Picky eater... Lettuce or nothing!

[Mom of Zitouna]

My baby Greek tortoise is an extremely picky eater. She loves lettuce way too much and doesn't eat much of any other foods... I tried tomatoes, parsley, clover leafs, mint leafs, zucchini and mandarin. I was careful to make the aliments thin enough so that she can eat them.

But she doesn't like them. She either takes a few bites and stops or completely ignores them. If I mix them with lettuce, she only eats the lettuce and ignores the rest. She loves lettuce and could eat a ton of it but when I give her anything else she refuses it.


My problem is that I come from a third world country and we're currently in a bit of hard time economically... Vegetables are more expensive than ever. And even without that, our markets don't sell a wide variety of vegetables.

My question is : can I feed her mostly lettuce or will it enable her to be even more picky? Can I change her eating habits by not giving her lettuce so she had no choice but to eat other vegetables or will she starve if I do it? How dangerous would it be if her diet was mainly lettuce.

 

[wellington]

No you can not only feed lettuce. Lettuce is mainly water and little to nothing in nutrients.
Try a couple days of no lettuce. If she doesn't eat then try chopping the lettuce very small, tiny and mix it with other better foods that are also chopped up small. Spritz with water so it all sticks to each other. This way she had to eat the other to get the lettuce.
I don't know much about Greeks but most tortoises should not be fed fruit or tomatoes.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I absolutely agree with Wellington...she can only eat what you give her. Really! So don't offer anything for 3 days...then give her the veggies and no lettuce...it's time for tough love or you are going to have a sick tortoise. So go over her diet and leave out the lettuce...

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

No you can not only feed lettuce. Lettuce is mainly water and little to nothing in nutrients.
Try a couple days of no lettuce. If she doesn't eat then try chopping the lettuce very small, tiny and mix it with other better foods that are also chopped up small. Spritz with water so it all sticks to each other. This way she had to eat the other to get the lettuce.
I don't know much about Greeks but most tortoises should not be fed fruit or tomatoes.

Is it not dangerous if she doesn't eat for a few days? And I tried to chop lettuce with other aliments buts she doesn't est it

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

I absolutely agree with Wellington...she can only eat what you give her. Really! So don't offer anything for 3 days...then give her the veggies and no lettuce...it's time for tough love or you are going to have a sick tortoise. So go over her diet and leave out the lettuce...

If there's something I can do about it, I'm relieved! I thought it was unchangeable and it would have been a problem.

 

[Tom]

My baby Greek tortoise is an extremely picky eater. She loves lettuce way too much and doesn't eat much of any other foods... I tried tomatoes, parsley, clover leafs, mint leafs, zucchini and mandarin. I was careful to make the aliments thin enough so that she can eat them.

But she doesn't like them. She either takes a few bites and stops or completely ignores them. If I mix them with lettuce, she only eats the lettuce and ignores the rest. She loves lettuce and could eat a ton of it but when I give her anything else she refuses it.


My problem is that I come from a third world country and we're currently in a bit of hard time economically... Vegetables are more expensive than ever. And even without that, our markets don't sell a wide variety of vegetables.

My question is : can I feed her mostly lettuce or will it enable her to be even more picky? Can I change her eating habits by not giving her lettuce so she had no choice but to eat other vegetables or will she starve if I do it? How dangerous would it be if her diet was mainly lettuce.

Most of the foods you are offering are not palatable. Clover and zucchini are usually liked by tortoises, but all new foods need a lengthy introduction period.

What about the broadleaf weeds that your tortoise should be eating? I don't know what weeds you have there, but how about dandelion, mallow, sow thistle, prickly lettuce, thistle, and soooooo many others. These are the best tortoise foods there are and they are free. When its not winter time, how about grape leaves, mulberry leaves, rose leaves, hibiscus leaves, pansies, gazania, nasturtiums, etc...

If you must use grocery store greens look for things other than lettuce. Escarole, endive, cilantro, arugula, Italian dandelion, squash leaves and blooms, kale, collard greens, turnip and mustard greens...

Just don't expect your tortoise to eat these things right away. Mince up a tiny amount of the new stuff, mince up a bunch of the old favorite lettuce, and thoroughly mix them. There should be hardly any of the new stuff at first. Just a few flecks of it stuck to the lettuce. The tort can't eat around it and will be more accepting of it if there is not so much. Over time, gradually up the amount of new stuff.

This will all work better in spring time too, when the appetite is at its peak, so don't give up if the tort refuses to eat sometimes in winter.

Can you get Mazuri, or the Zoomed pellets over there? Those would be a good supplement to the lettuce too.

