Romaine???

Status
Not open for further replies.

lori12386

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
462
Location (City and/or State)
Central Florida
So i bought Olly some Mustard and Collard Greens yeaterday. This morning i gave her about 1/4 Romain and the rest was the greens. I just checked to see what she ate. She ate all the romaine and left the greens. How do i get her to eat them? She is so used to eating lettuce... She likes Kale and Spinach as well. But i have tried hibiscis and she wont eat that either... What do i do? Is it ok that she is only eating romaine, kale, and spinach? Im still trying... And im new at this! She is 4-6 months old. I did order some Mazuri. It hasnt came yet though.
 

pemry3

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2012
Messages
36
I had the same problem with mine when I first got him. He would only eat romaine. What I did I chopped the romaine, and other greens really small. It all smelt like romaine so he would eat it all.

If you chop it small enough he won't be able to pick out the good stuff and will have to eat the other stuff.

I took about three weeks of doing this before he would eat other things by themselves. But now he eat anything. You just have to be constant, as they are creatures of habit.

Hope this helps :)
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Sorry, no it's not okay. Spinach is not good to feed. Chop all the greens up tiny. Then mist with water and feed. She will have to eat it all to get what she wants. The water helps it all stick together so she can't pick and choose. As she eats the better stuff more freely, start adding less and less of the romaine. Spring mix is also good to feed. You may want to never use romaine again, after you get her used to eating other things, as she might revert back to being a fussy eater again, and only want the romaine. Then you will have to break her of it all over again.
 

Levi the Leopard

IXOYE
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
7,958
Location (City and/or State)
Southern Oregon
I have a 6month old Leopard tortoise and I have the hardest time getting him to eat specifically Mustard and Collard greens!

I have since decided to not push it too much since my guy already eats such a HUGE variety of grasses, weeds, succulents, other flowering plants etc. I almost never buy anything for him cuz I grow or harvest it all ;)

However, if your sully is eating only the Romaine, Kale and Spinach I'd really stick it out to try and get her to eat these 2 greens.
Some try tough love and leave it in for a few days. Eventually they will stop holding out for better stuff and eat this. I am not good at this method, not sure I'd recommend it for a hatchling and suggest to try other ways.

You could try putting it in a chip clip and cutting the ends of it to look like little strands all clumped together. Bury the clip so the greens stick out like a mini bush. Maybe that will help?

Try spreading or smearing a thin layer of strawberry on it or squash baby food. Maybe that will entice her to bite the leaves and eat them. Then offer these 2 greens without the Romaine in the same meal.

Offer this green first thing in the morning after a nice warm soak.

Try offering these greens outside instead of in her indoor enclosure.

If you buy your greens at the store, another great green to buy is Dandelion.
 

lori12386

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
462
Location (City and/or State)
Central Florida
I didnt know they sold dandelion in stores? She hasnt had spinich in awhile it was in a bag of mixed salad i bought. Im not sure what kind of grass weeds my yard has that are safe. I know i have tons of variety though! I can post some picturea.




Team Gomberg said:
I have a 6month old Leopard tortoise and I have the hardest time getting him to eat specifically Mustard and Collard greens!

I have since decided to not push it too much since my guy already eats such a HUGE variety of grasses, weeds, succulents, other flowering plants etc. I almost never buy anything for him cuz I grow or harvest it all ;)

However, if your sully is eating only the Romaine, Kale and Spinach I'd really stick it out to try and get her to eat these 2 greens.
Some try tough love and leave it in for a few days. Eventually they will stop holding out for better stuff and eat this. I am not good at this method, not sure I'd recommend it for a hatchling and suggest to try other ways.

You could try putting it in a chip clip and cutting the ends of it to look like little strands all clumped together. Bury the clip so the greens stick out like a mini bush. Maybe that will help?

Try spreading or smearing a thin layer of strawberry on it or squash baby food. Maybe that will entice her to bite the leaves and eat them. Then offer these 2 greens without the Romaine in the same meal.

Offer this green first thing in the morning after a nice warm soak.

Try offering these greens outside instead of in her indoor enclosure.

If you buy your greens at the store, another great green to buy is Dandelion.
 

mainey34

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
3,770
Location (City and/or State)
Peoria, Arizona
Ya know, every tort is not the same. They all have their own characteristics. Now mine used to love romain. Now she will take it or leave it. I wouldn't say to stop it all together, but maybe just cut back on it for now. Introduce other things. Sometimes it takes a little time for them to try something new. That's my opinion...
 

