Stubborn boxie

[crissyshine]

I have a 6 year old boxie that's being stubborn about his foods. He used to eat fruit, sometimes veggies, loved his proteins, and pellets.
Now he doesn't eat veggies or fruits or bugs, and only loves the pellets.

I'm trying to be patient with him but it's frustrating that when I put the good stuff in front of him, he completely ignores it and I end up giving him pellets so he will have something to eat

He's very healthy, soaks himself daily, clear eyes, nose, pink mouth. Good shell and skin.
Very active and interactive with me.

Just at my wits end about what to do to get him to eat veggies and fruits and proteins again.

 

[PJay]

Box turtles are very clever human trainers. They can teach us all kinds of tricks, like what kind of food to give them. Lol! Just offer the good, fresh food with no pellets and it will fall in line eventually. Instinct won't let them starve, they'll eat when they get hungry.

Just out of curiosity, what brand of pellets are you offering?

 

[dmmj]

no more pallets only protein fruits and veggies and stay strong because he will push you to the edge

 

[Maggie Cummings]

You need some tuff love. Remember, he can only eat what YOU give him. Be stronger than he. Stick with a good diet, not pellets. I have never seen a tortoise in the wild, or captivity for that matter, open a jar of pellets for dinner. He needs veggies protein and fruit. No pellets. Be strong, be tough and remember, You are responsible for his life and his health, so feed him what he's supposed to eat. Keep us posted and be sure to write us if you think you're getting weak.....

 

[crissyshine]

Box turtles are very clever human trainers. They can teach us all kinds of tricks, like what kind of food to give them. Lol! Just offer the good, fresh food with no pellets and it will fall in line eventually. Instinct won't let them starve, they'll eat when they get hungry.

Just out of curiosity, what brand of pellets are you offering?

Mazuri pellets

 

[crissyshine]

no more pallets only protein fruits and veggies and stay strong because he will push you to the edge

Ok. Will do. It I have heard that it's ok to mix pellets in with their foods.

 

[JoesMum]

Ok. Will do. It I have heard that it's ok to mix pellets in with their foods.

Mixing pellets in is fine, but they're quite good at only eating the bits they want and leaving the rest.

Try smearing the mazuri on the food you want eaten. If your tort refuses to eat it then let it go hungry, but DO soak your tortoise for 30 minutes daily during hunger strikes. They can safely go a long time without food, but not water.

Mazuri is as addictive as crack cocaine to many torts. It's a hard habit to break.

You have to be like the parent of the child that only wants to eat chips and chocolate. Stand firm and don't give in.

 

[crissyshine]

Anyone have a quick list of things that would entice him?
(Just need more variety)

 

[crissyshine]

Mixing pellets in is fine, but they're quite good at only eating the bits they want and leaving the rest.

Try smearing the mazuri on the food you want eaten. If your tort refuses to eat it then let it go hungry, but DO soak your tortoise for 30 minutes daily during hunger strikes. They can safely go a long time without food, but not water.

Mazuri is as addictive as crack cocaine to many torts. It's a hard habit to break.

You have to be like the parent of the child that only wants to eat chips and chocolate. Stand firm and don't give in.

Ok. No pellets!
But he soaks himself regularly. He's currently swimming in his water dish and has been most of the morning. But I will monitor him in case his behavior changes. Thank you!

 

[cmacusa3]

Most box turtles do not need soaked, Mine all spend plenty of time in the water on their own.

Food that mine eat
Bil-jac frozen dog
Fruit......blue berries are a favorite
Mixed veggies. you can buy cans of the no sodium veg-all and then rinse it off before you feed it.
Corn on the cob. you will enjoy watching them eat it.
I put out greens but they seldom eat them.
Worms
dubia roaches

I feed a lot of stuff but these are on the top of the list for mine.

 

[crissyshine]

Most box turtles do not need soaked, Mine all spend plenty of time in the water on their own.

Food that mine eat
Bil-jac frozen dog
Fruit......blue berries are a favorite
Mixed veggies. you can buy cans of the no sodium veg-all and then rinse it off before you feed it.
Corn on the cob. you will enjoy watching them eat it.
I put out greens but they seldom eat them.
Worms
dubia roaches

I feed a lot of stuff but these are on the top of the list for mine.

My boxie soaks himself regularly. He loves just hanging out in his water bowl.

Writing down your list, all except the roaches.

Thank you!

 

[cmacusa3]

My boxie soaks himself regularly. He loves just hanging out in his water bowl.

Writing down your list, all except the roaches.

Thank you!

haha on the roaches

Do you keep him inside all winter? I know mine are slowing down and really haven t eaten much of anything. I see them eating worms in the outside enclosure but they won't touch much of the food at this point in the year.

 

[crissyshine]

haha on the roaches

Do you keep him inside all winter? I know mine are slowing down and really haven t eaten much of anything. I see them eating worms in the outside enclosure but they won't touch much of the food at this point in the year.

I have never had him outside actually. I take him out to explore, yes, and he seeme to like it. But he's been an indoor turtle since I've had him.
Just recently got a house with a yard, so I'm thinking of transitioning him outdoor in late spring and for summer- early fall ( here in NC we have warm weather well into November, even December sometimes).

 

[ZEROPILOT]

My tortoises also went on a Mazuri only hunger strike.
You'll be fine.
They'll eat other things before they starve to death.

 

[PJay]

Yeah, my indoors turtles appetite is in decline too. They beg for food but then don't eat much, even things that are usually favorites.

 

[lisa127]

My box turtles go through stages. My female went months where all she would eat is protein. Now she's eating everything with no changes to how I feed her. Today I gave her a pile of spring mix, an apple slice, and some hard boiled egg. She ate every bite of everything. I don't fret too much, I just keep offering variety.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Mine also eat peaches, pears, blackberries, blueberries, marionberries, bananas, grapes, i.e. most fruit, night crawlers, or super worms beat roaches in my house, every time lol

 

[Maggie Cummings]

My tortoises also went on a Mazuri only hunger strike.
You'll be fine.
They'll eat other things before they starve to death.

told ya, mazuri is tortoise crack, because of the molasses, but nobody listens to me. I'll change my name to Yvonne G, then maybe someone will realize I know what I'm talking about too.

 

[Big Ol Tortoise]

told ya, mazuri is tortoise crack, because of the molasses, but nobody listens to me. I'll change my name to Yvonne G, then maybe someone will realize I know what I'm talking about too.

Lol

 

[crissyshine]

You need some tuff love. Remember, he can only eat what YOU give him. Be stronger than he. Stick with a good diet, not pellets. I have never seen a tortoise in the wild, or captivity for that matter, open a jar of pellets for dinner. He needs veggies protein and fruit. No pellets. Be strong, be tough and remember, You are responsible for his life and his health, so feed him what he's supposed to eat. Keep us posted and be sure to write us if you think you're getting weak.....

So been giving him a mash of kale, blackberries, carrot, squash, plantain, strawberries, and cucumber. Chopped some mushrooms and some chopped up earthworm.

After almost 3 weeks of not eating (he's been refusing to eat even when food is placed in his enclosure), he dived head first into the food!

He ate quite a bit of the mash, and destroyed he worms. So tomorrow he gets no worms, just mash. Then I'll give him worms again in about two days or so with the mash.

Making small progress! He's still very active and in good health. I won't get too excited though.