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

Most of the foods you are offering are not palatable. Clover and zucchini are usually liked by tortoises, but all new foods need a lengthy introduction period.

What about the broadleaf weeds that your tortoise should be eating? I don't know what weeds you have there, but how about dandelion, mallow, sow thistle, prickly lettuce, thistle, and soooooo many others. These are the best tortoise foods there are and they are free. When its not winter time, how about grape leaves, mulberry leaves, rose leaves, hibiscus leaves, pansies, gazania, nasturtiums, etc...

If you must use grocery store greens look for things other than lettuce. Escarole, endive, cilantro, arugula, Italian dandelion, squash leaves and blooms, kale, collard greens, turnip and mustard greens...

Just don't expect your tortoise to eat these things right away. Mince up a tiny amount of the new stuff, mince up a bunch of the old favorite lettuce, and thoroughly mix them. There should be hardly any of the new stuff at first. Just a few flecks of it stuck to the lettuce. The tort can't eat around it and will be more accepting of it if there is not so much. Over time, gradually up the amount of new stuff.

This will all work better in spring time too, when the appetite is at its peak, so don't give up if the tort refuses to eat sometimes in winter.

Can you get Mazuri, or the Zoomed pellets over there? Those would be a good supplement to the lettuce too.

Thank you so much for the long and informative reply, Tom!

We have a big garden where I live with lots and lots of wild leaves and flowers. I don't know about plants much so I'm not sure I can tell what plant is what. Is it safe to feed her any wild leaves?

I'll definitely try to mince foods into her lettuce to encourage her to eat. Today she ate parsley and she seems to like it more than other foods I tried to feed her. I gave her some zucchini too and she seems more accepting of it although she just ate a few bites.

I don't know about Mazuri and Zoomed pellets. I live in a remote area and there aren't animal shops nearby and even those who are a bit further mostly have stuff for birds, dogs and cats since those are the most common animals. Is it absolutely necessary?

 

[Tom]

Thank you so much for the long and informative reply, Tom!

We have a big garden where I live with lots and lots of wild leaves and flowers. I don't know about plants much so I'm not sure I can tell what plant is what. Is it safe to feed her any wild leaves?

I'll definitely try to mince foods into her lettuce to encourage her to eat. Today she ate parsley and she seems to like it more than other foods I tried to feed her. I gave her some zucchini too and she seems more accepting of it although she just ate a few bites.

I don't know about Mazuri and Zoomed pellets. I live in a remote area and there aren't animal shops nearby and even those who are a bit further mostly have stuff for birds, dogs and cats since those are the most common animals. Is it absolutely necessary?

You definitely need to learn your local weeds. ID them and you can post pics here too. We will try to help ID the ones we know. If there is a local plant nursery, they can usually help ID local weeds too. Some are toxic, so don't feed things you aren't sure of.

You might be able to special order Mazuri from a local feed store that sells Purina products. Are there horse supply places near you? Purina sells their foods world wide, so you might have some luck there. It is not "necessary", especially if you are able to provide a wide variety of weeds, leaves and flowers, but Mazuri is a great supplemental food and a way to ensure good nutrition is getting into a picky tortoise. Most tortoises really like the original Mazuri too, so it can be used to get them eating other good foods by mixing it in. If you can't get it, that is okay too. Your tortoise can eat other things.

 

[Dandelion_@_]

Three things about what Tom said: 1) search this site for prior posts about weed identification. You'll find others have posted many photos over the years and had a lot of solid help identifying good, bad, and acceptable weeds. 2) post your own photos of the plants around you and you'll find the members of this group generous in their efforts to help identify them. 3) Google to find plant identification websites that specialize in the plants of your region. Many sites will have a good system for at least narrowing down the ID, often getting it exactly right. My Hermann's wouldn't eat anything but lettuce when we first adopted him, but a spring and summer living in an outdoor enclosure without any lettuce taught him the joys of eating the wild and domestic plants we grew for him! Dandelion and many other wild plants can be sprouted in small pots on the window sill as well to get those early taste baby leaves that are his favorite during the winter. Also, best of luck with the economics of your situation. It's good you have a tort to love in a time and place so fraught with challenges.

 

[Lyn W]

This is the caresheet you need for your tort

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

and you may find this useful to find some safe plants -
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk - it is based on UK plants but you may have some weeds etc in common,
Always check here and do not feed if you're not sure if a plant is safe or not.

 

[TammyJ]

Wow! You have got an amazing response here, and the best news is this: you can absolutely stop giving your tortoise any lettuce at all, forever, and he will be perfectly fine! Lettuce is nothing.

