How much fruit is too much?

CyndiG

New Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2016
Messages
10
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento
I'm going on close to three months now with a group of wild caught Forstenii.

One of the challenges that I had with them is that they were not eating greens. Whether it was organic spring mix, grape vine leaves, weeds like dandelion and sow thistle, or leaves from mulberry trees or acanthus plants; they just weren't eating it. They readily accept fruit and squash though. Initially, I got them started on cantaloupe, casaba melon, yellow squash, butternut squash, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi fruit, and mango.

I've been creating a fruit and squash mash that I've been coating the shredded leaves of greens and putting that in the enclosures. They've been feeding pretty well on that. Though one female seems to only eat if there are acanthus, geranium, or hibiscus leaves and flowers in the blend. I've also been adding the Repashy Superveggie supplement twice a week.

I've got it down to about a 60% greens and flowers to 40% fruit. It seems if I push that ratio too much, they don't eat. Is this a reasonable ratio to feed indefinitely? Or will I need to eventually get it down to mostly greens and very little fruit?
 

Speedy-1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2015
Messages
3,002
Location (City and/or State)
St. David Arizona
I don't give Speedy any fruit , simply because it isn't necessary . He doesn't need it and I read that it is hard for him to digest ! He gets greens , pellets , hay , cactus , grape mulberry and hibiscus leaves. If he doesn't eat what he is given , it sits there until he gets hungry and eats it. I am not denying him food , he is choosing not to eat it . I don't believe I will let my tort train me as to what he will or will not eat .
 

SarahChelonoidis

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2015
Messages
1,895
Location (City and/or State)
Toronto, Canada
Forstens can have a fruit heavy diet (unlike Speedy). I keep elongated, which are quite similar, and diet is more fruit than greens. It matters what fruits you choose - if it was all super sweet fruit, like mango and banana, it might be a problem, but I see you're using squashes, which are good choices. Don't forget fungus and animal protein - they love mushrooms and earth worms and snails. I wouldn't do a 60:40 split of fruit:greens, but that's only because fungus and animal protein are in there too.
 

Kapidolo Farms

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Nov 7, 2012
Messages
5,173
Location (City and/or State)
South of Southern California, but not Mexico
Eventually

It sounds like you are doing an amazing job with WC Forsten's. I got some from Spectrum Reptiles (Barry Lambert) and Eric Ivins. They were all sorta shy about the whole captivity thing, but I have a whole dealio I do with WC tortoises. Small enclosure on purpose, all separately housed, and everything they need is within sight of everything else. They don't need to be explorers it's all right there. Half the enclosure is a hide so they can stay out of sight.

You might try putting isopods in their substrate, some of mine spend much time cruising through the substrate looking for and eating them.

It's been a few years and they all will look at what my hands are doing, they have sorted out the difference between hands that are dumping and filling a water dish, from those that are cleaning the food tile and putting new food down. They don't minds hands anymore, but are not big fans of being picked up.

I think I smeared banana on the leaves or papaya the first few times, then stopped. Goof fresh mulberry smells fruity to me. Tender shoot tip leaves taste good, try it once yourself.
 
Last edited:

CyndiG

New Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2016
Messages
10
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento
Eventually

It sounds like you are doing an amazing job with WC Forsten's. I got some from Spectrum Reptiles (Barry Lambert) and Eric Ivins. They were all sorta shy about the whole captivity thing, but I have a whole dealio I do with WC tortoises. Small enclosure on purpose, all separately housed, and everything they need is within sight of everything else. They don't need to be explorers it's all right there. Half the enclosure is a hide so they can stay out of sight.

You might try putting isopods in their substrate, some of mine spend much time cruising through the substrate looking for and eating them.

It's been a few years and they all will look at what my hands are doing, they have sorted out the difference between hands that are dumping and filling a water dish, from those that are cleaning the food tile and putting new food down. They don't minds hands anymore, but are not big fans of being picked up.

I think I smeared banana on the leaves or papaya the first few times, then stopped. Goof fresh mulberry smells fruity to me. Tender shoot tip leaves taste good, try it once yourself.

Nice video! I hope to have mine eating like that eventually. Right now, they're so picky. Unfortunately, I don't get many of the 'pill bugs' in this area. We did try the frozen thawed pinkie mice in the early going, since I read somewhere on an old forum post that frequently worked. None of mine went for it.

Mine are in big plastic 4' storage bins, all individually. We're keeping them indoors, and only dragging the tubs out for about an hour a day. There are other tort enclosures in the backyard, so the significant other wouldn't allow me to keep them outdoors yet. He was afraid that any parasites could infect the others. They've all been to the vet and dewormed, and a follow up check indicated that they were parasite free, but we're still planning on keeping them indoors over the winter and giving them outdoor enclosures next Spring.

This group is still very unfriendly, they tuck in their shells when being picked up and make a noise that sounds like a combination of a growl/hiss. I actually thought they were wheezing at first, but they never do it unless they're handled. They all seem to stay in their hides most of the day, but I can hear them scratching and clawing around in the early morning hours. We've been leaving the left over food in the evening, then usually find it gone the next morning.
 

CyndiG

New Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2016
Messages
10
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento
Forstens can have a fruit heavy diet (unlike Speedy). I keep elongated, which are quite similar, and diet is more fruit than greens. It matters what fruits you choose - if it was all super sweet fruit, like mango and banana, it might be a problem, but I see you're using squashes, which are good choices. Don't forget fungus and animal protein - they love mushrooms and earth worms and snails. I wouldn't do a 60:40 split of fruit:greens, but that's only because fungus and animal protein are in there too.

We tried button mushrooms when we first got them, and they wouldn't eat it. I'm going to have to try those again though. I wanted to try worms, but never got around to it. Do you dig up earthworms from your yard? Or do you buy them from bait stores? One thing that I was worried about was what the farmed worms sold in bait stores were raised in and whether there was anything bad in the dirt, which would probably be in the gut of the worms too.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
To catch your own earthworms, water a section of your yard heavily and then lay a large flat piece of cardboard on that spot overnight. The next morning lift up the cardboard and have fun catching worms.
 

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
7,120
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
To catch your own earthworms, water a section of your yard heavily and then lay a large flat piece of cardboard on that spot overnight. The next morning lift up the cardboard and have fun catching worms.
So true!!! You may find snails and slugs too.
 
Top