I think my Russian is fat + dehydrated?

[Tom]

Ok thanks for the advice, I won’t do more carrots, but what about squash? Is that ok? Around here I don’t find a lot variety of greenies that’s why I do spring mix and lettuce. I have find many diet suggestions but it is hard to find the stuff around here. I have tried growing but he’s a little weird and do not pay attention to the plants I grow for him. I’ve grow a few desert tortoise mixes that bring plantains, dandelions, etc, and nop, he doesn’t even go close.

Squash leaves and blooms are great tortoise food.

No tortoise is going to eat unfamiliar foods. You have to spend weeks introducing anything new. Start by mincing up your tortoises favorite greens and spraying the pile with water. Then mince up a tiny tiny amount of the new food that you want to introduce. I mean hardly any. Then mix it all up so that the old favorite just has a few tiny flecks of the new stuff on it. Over time, as the tortoise accepts it, up the ratio of new food to old.

Grocery store food is like McDonalds for a tortoise. Of course they would prefer that over a healthy meal. It takes time to get them eating the right foods, but its well worth it in the end.

Oh! I do have another question! Since I soaked him today I remembered. Do they suppose to stay quiet while soaking? He normally is just trying to climb the walls of the container at all times while soaking, he rest sometimes but mostly keeps trying to get out. Is that normal?

Totally normal. None of mine sit still for very long in the soak water. When they climb the walls trying to get out, we call that the tortoise treadmill. The exercise is very good for them especially when they are already in a small enclosure.

 

[Cathie G]

Something I tried from another member's suggestion was to SLOWLY pour the water over the tortoise until it reaches the right depth.(where the carapace meets the plastron) Instead of just plopping him in. My tortoise is less stressed by that and isn't trying to frantically escape the whole soak time. He still gets some exercise with his legs though.

 

[Vpvarano]

Squash leaves and blooms are great tortoise food.

No tortoise is going to eat unfamiliar foods. You have to spend weeks introducing anything new. Start by mincing up your tortoises favorite greens and spraying the pile with water. Then mince up a tiny tiny amount of the new food that you want to introduce. I mean hardly any. Then mix it all up so that the old favorite just has a few tiny flecks of the new stuff on it. Over time, as the tortoise accepts it, up the ratio of new food to old.

Grocery store food is like McDonalds for a tortoise. Of course they would prefer that over a healthy meal. It takes time to get them eating the right foods, but its well worth it in the end.


Totally normal. None of mine sit still for very long in the soak water. When they climb the walls trying to get out, we call that the tortoise treadmill. The exercise is very good for them especially when they are already in a small enclosure.

Actually, that is not the case for him, he will accept any new food if it smells good, he most of the time says yes to everything I offer him (he definitely doesn’t like collar greens for example) but when I tried the home grown stuff he just ate it for a little while and then stopped paying attention to it, and I have no idea why. I will try to order the stuff online and see if he likes that better. Maybe he just didn’t like the way I grew the plants or something, who knows. But he normally accept food pretty well, specially if I hand feed him. He also loves the mazuri pellets, I always offer him and sometimes he doesn’t even touch the fresh greens and just go for those.
He did not like the zoomed kind thought, but I think is because it is a different consistency and is more to mix it up on a salad, I tried it for a long time but he ended eating very little of it, so I don’t use it anymore.

 

[Tom]

Actually, that is not the case for him, he will accept any new food if it smells good, he most of the time says yes to everything I offer him (he definitely doesn’t like collar greens for example) but when I tried the home grown stuff he just ate it for a little while and then stopped paying attention to it, and I have no idea why. I will try to order the stuff online and see if he likes that better. Maybe he just didn’t like the way I grew the plants or something, who knows. But he normally accept food pretty well, specially if I hand feed him. He also loves the mazuri pellets, I always offer him and sometimes he doesn’t even touch the fresh greens and just go for those.
He did not like the zoomed kind thought, but I think is because it is a different consistency and is more to mix it up on a salad, I tried it for a long time but he ended eating very little of it, so I don’t use it anymore.

Okay. I will correct my own sentence from the last post:
Most tortoises take a while to be introduced to some foods some of the time. I too have thrown down new foods and had tortoises just walk over and eat it the first time they see it, but ordinarily, if you've had a tortoise eating a lot of grocery store foods, it takes time to introduce high fiber weeds and leaves. Some torts are less picky than others, or show preferences for some foods of course, but you can get any tort eating any food if you take the time to introduce it.