Levi the Leopard

IXOYE
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
7,958
Location (City and/or State)
Southern Oregon
yes!! they have dandelion! i was super excited when i saw it :)

Vons, Albertsons, Ralphs type grocery stores will have it. Not the Wal Mart super centers or Target grocery aisle lol.
 

Laura

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
7,502
Location (City and/or State)
Foothills above Sacramento CA
stop feeding the romaine and he cant eat it.. tough love..
try other things.. if you have to chop up some romaine and mix with oither stuff , thats ok,, but cut back...
 

Levi the Leopard

IXOYE
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
7,958
Location (City and/or State)
Southern Oregon
i can't tell for sure, i'm not that great and identifying plants in pics.. BUT i think that second picture looks fantastic for grazing!

try trimming some for him to eat. or even better, set up a framed area on this so he can graze on it! know for sure that it hasn't been sprayed with pesticides or lawn fertilizer. try to do it in the warm morning sun, cool evening sun or in the shade.

one of my "to-go" grazing boxes is like 8 or so bricks forming a box..lol. you can't leave your tort unattended. literally...you cant. but you can sit next to him and watch him graze a specific area knowing he can't pass a boundary. IF you don't have a permanent enclosure outdoors or if you dont want to build a solid frame you could get a few bricks for sooo cheap and set them up when you want, move it when you want etc.

here is a picture of what i have done on occasion. you can see there isn't much to it. i set the bricks on a spot i want to let him graze then remove the bricks after. its fast, easy and can be anywhere. in this case i set them up, sat on the grass next to him and watched him for maybe 30min or so. when he stopped grazing and retreated to a corner i put him back inside then moved the bricks off to the side.
View attachment 30155
View attachment 30156
View attachment 30157
 
Last edited by a moderator:

lori12386

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
462
Location (City and/or State)
Central Florida
Oh cool. Your tort sure is cute. I will have to try that after work! I will clip some too. Theres no fertilizer or anything. She did eat the greens though! She just ate the romaine first. So she will eat it. Just being picky! I think it will be ok after all!


Team Gomberg said:
i can't tell for sure, i'm not that great and identifying plants in pics.. BUT i think that second picture looks fantastic for grazing!

try trimming some for him to eat. or even better, set up a framed area on this so he can graze on it! know for sure that it hasn't been sprayed with pesticides or lawn fertilizer. try to do it in the warm morning sun, cool evening sun or in the shade.

one of my "to-go" grazing boxes is like 8 or so bricks forming a box..lol. you can't leave your tort unattended. literally...you cant. but you can sit next to him and watch him graze a specific area knowing he can't pass a boundary. IF you don't have a permanent enclosure outdoors or if you dont want to build a solid frame you could get a few bricks for sooo cheap and set them up when you want, move it when you want etc.

here is a picture of what i have done on occasion. you can see there isn't much to it. i set the bricks on a spot i want to let him graze then remove the bricks after. its fast, easy and can be anywhere. in this case i set them up, sat on the grass next to him and watched him for maybe 30min or so. when he stopped grazing and retreated to a corner i put him back inside then moved the bricks off to the side.
 

testtudude

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
Messages
75
Try the web site www.tortoisetable.org, it is a great web site for plant ID. I am a pro horticulturist and I still reference the sight often. It even tells why or why not to feed all the plants listed.
 

Neal

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
4,967
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
lori12386 said:
So i bought Olly some Mustard and Collard Greens yeaterday. This morning i gave her about 1/4 Romain and the rest was the greens. I just checked to see what she ate. She ate all the romaine and left the greens. How do i get her to eat them? She is so used to eating lettuce... She likes Kale and Spinach as well. But i have tried hibiscis and she wont eat that either... What do i do? Is it ok that she is only eating romaine, kale, and spinach? Im still trying... And im new at this! She is 4-6 months old. I did order some Mazuri. It hasnt came yet though.

The most effective method I have had work for me is to chop up all the food finely and mix it together. Start with a high percentage of the food the tortoise likes to eat, then gradually increase the percentage of the "better foods" until the tortoise eats those foods willingly.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top