Polly
New Member
We've had Buddy a month now and i have not seen him eating at all. I have seen similar threads on here but I still don't know if this is 'normal'.
He has a table with coconut coir substrate which is dampened every other day.His basking area is typically 35 degrees for 15 hours on a timer and cool area drops to 15 degrees on a cold day like today. His sleeping area is kept to around 20 degrees on a thermostat.
The table is planted out with an assortment of succulents, cress and a rosemary that he likes to climb on.
He has fresh mixed salad leaves (lambs lettuce, lollo frisse and rosso, rocket, pea shoots etc, and Christmas cactus leaves and cuttlefish bone available all the time and refreshed a couple of times a day.
He has a warm bath and an opportunity explore away from his table everyday which he seems to appreciate. he is sociable and inquisitive and likes to be handled. He'll lean into a head and neck rub and if he want you to stop, he'll push fingers out of the way or walk off.
I did see evidence some time ago of the cress being eaten but not in the past few days and we have never seen him eat and never taken food from out fingers, which puzzles me as so many people say how driven by fod their tortoise is, some to the point of being greedy.
He scatters the food as he climbs over and through it but the leaves don't appear bitten. The colour and texture of the substrate makes it near impossible to see if he is passing any waste, although most days he'll pass water while out and exploring so i know he isn't dehydrated.
is it normal for a tortoise to eat so little, or nothing at this time of year, or am i doing something wrong.
Thanks for your help, or assurance
Neurotic first time tortoise mum x
He has a table with coconut coir substrate which is dampened every other day.His basking area is typically 35 degrees for 15 hours on a timer and cool area drops to 15 degrees on a cold day like today. His sleeping area is kept to around 20 degrees on a thermostat.
The table is planted out with an assortment of succulents, cress and a rosemary that he likes to climb on.
He has fresh mixed salad leaves (lambs lettuce, lollo frisse and rosso, rocket, pea shoots etc, and Christmas cactus leaves and cuttlefish bone available all the time and refreshed a couple of times a day.
He has a warm bath and an opportunity explore away from his table everyday which he seems to appreciate. he is sociable and inquisitive and likes to be handled. He'll lean into a head and neck rub and if he want you to stop, he'll push fingers out of the way or walk off.
I did see evidence some time ago of the cress being eaten but not in the past few days and we have never seen him eat and never taken food from out fingers, which puzzles me as so many people say how driven by fod their tortoise is, some to the point of being greedy.
He scatters the food as he climbs over and through it but the leaves don't appear bitten. The colour and texture of the substrate makes it near impossible to see if he is passing any waste, although most days he'll pass water while out and exploring so i know he isn't dehydrated.
is it normal for a tortoise to eat so little, or nothing at this time of year, or am i doing something wrong.
Thanks for your help, or assurance
Neurotic first time tortoise mum x