I've never seen any tortoise take to the Zoomed pellets right away, and I've never seen a tortoise just eat them plain either. I soak it and mix it in with greens. None of mine have ever liked it at first, but most of them come to love it after a lengthy introduction period, and its a great way to add fiber and variety to grocery store greens. You have to start with tiny amounts at first and gradually add more.

 

[Vpvarano]

Okay. I will correct my own sentence from the last post:
Most tortoises take a while to be introduced to some foods some of the time. I too have thrown down new foods and had tortoises just walk over and eat it the first time they see it, but ordinarily, if you've had a tortoise eating a lot of grocery store foods, it takes time to introduce high fiber weeds and leaves. Some torts are less picky than others, or show preferences for some foods of course, but you can get any tort eating any food if you take the time to introduce it.

I've never seen any tortoise take to the Zoomed pellets right away, and I've never seen a tortoise just eat them plain either. I soak it and mix it in with greens. None of mine have ever liked it at first, but most of them come to love it after a lengthy introduction period, and its a great way to add fiber and variety to grocery store greens. You have to start with tiny amounts at first and gradually add more.

I did tried for over a year with the zoomed and he never picked it up. I was mixing it in the veggies like a salad but even like that he will always leave it almost all. As I said before I tried for over a year and gave up. With the mazuri pellets he goes fot ir right away and he eats a lot even if I just offered that plain soaked in water (I always soak it). So since he loves the mazuri I just give him that. Do I need to offer both of them? And if so why?

 

[Tom]

I did tried for over a year with the zoomed and he never picked it up. I was mixing it in the veggies like a salad but even like that he will always leave it almost all. As I said before I tried for over a year and gave up. With the mazuri pellets he goes fot ir right away and he eats a lot even if I just offered that plain soaked in water (I always soak it). So since he loves the mazuri I just give him that. Do I need to offer both of them? And if so why?

You do not need to offer both. You don't "need" either Mazuri or ZooMed, but both are good supplemental foods.

When you say 'he leaves it", that tells me you are using WAY too much. You need to break off a tiny piece of one pellet and soak it. Or use some of the dust from the bottom of the container and mix that all up with minced wet greens. The greens should look like you've sprinkled a tiny bit of pepper on them. There shouldn't be a pile of the ZooMed food left over. Your tortoise can't eat its food without eating the ZooMed. If you use too much, the tortoise will refuse to eat sometimes. At first, its almost like you dropped a piece of lettuce and when you pick it up it has some "light dust" on it that you brush off.

As I said before, the ZooMed takes a while to get them eating it, but it is certainly not "necessary" if you are doing lots of other variety. I find it worth the time to introduce because its a good food with good ingredients and it adds fiber, variety and nutrition to grocery store greens. All of that can be accomplished in other ways if you prefer.

 

[Vpvarano]

You do not need to offer both. You don't "need" either Mazuri or ZooMed, but both are good supplemental foods.

When you say 'he leaves it", that tells me you are using WAY too much. You need to break off a tiny piece of one pellet and soak it. Or use some of the dust from the bottom of the container and mix that all up with minced wet greens. The greens should look like you've sprinkled a tiny bit of pepper on them. There shouldn't be a pile of the ZooMed food left over. Your tortoise can't eat its food without eating the ZooMed. If you use too much, the tortoise will refuse to eat sometimes. At first, its almost like you dropped a piece of lettuce and when you pick it up it has some "light dust" on it that you brush off.

As I said before, the ZooMed takes a while to get them eating it, but it is certainly not "necessary" if you are doing lots of other variety. I find it worth the time to introduce because its a good food with good ingredients and it adds fiber, variety and nutrition to grocery store greens. All of that can be accomplished in other ways if you prefer.

Oh! Ok then yes, I was definitely doing waaay to much! 🤣 I will get it again and try that. I was soaking like 2 ir 3 full pellets and then putting the whole thin “sprinkle” on top of the greens.
Thanks so much! I find interesting and crazy how it is so hard to find information in these topics for the most common species! That why I love this forum.
The same thing is happening to me right now with a California King snake that my husband brought home, they are suuper common, “everybody” has them but it is impossible to find a food chart to know how much and often to feed them. And of course everyone has a different way to do it. Crazy!

 

[Tom]

The same thing is happening to me right now with a California King snake that my husband brought home, they are suuper common, “everybody” has them but it is impossible to find a food chart to know how much and often to feed them. And of course everyone has a different way to do it. Crazy!

