How do i get my northern Redfoot to eat more protein

[drift2sea]

I got her to get her grub on these past couple of days.Ive noticed becauce im feeding her a lot better that she eats little or no protein.I want to see if she will eat shrimp,i have giant mealworms id like to try to get her to eat she turns her nose up at them.I also have some real good night crawlers for her.This is to supplement her diet not to put her on a primarily protein diet,Ive seen the pics and heard the horror stories about too much protein.Any ideas on how to get her to eat a little meat.im in a apartment complex and i cant really let her graze unless im right there.There is kids everywhere here and they are cruel to animals,i would come unglued if someone hurt my Jazz.She does like to graze for being a tort from Petco.

 

[terryo]

I give mine some boiled chicken breast, when ever I make chicken. She loves it. I also give some worms (night crawlers) She will go crazy over them. You can also try some soaked Mazuri...I think that has protein in it. I never saw one who refused that, or frozen pinkies....hard boiled egg...shell and all mashed up and put on some greens or fruit. Canned venison....I use Wellness dog food....as a treat. I only give protein once every two weeks or so.

 

[DixieParadise]

You didn't say how big your tort was. I give mine nightcrawlers and they kind of look at them, but when they start wiggling...zap that first bite is all it takes. If the worm is too big they won't attack it, but the smaller ones they just gobble down. Mazuri or ZooMed Forest Tortoise food has 13% protein..might try that.

 

[drift2sea]

You didn't say how big your tort was. I give mine nightcrawlers and they kind of look at them, but when they start wiggling...zap that first bite is all it takes. If the worm is too big they won't attack it, but the smaller ones they just gobble down. Mazuri or ZooMed Forest Tortoise food has 13% protein..might try that.

Her overall lenght is around 5 1/2in.Her plastron is around 4 1/2 inches.I was told she looks around 4 or 5 yrs old.I wanted to try the new red tortoise sticks that were mentioned in previous threads,but heard they have grain and soy in them which contains omega 3 or 6 cant remember and on the main Redfoot link from this forum is says grain products with that are not good for her.It would be so much easier if she liked worms,all i have to do is spray the yard at night with a hose and get as many night crawlers as i want scott free.i have a whole container of giant mealworms that are well fed and its just sitting there.Someone told me about low fat catfood moistened and i heard that thats supposed to be bad too.I seen the pics of that poor tortoise that was fed nothing but canned dog food and was horrified at what it did to the poor little guy.But ive also seen her start eating her veggies finally when i eat lunch with her as she grazes.Perhaps she just needed to get settled a lil more.Im very patient and put a lot of effort in her everyday.It has payed off exponentially.the first 24 hours with her were bad.The shape she was in i thought id be removing a dead tortoise in the morning.One of the sales persons i went back to said she hadnt eaten any thing for over a week and was suprised that they would sell her like that.I had to hand feed her apple and cucumber mush the first two days before she started going after the strawberries[she will kill for strawberries]Now shes is all over the place and eating good.

 

[DixieParadise]

I think if you scroll down through the posts about feeding you will see everyone at one time or another had a feeding problem. Mine was eating greens..now I can't put them down fast enough. Might just take some time, but I would try the soaked Mazuri or ZooMed food to get her/him started. I have heard Boild Egg, but I don't feed my tort this, so I don't know. Perhaps someone else can help with this.

 

[drift2sea]

Im giving her all the time she needs,im watching on how much she gets fed.She was starving when i got her and i need to work her up to a normal appatite where shes not gorging herself on the first things she sees and eats a balanced organic fresh diet.Ill get her squared away.

 

[Madkins007]

Red-foots getting a balanced, varied diet do not need a lot of extra protein in their diet. Some of them enjoy worms, some prefer slugs, most seem to like moistened or canned low-cal cat food, etc.

If she has access to bugs in the pen, don't worry about supplementing protein too much- there is protein in plants too!

