Is this good or bad?

[Conor]

my tortoise Shelldon tends to only eat papaya and cabbage, I give him a variety of tomatoes, lettuce, Apple, some plants and weeds from his natural habitat and he just digs through it all to get the papaya and cabbage, is this bad? And is there any way I can get him to eat the other stuff? And also what's people's opinion on watermelon? I heard from a previous tortoise owner, that they like it, but not sure if that's why he's a previous owner or not, so I'm just asking before I try it or not.


Secondly my tortoise tends to sleep in the shade all day until I take him out onto the yard and he just runs around, also he hates bathing and soaking in water, is there any tricks into getting him to like it or not really? Any advice would help

-Conor

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Would you please post pics of your tortoise and its enclosure? This would enable us to help you more.

Have you read the "Beginners' Mistake Thread?"

 

[Conor]

I did all that in the introduction, im gna build him an enclosure tomorrow actually so will post it as soon as it's done

 

[tortdad]

What species is Sheldon so we can give you the proper diet info?

You're giving him too much fruit

There are plenty of other things a healthy tortoise should be eating.

Tortoises are like little kids. If you give them a plate of Brussel sprouts and candy bars of course they will move the Brussel sprouts to the side and only eat the candy bars. Simple fix, hunger is your best friend. Take away the bad stuff and only feed the good stuff. Sheldon probably I'll throw a fit and not eat for a few days but keep offering up only the good foods and he will be wrong like a champ after a bit.

Find the proper diet for Sheldon in the specific species section or tell us which he's is and I'm sure someone will link the care sheet in this thread.

 

[wellington]

Yes, it is bad, very bad. No tortoise can live on just fruit, too much sugar for its system to be healthy. You need to play hardball and feed him the proper foods. If he won't eat them, then chop the proper foods up tiny, drizzle just a little of the fruit juice on it and mix it up. He will have to eat the good stuff to be able to eat the fruit smell of the juice. Water melon is just mostly water. Good as a treat once in a while. However, yours needs good foods now, not any more fruit.
@Tom might be able to help you what to feed for a better diet. On, the cabbage isn't good either.

 

[Conor]

I got him from a friend, and based on his markings on his shell, I thinks he's a Kalahari Tent Tortoise aka serrated tortoise(psammobates oculiferus) but many here say he's a tent tortoise so I've been doing his diet based on what I think he is, if anyone could double check and let me know it will help

 

[Conor]

http://www.carecentre.org.za/tent.html

That's where I got his diet from

 

[Tom]

From the article you linked:

"Feeding:

The less you feed these tortoises on kitchen food the more you will encourage feeding on natural growing plants and ensure exercise and adequate nutrition. If they can be maintained totally on growing food, then this is desirable.

Suggested foods: Grated/thinly sliced cucumber, grated carrot/butternut/pumpkin, diced tomato, lettuce/cabbage (VERY small quantities), grated courgettes (zucchini), fruit (sparingly - paw-paw is the favourite). This food should be offered in the early morning, and any uneaten food removed by lunchtime. A good vitamin/mineral supplement should be added to the food about once a week. The odd bone and cuttlefish left lying in the enclosure will be chewed on, this helps keep their beak trim and provides additional calcium."

Where does it say apple, papaya or watermelon? It says cabbage in "VERY small quantities"

I would suggest you stop feeding all the fruit and cabbage and instead focus on what your care sheet tells you to focus on:

"Echeveria fimbriata*
Echeveria coccinea*
Echeveria elegans*
Echeveria agavoides
Barleria obtusa* (flowers)
Opuntia - most species*
Cotyledon*
Painted Lady*
Hibiscus (Flowers)*
Gazania krebsiana*
Gerbera jamesoni (Barbeton daisy)
Dimorphotheca pluvialis (Cape Daisy)
D.sinuata (Namaqualand daisy)
Arctotis (African daisy)
Aeonium haworthii
Aeonium arboreum
Petunias*
Lederbouria spp*Malvaviscus arboreum (flowers)
White and blue Mazus*
Albucalilly (flowers)*
Portulacca*
Lucerne*
Wandering Jew - all species
Hibiscus (flowers)*
Mesembrenthenum (ice plant)
Golliwog* (Callisia repens)
Callisia elegans
Paperthorn*
Chickweed*
Dandelion*
Clover*
Gazanias*
Plantain*
Dichondra repens (wonderlawn)*

As many different grasses as you can supply from the following list:

Couch grass (Cynodon dactylon)
Eastern Province vlei grass (Eragrostis lehmanniana)
Dew grass (Eragrostis pseudo-obtusa)
Bushman grass (Schmidtia kalahariensis)
Carrot grass (Tragus racemosus)
Beesgras (Urochloa pantcoides)
Veld grass (Ehrhartacalycina)
Darnel rye grass (Lolium temulentum)
Barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli)
Mouse barley grass (Hordeum murinum)
Crab finger grass (Digitaria sanguinalis)
Dallas grass (Paspalum dilatatum)
Wintergrass (Poa annua)
Dropseed grass (Sporobolus africanus)
Kikiyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum)
Buffalo grass (Stenotaphrum secondatum)
Swazi grass (Digitaria swazilandensis)
Alfalfa (Lucerne)"

 

[Yvonne G]

If you don't want him to eat fruit and cabbage, don't include it in his feeding schedule. he can't eat it if you don't offer it.

 

[Conor]

Paw-paw is papaya

 

[Yvonne G]

Paw-paw is papaya

Your list says, "paw paw - sparingly" Sparingly means not very often.

 

[tortdad]

As in once every few weeks...

 

[tortdad]

I got him from a friend, and based on his markings on his shell, I thinks he's a Kalahari Tent Tortoise aka serrated tortoise(psammobates oculiferus) but many here say he's a tent tortoise so I've been doing his diet based on what I think he is, if anyone could double check and let me know it will help

View attachment 153856 View attachment 153857

That's a badass looking tort

 

[MPRC]

He is very cute, hopefully you can get him on to a healthier diet without too much trouble. Torts can be stubborn little monsters, good luck!

 

[Alaskamike]

One way to transition him to better food is to put in a little of what he likes with allot of what he should eat and chop it all up together.

That way the smell / taste of what he is used to is in there.

You are basically fooling him into eating other things. It is also not a horrible thing to go a couple days without feeding first. Let him get hungry - then do it.

Good fortune !

 

[Big Charlie]

I got him from a friend, and based on his markings on his shell, I thinks he's a Kalahari Tent Tortoise aka serrated tortoise(psammobates oculiferus) but many here say he's a tent tortoise so I've been doing his diet based on what I think he is, if anyone could double check and let me know it will help

View attachment 153856 View attachment 153857

What a gorgeous tort!