This is true too! I find snake people fall into two main camps: 1. Large meals less often, or 2. Smaller meals more often. I fall in with camp #2. Another factor is the age, sex and condition of the snake. Egg producing females need a lot more nutrition than a big fully grown sedentary male that is on the heavy side already. I might feed such a male a small meal once or twice a month, while that female would get a medium meal once a week. Growing babies also need to be fed a lot more often than grown adults. I think most keepers would agree on once a week feedings for baby kings, and once or twice a month for adults. It also depends on the season and whether or not you are brumating them. I feed more in spring coming out of brumation, even out in summer and early fall, and then start cutting back as the days get shorter and cooler in fall, before brumation. These are just some of the reasons why there is no simple once sentence answer to this question.

I am also of the educated opinion that most snakes species should be fed a variety of different prey items. King snakes eat a lot of other snakes and also lizards in the wild. They will opportunistically eat a baby bird that has been pushed of of the nest by a sibling in the springtime too. Yes, I know they can survive on gut loaded healthy rodents, but I think more variety is better.


I keep Drymarchon species, and people who know a lot more about them than me report increases in egg production and fertility, as well as better health, vitality and appearance, when they are fed a variety of prey species as they would eat in the wild. I feed mine a little of everything: Fish, mice, rats, day old chicks, English house sparrows, quail, cottontail, jack rabbit, frog legs, rattlesnakes, gopher, ground squirrel, etc...

 

[Vpvarano]

This is true too! I find snake people fall into two main camps: 1. Large meals less often, or 2. Smaller meals more often. I fall in with camp #2. Another factor is the age, sex and condition of the snake. Egg producing females need a lot more nutrition than a big fully grown sedentary male that is on the heavy side already. I might feed such a male a small meal once or twice a month, while that female would get a medium meal once a week. Growing babies also need to be fed a lot more often than grown adults. I think most keepers would agree on once a week feedings for baby kings, and once or twice a month for adults. It also depends on the season and whether or not you are brumating them. I feed more in spring coming out of brumation, even out in summer and early fall, and then start cutting back as the days get shorter and cooler in fall, before brumation. These are just some of the reasons why there is no simple once sentence answer to this question.

I am also of the educated opinion that most snakes species should be fed a variety of different prey items. King snakes eat a lot of other snakes and also lizards in the wild. They will opportunistically eat a baby bird that has been pushed of of the nest by a sibling in the springtime too. Yes, I know they can survive on gut loaded healthy rodents, but I think more variety is better.


I keep Drymarchon species, and people who know a lot more about them than me report increases in egg production and fertility, as well as better health, vitality and appearance, when they are fed a variety of prey species as they would eat in the wild. I feed mine a little of everything: Fish, mice, rats, day old chicks, English house sparrows, quail, cottontail, jack rabbit, frog legs, rattlesnakes, gopher, ground squirrel, etc...

Oh wow! I thought I might be the only person on earth that though I should be feeding more than just mouse! Thanks God for your comment! It seems obvious to me if they eat everything in the wild, why just feed them just rodents? Right now he (I think is a he, not confirmed yet) is about 17” long, 19g and I believe he must be around 6-7 months old (got it in local petsmart so who knows). But right now I’m just about to upgrade him to fuzzy mouse because he is looking hungry like 2 days after feeding 2 pinky mice. I’m planning to feed him more than rodents once he’s a little bigger, just because I don’t have access to smaller prey right now.
Do you know where could I find good information about the species? I try to look for scientific research but it’s hard to get some questions answered that way.

 

[Tom]

Do you know where could I find good information about the species? I try to look for scientific research but it’s hard to get some questions answered that way.

I don't. I just know what I know from working in pet stores and keeping them myself for decades. I see them out in the wild here too occasionally. I also talk to and listen to lots of other snake keepers. My knowledge is not book knowledge in this case.

We have many snake keepers here. You can start a thread (With pictures!!!) in the other pets section and ask questions there. I find the info on this forum to be much more reliable than other sources.

 

[Donna Albu]

Oh! I do have another question! Since I soaked him today I remembered. Do they suppose to stay quiet while soaking? He normally is just trying to climb the walls of the container at all times while soaking, he rest sometimes but mostly keeps trying to get out. Is that normal?

That is absolutely normal. Pretty much the tortoise treadmill, and great exercise for him.

 

[Vpvarano]

I don't. I just know what I know from working in pet stores and keeping them myself for decades. I see them out in the wild here too occasionally. I also talk to and listen to lots of other snake keepers. My knowledge is not book knowledge in this case.

We have many snake keepers here. You can start a thread (With pictures!!!) in the other pets section and ask questions there. I find the info on this forum to be much more reliable than other sources.

Thanks so much! I definitely will.