Spoiled brat redfoot hatchling?

Joined
Aug 31, 2014
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Huntington Beach, California
So my baby redfoot (about 4 1/2 months) categorically refuses to eat his lettuce(s) other than romaine. He will MAYBE take one bite and then run away. ( I even feed him in a small bowl where he can only get so far!) I have tried only offering the greens for about 4 days in a row till i couldn't take it anymore and gave him his tortoise pellets. And the other thing is he eats a pretty darn small amount. He only eats about one tortoise pellet amount of food. I feed him daily. sometimes twice daily because I am a new tortoise and worry about how much he eats. So far his ONLY approved foods are:

- Canned worms (he ate 2-3 one day)
- tomatoes (he gets VERY happy when I feed him tomatoes
- romaine lettuce (he will eat a several bites of this)
- strawberries (two little turtle legs up!)
- papya mix in (canned)


- Rejected foods

- Anything that he would find if he was in the wild!

What should I do?! i can't stand him only eating a bite a day! It makes me feel like I'm starving him and being mean!
 

kathyth

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Beaumont, CA.
Personally, I would feed him healthy foods and allow him to run away. He would come back when he's hungry.
He's going to be a junk food junkie :)
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Jun 12, 2013
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Well, IMHO, you are 'teaching' him that if he acts that way, he'll get a treat. All those foods are really only classified as treats! So it's a lot like a kid, really. NO, you can not have your pudding before you eat your 'vegetables' :D
See, when I first got my russian two years ago, (from a petstore:() he ONLY ate carrots. I decided on some tough love and didn't give him ANY carrots. I filled up his bowl every day with fresh, weedy greens. It took him almost a week to break down and eat them :eek:! I felt terrible the whole time, he looked so hungry!
(I have been reassured that torts can go a long long time before feeling 'hungry') And since then sometimes he has little tortoise tantrums (as tortdad has put it) and will refuse to eat anything but his good stuff.
I think your spoiled :D little guy will cave in if you stop feeding him those objects... Hope he decides pudding is overrated :D
 

kimber_lee_314

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Ha ha - he has you trained well! Here's what I do - I make a romaine "burrito" rolled up with higher calcium greens. Then I hand feed it to them. This has worked for me with many picky eaters. You can also start mixing in healthier foods with the foods he's currently eating. Chopping up things well and mixing them in slowly will help him transition. Good luck and let us know how he's doing. :)
 
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