopping up a little of a new food and mixing it in. Eventually the tortoise will eat enough of the new food to get used to the taste and eat more of it.

We don’t recommend spinach; a little is okay, but it shouldn’t be the primary green. If you can find the Crispy Florettes mix near you, that is a mix of lettuces that is good for him. If not, try one of the others for now: rocket, watercress, romaine, kale. Eventually you’ll get up to a wider variety.

Oh, and don’t worry about protein content. That is old advice, meant to stop people from feeding things like dog food. Animal protein is not good for reptiles but there is protein in some plants, like clover, that they need and is good for them. You’ll learn more about that later; for now just focus on the greens already mentioned.
 

Terri123

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Jan 21, 2019
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edmonton
I have a box turtle, so not technically a tortoise, but basically a land turtle, maybe my info. may be useful for you? Toby can be quite picky: I have tried many kinds of turtle food, until I found one that he really likes (that I purchase from PetSmart; he absolutely will not eat any dried food, I definitely have to soak it to make it soft and moist, every day, I try and add a different vegetable appropriate for a box turtle, ie. zucchini, squash, etc. He loves fruit, I try to limit it, but he'll do anything for a blueberry, so that's my "secret weapon" if he's not eating, also, he loves chopped apples (I chop it very tiny, as he's a box turtle, not very big). I notice Toby won't eat if he is cold, so maybe check the temperature of your tortoise's terrarium?
 

Daniel Freel

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New Jersey
My Russians love radicchio and dandelion greens. I also mix in romaine, escarole, bok choy, and arugula.
 

pippag

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England
Try softening the pellets with water, then mash them up with a fork. Chop up some greens into tiny pieces and mix them into the pellet mush until all the greens are coated. If he eats it that way, you can slowly, over time, reduce the pellet mush and increase the greens. Don't be in a hurry. Take a long time to do it.
Try softening the pellets with water, then mash them up with a fork. Chop up some greens into tiny pieces and mix them into the pellet mush until all the greens are coated. If he eats it that way, you can slowly, over time, reduce the pellet mush and increase the greens. Don't be in a hurry. Take a long time to do it.
My Tortoise is the same, he will only eat Komodo pellets in either banana, cucumber or salad flavour he doesnt even like the dandelion flavour I soak them in water .. he used to eat Petunia leaves and pansy leaves but has now stopped and will only eat the pellets and only if i put it right in front of his face.
I have tried all weeds that he is surposed to like and greens but he wont eat them. I will try cutting up the greens into tiny pieces Are the pellets not healthy for him, i'm concerned that we just wont eat at all ?
He 4 years old has twice hibernated and lives outside.
 

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