old yellowfoot

[susie]

Hi Everyone;

We just adopted an old yellowfoot (she said thirty, I don't know how she could tell) I am sure he is a WC and he is very shy. he is pretty battered and cracked but seems healthy.
The problem is he will only eat fruit, no greens and no protein. We have a produce sevice so getting fresh organic fruit is not a problem but I know he needs to eat other things. We weaned our adopted sulcata off dogfood but it was rough. Any ideas? I put a worm on his banana tonight and he ate around it lol.

Thanks

 

[tyler0912]

i think the easiest way to wean is to give him the things he likes along with greens etc... and everytime you feed him take away ABIT of the fruit at a time and replace it with healthier greens!
But dont forget they do need fruit in there diet?!
Hope this helped!

 

[mintybum]

is his shell pyramided at all?
if he's been outside he must have grazed out there so maybe he does eat green?
can we see a pic
i have redfoots, my eldest is 12 and has a beautiful shell and i've never fed mine bugs, he gets rehydrated dried catfood maybe every two weeks or so give that a try, find one with low fat though.
julie

 

[african cake queen]

HI, COULD YOU POST PICTURES? THANKS LINDY

 

[susie]

I will try and post some pictures. His shell is very smooth. Our sulcata came with awful pyramiding but seems to be a biy better now. I do put pedro outside but have not seen him graze we have a back yard full of dandylions and wild strawberries but he just does not seem interested.

 

[Tortoise]

How about some vegetable proteins-beans, peas etc?
My Red foots will eat earthworms, superworms, rehydrated cat food-Low fat, although not given this for a while as I'm trying to be as natural as possible-a little shouldn't hurt though.
Some folks try pinkies too, and mine ate a little red meat once-I just wondered if they would be interested and that was an understatement.
They loved it.

When my red foots were strolling outside supervised-one of them found a small dead frog in the grass(lawn mower casualty) and happily ate that too.
I have given minnows that I had left from fishing too. I think regular feeding of those would make for more than normal smelly stools.

Hopefully your tortoise would eat some form of protein.

Would love to see your Yellow foot-I have never seen an older yellowfoot thus far.

 

[tortoises101]

I've heard of other keepers hiding things tortoises won't eat in things they will eat. Stuffing greens and protein into fruit is worth a try.

 

[EricIvins]

Use a whole Rat or whole Fish - Some Tortoise keepers use fresh roadkill - Either way, it'll know what to do with it........

An Earthworm isn't going to do anything for a Red/Yellowfoot..........

 

[Kristina]

They will certainly eat earthworms (I have a 14" female that crawls in my lap after them ,) but for a large RF or YF, it would take a LOT of earthworms to make a nutritional impact.

I feed mine canned (in water) salmon or mackerel (both which are high in D3) and sometimes catfish nuggets as well. There is something about catfish - all my water turtles and my Hingebacks and Redfoots go crazy over it like no other.

As far as the greens go, take your greens and chop them into itty bits. You want the pieces to stick to the fruit, so that the tort can't just sift through the greens and pick out the fruit. Then start to gradually up the amount of greens, and lower the amount of fruit.

Another thing - portabella mushrooms. Definitely a fave.

 

[matt41gb]

Best thing to do is to leave them alone to acclimate. Offer food, but don't stand over and watch them. I've kept many yellow-foot torts and most of them are very sensitive and stress over everything. You don't have to feed your tort every day, once a week is fine. They will graze grasses in the yard in between feedings.

-Matt

 

[ascott]

ooooo Kristina, I am going to try the salmon with the little RFs....bet they will love it....

 

[Madkins007]

Hi Everyone;

We just adopted an old yellowfoot (she said thirty, I don't know how she could tell) I am sure he is a WC and he is very shy. he is pretty battered and cracked but seems healthy.
The problem is he will only eat fruit, no greens and no protein. We have a produce sevice so getting fresh organic fruit is not a problem but I know he needs to eat other things. We weaned our adopted sulcata off dogfood but it was rough. Any ideas? I put a worm on his banana tonight and he ate around it lol.

Thanks

1. Could be stressed and just needs time to acclimate. I would not worry about this for about 2 weeks since it is eating something.

2. I would start with veggies with seeds, which are still actually fruits- bell pepper (especially red and yellow), squash, pumpkin, cucumber, peas, etc. These tend to be much healthier than the wetter, sweeter fruits we often use.

3. You can go either the cold turkey route, or the changing ratios route. With an old-timer, I would probably do the changing ratios and chop the greens up a lot and mix with lightly chopped fruits. Slowly increase chopped sizes and quantities of greens until does not seem to make a difference.

4. You can also see if it will take Mazuri. If it does, don't sweat the greens much.


Kristina is also very right about the 'oily fish'- Reds and other omnivorous torts love them, they have a decent amount of D3, and offer things like Omega 3s and more. Downside- the poop often stinks!

 

[jackrat]

I have an antique wild caught redfoot male that would only eat fruit when I got him. I went with the "tough love" route. I offered only greens for about a week,until he ate them. I continued to feed greens for another week before giving fruit once a week. I gradually worked up to alternating fruit and greens. He eats both equally well now.

 

[susie]

Thank you everyone for all the advice. I will try not to hover over him so much and give him some space. I think he has been making the rounds of the reptile shows for a while. Poor guy he can stay here and if he outlives me he has my niece as backup. Tried a "superworm" on a banana but he ate around it lol. I am so used to our sulcata Harry(ette) who is like a little bulldozer that this shyer personality was concerning me. I will get some salmon and regular worms. If he won't eat the salmon I have a bunch of kitties who will.
I posted some pictures (Pedro) I wish he could tell me his story. Looks like something chewed on him a one time (Jaguar??LOL) My cousin is going to Peru sometime this year I almost wish i could send him home. I know this is goofy but if I put him in the shower when I am watering all my ferns he totally stretches out and relaxes sort of an artificial jungle.