 

[Mom of Zitouna]

Those are all we currently have at home, and what we have in the vegetable shops aren't that diversified either but I can still go out of my way to buy other vegetables just for my baby since it won't be that expensive to buy just for her.

Which of those can she eat, do I have to cook them?

Please if you know any foods that are good for torts, I'd appreciate if you could provide a picture so that I can find it when I go buy it. Thank you again.

 

[Tom]

View attachment 338256

Those are all we currently have at home, and what we have in the vegetable shops aren't that diversified either but I can still go out of my way to buy other vegetables just for my baby since it won't be that expensive to buy just for her.

Which of those can she eat, do I have to cook them?

Please if you know any foods that are good for torts, I'd appreciate if you could provide a picture so that I can find it when I go buy it. Thank you again.

The Italian parsley on the left is okay once in a while, but not as a staple. Many tortoises won't eat it, but can be taught to eat it using the process I outlined previously of slow introduction in small amounts.

I wouldn't use the lettuce.

Some grated cucumber can be used to mix in with new greens that you want your tortoise to eat, but that also should not be a main daily food item.

The rest of those are not good tortoise foods. Some minced up green pepper or grated carrot once or twice a month won't hurt anything, but you need dark leafy greens. It would be best to stay out of the grocery store and use local weeds once you learn to identify which ones are good. Grocery store produce is not a great tortoise food and requires added amendments to increase calcium and fiber content. Weeds, leaves and flowers of the right types are packed with calcium and fiber.

Squash leaves from any squash plant are good. You can grow your own. Pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, butternut or spaghetti squash, etc... Look up collard greens, mustard or turnip greens, cilantro, arugula, curly endive (not Belgian), and escarole for better store bought greens. Some stores will also offer spineless opuntia pads and those are great tortoise food. Post pics of whatever greens your store does carry and we can try to ID them for you.

Take a walk around your neighborhood and get some pics of the weeds you see growing around you. You might have some good ones. Look up pics of dandelion, sow thistle, thistle, clover, mallow, broad leaf or narrow leaf plantain, bristly ox tongue, prickly lettuce, and soooooo many more. Post your pics here and we will help you ID them. These are the best tortoise foods there are, they are free, and we get a nice walk and some exercise going out to collect them.

 

[Cathie G]

View attachment 338256

Those are all we currently have at home, and what we have in the vegetable shops aren't that diversified either but I can still go out of my way to buy other vegetables just for my baby since it won't be that expensive to buy just for her.

Which of those can she eat, do I have to cook them?

Please if you know any foods that are good for torts, I'd appreciate if you could provide a picture so that I can find it when I go buy it. Thank you again.

My little Russian loves a chunk of zucchini which you have in the picture. I just do a two or three inches piece and quarter it. He'll eat every bit of a quarter. I only do the skinny little dark green ones as a treat but it's good in a pinch... and I love it sauteed too. then there's collards endive and other leafy greens.?

 

[RosemaryDW]

Given your location many of the foods here we recommend will not be available to you. That's okay! There are surely others available we don't know anything about. Stop with the mandarin and tomato right away though. A little lettuce* with a few bites of cucumber and squash for a bit isn't going to hurt him in the long run; if you've got a garden and weeds you will be able to set him up quite well. Are there any "expensive" lettuces at the store? These would be bitter chicories like escarole, radicchio, endive, frisée? They have less sugar and a little more fiber than the soft lettuce you're feeding now. They wouldn't be popular with your tortoise right away, given the lack of sugar, but if you can get them that would be helpful while you are looking for other foods.

As others have said, let us know what is living in your garden. If you don't know a plant, do a search for it first here and if no luck, show us a picture. For things already living in your garden likely candidates might include okra stems and leaves; squash or melon leaves, any kind; bean vines; the leaves of turnips and radishes, including that daikon I see on your table; yam leaves. You'll have to tell us what you're growing! Unsprayed roses and leaves are also fine, although I wouldn't expect a baby to eat leaves right away.

You are in a mediterranean climate where things will likely grow year round; that's good. I wouldn't worry about a supplement before taking a good look at the plants around you. If your tortoise is getting a wide variety of foods and plenty of fiber it may not be necessary. Nothing wrong with it, just perhaps not needed. I'm also in a mediterranean climate and manage a very solid diet for my Russian.



As others have said, it can take some time to get a tortoise used to new foods. I believe mine (a runaway) was living on an all romaine lettuce diet when we found her and it took about five (sunny) months to get her transitioned to "good" foods.