I’m a fussy tortoise

LordTurtlington

New Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2021
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Beckenham
I am a 6 month old Sulcata and quite fussy. My owner has gone through the Tortoise Table and found lots of plants that are completely safe to eat and created a little garden to fill my bowl from…except I don’t want to eat ANY of it and will only eat lambs lettuce and the red pellets in the Komodo Tortoise Diet tubs. I’m sure that’s not healthy or a varied enough diet for me. Any suggestions on how to get me to eat other things? She’s getting worried about me ?
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    1.7 MB · Views: 41
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 41

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,003
I am a 6 month old Sulcata and quite fussy. My owner has gone through the Tortoise Table and found lots of plants that are completely safe to eat and created a little garden to fill my bowl from…except I don’t want to eat ANY of it and will only eat lambs lettuce and the red pellets in the Komodo Tortoise Diet tubs. I’m sure that’s not healthy or a varied enough diet for me. Any suggestions on how to get me to eat other things? She’s getting worried about me ?
Hello and welcome from Devon. Have you tried radicchio? It is the red and white leaf which you can find in Florette crispy salad mix - if you like it , you can buy whole heads of it - I believe it is a relative of chicory. My mum orders several whole heads of it at once, and it keeps a long time in the fridge. It is my favourite. Best wishes to your lordship from Zola (and Angie)
Z-'s-food.jpg
 

LordTurtlington

New Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2021
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Beckenham
Hello and welcome from Devon. Have you tried radicchio? It is the red and white leaf which you can find in Florette crispy salad mix - if you like it , you can buy whole heads of it - I believe it is a relative of chicory. My mum orders several whole heads of it at once, and it keeps a long time in the fridge. It is my favourite. Best wishes to your lordship from Zola (and Angie)
View attachment 334817
Thank you - the Tortoise Table says to only feed this in Moderation though so I’ve been a little wary giving him it every day and in large quantities. I’ve been trying to stick to fully safe to eat plants with the occasional moderation plant thrown in but he’s being fussy ?
 

Humbug & Maz

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2021
Messages
120
Location (City and/or State)
Chesterfield UK
Thank you - the Tortoise Table says to only feed this in Moderation though so I’ve been a little wary giving him it every day and in large quantities. I’ve been trying to stick to fully safe to eat plants with the occasional moderation plant thrown in but he’s being fussy ?
Hello and welcome from Derbyshire! I was looking at the tortoise table and there are very few fruit and veg that are recommended as "safe" to feed without limits. I think they say just lambs lettuce and artichoke. In the garden and house plants section Humbug doesn't like any of the ones they recommend as safe and your tort might have similar tastes! I tend to stick to the leafy greens that are safe to feed "in moderation" and I always just try to vary those items like radicchio, kale and rocket. I have many organic dandelions and clover in the garden too ? (a good excuse not to mow the lawn). My little one loves a bit of cucumber which is good for hydration but again it is in moderation as too much causes runny poos! I hope with a bit of trial and error your tort finds something he enjoys.
 

LordTurtlington

New Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2021
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Beckenham
Ok thank you, I’ll stop worrying so much and let him have ‘moderate’ food more often ? Just don’t wanna get it wrong haha, much harder to look after than a baby that’s for sure ?
 

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,003
Ok thank you, I’ll stop worrying so much and let him have ‘moderate’ food more often ? Just don’t wanna get it wrong haha, much harder to look after than a baby that’s for sure ?
Zola has lived to 21years old now, and has loved radicchio for many of those. There were one or 2 things he liked a lot, such as red and green peppers,but I stopped that as soon as I found they were really bad for him. He loves cucumber, and still has a bit as a treat quite often - I think you will find that if you keep trying to introduce other things - like a bit of finely chopped unfamiliar leaves in with his pellets, he will get braver in time -it's natural to be suspicious of strange foods - I certainly am like that !
I gather that the tortoise table can be rather rigid about diet - if you can get him accustomed to trying different foods in very small quantities, you will find out by trial and error what he likes - but be prepared for him to take a sudden dislike to something he previously loved (like human children do)
Don't worry about it - his Lordship will be fine
Angie
 

ZenHerper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2020
Messages
2,078
Location (City and/or State)
New Jersey
Tortoise Table is ultra-conservative about it's ratings. This is probably due in large part to the past practice of keeping tortoises dry and dehydrated (the metabolic organs need plenty of water to process all the chemical constituents of plants).

As long as your wee one has enough humidity, is soaked in warm water daily for 20-30 minutes, and has clean water always available, the "moderate" plants (and chicory family in particular) are completely safe.

This is the most up-to-date care for Sulcata:

Tortoises hatch out interested in trying every kind of plant nearby (their mothers laid their eggs in specific places where good food plants grow). But over time, the instinct to avoid new plants that *might* be toxic to them kicks in and they stop experimenting.

So to introduce new food tastes and textures you have to be a bit sneaky. Chop the new food very fine and even mushy. Then mix small bits of it with things that Baby eats readily. Go slowly, be persistent. It takes time for the New stuff to be thought of as Safe.
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Have you tried weeds like dandelions, clover, sowthistle and ribwort and broadleaf plantains etc. They are better than the shop bought food, but if like me you have to resort to those in the winter it helps to get to know which are more nutritious as recommended in the caresheet.
To introduce new foods add small amounts of it to the old and then gradually increase. If you chop it up into small pieces and soak it so that it sticks to the liked food then he can't avoid eating it. Don't introduce too many at once. It make take a while though because they're stubborn little beggars.
Fruit shouldn't be fed because most species systems can't handle the sugars.
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Are you in the UK?
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Hello and welcome from Devon. Have you tried radicchio? It is the red and white leaf which you can find in Florette crispy salad mix - if you like it , you can buy whole heads of it - I believe it is a relative of chicory. My mum orders several whole heads of it at once, and it keeps a long time in the fridge. It is my favourite. Best wishes to your lordship from Zola (and Angie)
View attachment 334817
Although it can be fed, it should not be the only diet or thr biggest part of the diet. A wide variety is needed
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Yes we are in London :) thank you for your other reply too. Very helpful ☺️
For the winter Aldi sell a crispy mixed salad for 39p at the moment which has a good mix of leaves -including radicchio - look for the pale green bag and there's also a purple bag that's OK to mix in. Lidl do a more expensive bag and Morrisons also have a good mix in their salad bags too which are often sold 2 for £1. Look for lettuces like batavaria, endive, escarole and frisee, green and red leaf. I add other things like pak choi, kale (not something my tort likes much so I tend to waste a lot) spring greens, carrot top leaves and lambs lettuce etc. The caresheet will give you more ideas.
I take out the white and stalky bits as there's little nutritional value in filling up with those and also soak them to rehydrate. I also read somewhere that the salad bags are washed with chlorine so it rinses that away too.
Florette has a great mix in their classic crispy bags but they are very expensive as are Sainsbury mixed leaf salad. Not as good as weeds but just a few ideas for winter feeding.
 

New Posts

Top