Russian Tortoise Diet

[Vader]

Hey Ya'll, Im new here and this is my first post.
I got a Russian Tortoise about a month ago and it appears she's doing fine now and is eating well and regularly.
My main concern is, despite offering her a variety of fresh greens (dandelion, kale, mustard, parsley, etc.) the ONLY thing she wants to eat is romaine lettuce. She will not eat any type of prepared tortoise diet, or even Mazuri tortoise diet. She won't eat finely shredded carrot, or squash, or broccoli, etc.
It appears that she would rather go hungry than eat anything else. Luckily she will readily take romaine sprinkled with calcium, d3 powder but this is the only thing she will eat no matter how I mix things up.
In the long run, I'm guessing this can't be too good for her, but i hate to withhold the romaine for fear she won't eat at all. I give her a warm water bath every 2-3 days, and she is usually very hungry afterwards, as long as it's romaine!
Any suggestions?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Don't feed romaine. Tortoises won't starve themselves. Once it realizes there is no more romaine coming its way, it will eat what you offer.

Most tortoises won't eat parsley, so you can take that out of the mix. See if you can find some broad-leaf weeds out in the yard. Dandelion, fillaree, clover, sow thistle, prickly lettuce, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, rose of sharon and hibiscus, plantain, etc. Any of the broad-leaf weeds and plants.

 

[Vader]

Thanks very much for the welcome, and your reply!
She doesn't seem to really want to eat dandelions from the yard, or the store bought ones for that matter. So far, she won't touch clover, hibiscus, rose of sharon, or broad leaf plantain weed either.
I will definitely try some of the others you listed, and see what happens.

 

[Tom]

Tortoise are creatures of habit. They don't take to new foods quickly. I would finely chop up the romaine and then finely chop up whatever else you want to feed. Mix it all up really well with only a little tiny bit of the new stuff. Gradually add more and more of the new stuff and less and less of the romaine. Don't worry about it, if she eats light for a few days in a row. As Yvonne said, a healthy tortoise will not starve itself to death, but it is perfectly capable of out-waiting a worried owner. They can live for weeks or months with no food at all, so don't worry if she skips a day here and there. A hungry tortoise will not be a picky tortoise...

This process might take a month or two, and you might need to do it with each new food. Good thing they live a long time.

 

[Vader]

***UPDATE***

My RT is doing fine now. I've been feeding her organic red clover seed sprouts, and she really loves that a lot.
I have been able to also mix in dandelion, and broad leaf plantain, as long as it's finely chopped. I only add finely shredded romaine if i can't find dandelion. But it looks like I can keep growing plentiful supply of fresh red clover, year round, with my seed sprouter.

 

[Yvonne G]

The key to a healthy tortoise and a good diet is variety. Getting the tortoise used to eating only red clover isn't a good idea either. Using only one food item as the main item is a recipe for a sick tortoise.

Here's a link to a good diet sheet for Russian tortoise:

http://www.russiantortoise.org/russiantortoisediet.htm

You don't have to buy all of the items at one time. You can buy one or two today, then when you run out of those, buy one or two of something else...rotating the list for a nice variety. If you can't find these things in the store or in your garden, you can try asking the produce manager to order it for you.

 

[Vader]

Thanks for your reply, YvonneG.
I think you may have misunderstood my post though. I was remarking on how much my RT LOVES Red Clover.
But be rest assured that she is eating a wide variety of greens, "as long as they are finely chopped".

Nice link in your post!

 

[Mrturtle527]

I see so many posts about RTs not eating - neither of mine have this issue thank goodness - if I could get my kids to eat a well as my torts I'd be in good shape

 

[Tom]

I see so many posts about RTs not eating - neither of mine have this issue thank goodness - if I could get my kids to eat a well as my torts I'd be in good shape

Ditto a thousand times right here. The kid and the tortoises!

I have a whole bunch of hatchling russians and they eat anything and everything I put in front of them.