Need Help/Advice: Buddy refuses to eat anything that's not Yellow or Orange!!!

[danielledelynn]

When we first got Buddy and then got him to the vet about a week later, he wasn't eating at all...The vet said it was most likely caused by his calcium deficiency, that it was slowly shutting down Buddy's organs and appetite; making his "guts and intestines" not digest and trigger the feeling of hunger. The vet suggested we try to get him to eat anything, as he began taking in the liquid calcium medicine. Some of you suggested carrots and squash boiled up. He LOVES carrots and squash ever since we tried that idea!! However...That's ALL he eats, only yellow and orange foods. He seems to like being hand-fed much better than eating on his own at his leisure. We have tried buying pretty much every assortment of green leafy stuff for him that you can imagine. When we hand feed him with something orange or yellow, for example: a piece of boiled carrot, squash, dandelion flower, or individual piece of corn mashed up on our fingertip-- He devours it and will continue to eat til he falls asleep (it's really quite cute to watch), however, whenever we hold up a green piece of food to him (even bought a nice package of spring green mix yesterday when grocery shopping)- he will walk up to it all slow, get very close to it as if he's sniffing it, and then turn his head real sharp at the last second as if he's saying, "Psssssshhht!! I'm NOT eating THAT!" I know that he's gotta start eating the green stuff, but he just refuses to. Is it okay at this age that he's eating mostly only yellow and orange foods? Is it normal for them at a young age like this to be picky eaters? We have even cut the greens into really small pieces-- He just turns his head in disgust til we show him something orange or yellow, then he runs (well, you know, the tortoise version of running, lol) toward it and chomps right at it til it's gone.

Suggestions anyone?

 

[Yvonne G]

One way to get a picky eater to try other foods is to chop the favored foods up real, real small. Add in chopped greens, again, chopped real small. Mix all together. Don't add too much of the good stuff. Just add a little bit more each time. Until some day in the future, he's eating more greens than yellow/orange.

 

[Tom]

One way to get a picky eater to try other foods is to chop the favored foods up real, real small. Add in chopped greens, again, chopped real small. Mix all together. Don't add too much of the good stuff. Just add a little bit more each time. Until some day in the future, he's eating more greens than yellow/orange.

That's what I do too. I also keep the amount small. For a while, I don't give them as much as they want. If you keep him hungry for a few weeks, you'll develop a voracious hunger drive and you'll get to a point where he "feels" like he's hungry all the time. At that point they will eat anything you put in front of them.

 

[Scooter]

I have had a problem similar to this with my hingeback. She would only eat bananas. So I bought some baby banana food and starting coating the greens in that and have been slowly reducing the amount of banana. You could try this, coat the greens just enough so the orange or yellow color will attract him to it. Good luck.

 

[Andy_Panda]

yes introduce much more "Better for him" foods like grasses, and other high fiber mixed in with little by little of the stuff he is used to ... we had to do this for Hagrid as we was eating "Tortoise bites" when we first had him he would eat nothing else .. Now he is a mainly grass eater once in a while we give him dandelion greens and other "Safe" lettuces/greens.

 

[moswen]

i think everyone's done a good job answering your question, but my little mos has eaten every single yellow flower in his outdoor enclosure and he will fight the girls for their dandelion flowers... maybe sullies just like yellow! and p.s. i've read your origional post about him being sick, it's so good to hear he's actually eating!!! i hope he keeps going on the up and up!

 

[Tom]

i think everyone's done a good job answering your question, but my little mos has eaten every single yellow flower in his outdoor enclosure and he will fight the girls for their dandelion flowers... maybe sullies just like yellow! and p.s. i've read your origional post about him being sick, it's so good to hear he's actually eating!!! i hope he keeps going on the up and up!

I think most tortoises ARE attracted to yellow, red and orange.