 

[drift2sea]

i think its just if i see her eating it i visually know shes getting it and dont have to second guess if she is out back.Im in the habit of logging care of her and i like to keep track of notes and have a shcematic to work off of number wise as i see what works diet preportion light times,temp huditity,supplement amount ect.So far all the good advice is paying off well.Im used to being on an organized agenda[thank you uncle sam]So im kinda OCD about it.I also keep records now so i can compare notes with all you tort vets out there.Its a lot more effort but its working real well for both of us and i have learned a lot.Some trial and error on my behalf not doing my reserch and being a beginner, most from good advice.No fatal errors and if it aint broke dont fix it.Also as my old frst sgt used to say if it looks stupid and it works guess what?it aint stupid

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I got her to get her grub on these past couple of days.Ive noticed becauce im feeding her a lot better that she eats little or no protein.I want to see if she will eat shrimp,i have giant mealworms id like to try to get her to eat she turns her nose up at them.I also have some real good night crawlers for her.This is to supplement her diet not to put her on a primarily protein diet,Ive seen the pics and heard the horror stories about too much protein.Any ideas on how to get her to eat a little meat.im in a apartment complex and i cant really let her graze unless im right there.There is kids everywhere here and they are cruel to animals,i would come unglued if someone hurt my Jazz.She does like to graze for being a tort from Petco.

No need to give a redfoot tortoise meat, although they do scavenge carcasses in the wild (I caught mine scavenging a dead rat outside once, but of course I didn't let her). Don't give her shrimp, since crustaceans are not part of their natural diet. I tried giving my redfoot a night crawler once, but she refused it. Redfoots don't have the predatory instincts of box turtles; they are after all tortoises, not land turtles. If you can give her some terrestrial or even freshwater snails (like bite-sized ramshorn or pond snails), I can almost guarantee you will not be disappointed. Snails are a good source of both protein and calcium, and I've never met a turtle or tortoise who didn't like them. My little redfoot used to gobble up several of them at a sitting. I only used to give them to her about once a month, but sometimes she found them outside, too. She also used to eat old snail shells without the snail inside. Yummy!

Also, don't worry about letting her outside. Just watch over her for half-an-hour or an hour at a time and let her explore and feed on whatever plants she can find (as long as they have not been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides). Kids have seen me with my turtles, and they've never been cruel. Actually, they have been friendly and curious, and wanted to know more about them. You know your neighborhood better, of course, but if possible, then being outside a bit would be good for your tortoise.

 

[drift2sea]

Wow shell and all.Learn something new everyday.Im going to try this.I want to try the boiled egg with some shell too.Shes turning out to be a little piggie now

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Wow shell and all.Learn something new everyday.Im going to try this.I want to try the boiled egg with some shell too.Shes turning out to be a little piggie now

My box turtles and redfoot tortoise never ate eggshell, only slugs, snails, and snail shells, but maybe others will, I don't know. Yeah, turtles need even more calcium than most other vertebrates because their shell is basically a huge rib cage with thick bones that need lots of calcium, so they are suckers for snails, shell and all, I've found. Also, it's fascinating to watch a turtle eat a snail, too. If they can bite down on it and crush it, they will, and swallow the shards. If they can't break it, though, and if it's not too big, then they'll just swallow it. I've rarely seen fragments of snail shell in my turtles' dung, so they usually seem to digest it completely. Pretty cool.

As for hard-boiled egg, I have never fed any of my turtles any egg, but maybe others have had success with that.

 

[drift2sea]

Shes a picky eater but im learning through trial and error.I got it all written down every day as i watch what she eats a little of,lot of or just wont touch.Its nice to keep the data when i need to calculate a rough estimate of what she consumes and compare with what her needs are.I like to keep it close to the care plan on the main redfoot link.its been working really well so far.

 

[LindaF]

Mine can't resist night crawlers or dry low fat cat food soaked in water.