tort only eats dandelions? help

Ida K

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Hello! I was hoping this issue would go away over time and Ollie would eat everything else I give to him... except he doesn't. When I got him at the end of March, he ate everything I gave to him, which was kale, rose petals, and dandelions. He also ate mustard greens and the other grocery store greens I was only able to supply at that time. But now, all he eats is dandelions. When he's eating dandelions, he occasionally gets a bite of the other food on his slate tile but doesn't keep on eating that certain food, he only goes for the dandelion (and only the flower! He doesn't like the leaves, it seems). Hibiscus? Rose petals? Even a bit of tomato to entice him! Nope. Now my my main concern is the only dandelion I have to feed him are the 5-15 flowers that tend to sprout throughout the week and I'm afraid he'll slowly starve or something. How do I get him to eat different foods? This is especially important because he will be moving into his outdoor enclosure soon, in a few weeks since I just started building it. It has kale, mustard, turnip, and collards in one area, 2 types of california poppy (still small) a small hibiscus plant, and chicory which I just planted yesterday. He is a full-grown male Russian.
 

Tom

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You need to examine how you are housing, heating and lighting him, first and foremost, to make sure all is good there. Can you tell us your four temps, substrate, what lighting and heat equipment you are using, etc...

Next try chopping up the other foods and mixing a small amount of shredded dandelion flower in with all that. Put this mixture out daily, and don't feed him anything else. Hunger will motivate him to eat the right stuff, AS LONG AS there is nothing else wrong, and the environmental parameters are correct.

Also how often do you soak? What substrate is he on? What are you using for indoor UV?

Here is a care sheet for reference:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
 

Ida K

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You need to examine how you are housing, heating and lighting him, first and foremost, to make sure all is good there. Can you tell us your four temps, substrate, what lighting and heat equipment you are using, etc...

Next try chopping up the other foods and mixing a small amount of shredded dandelion flower in with all that. Put this mixture out daily, and don't feed him anything else. Hunger will motivate him to eat the right stuff, AS LONG AS there is nothing else wrong, and the environmental parameters are correct.

Also how often do you soak? What substrate is he on? What are you using for indoor UV?

Here is a care sheet for reference:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

My four temps are 90, 78, 98-100 and 60-65 degrees F. Substrate is a mix of 3/4 coconut coir and 1/4 sand. His heat is a clamp light made by Fluker's (I added a second clamp for safety) and his he has a Zilla Desert 50 UVB tube light. He has a large hide that has the warm and cool side. There are also flat stones around the enclosure. (As I have learned from this forum, my enclosure is too small so I have begun building an outdoor enclosure.) I soak him twice a week, 3 times if he is shedding. I also soak him after I take him outside on a hot day to make sure he is hydrated. Knowing kale is one of his favorites, would it be okay for me to mix dandelion with kale at first to motivate him to eat? Then I can add things such as plantain and some other weeds I have identified in my garden. Thank you for the advice.
 

Shakudo

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Have you tried, not adding the dandelions for a while? Maybe when he has no choice and is hungry... he will eat the other greens again.
If I was a tortoise and I could eat my favorite green everyday I would too:)

I can't imagine he would starve himself, tortoises are survivors and when you keep offering him other suitable greens he might decide to eat them again.


Good luck,


Joey
 

Tom

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My four temps are 90, 78, 98-100 and 60-65 degrees F. Substrate is a mix of 3/4 coconut coir and 1/4 sand. His heat is a clamp light made by Fluker's (I added a second clamp for safety) and his he has a Zilla Desert 50 UVB tube light. He has a large hide that has the warm and cool side. There are also flat stones around the enclosure. (As I have learned from this forum, my enclosure is too small so I have begun building an outdoor enclosure.) I soak him twice a week, 3 times if he is shedding. I also soak him after I take him outside on a hot day to make sure he is hydrated. Knowing kale is one of his favorites, would it be okay for me to mix dandelion with kale at first to motivate him to eat? Then I can add things such as plantain and some other weeds I have identified in my garden. Thank you for the advice.


All sounds within the acceptable parameters. Yes, trying the kale is fine. I don't see anything obvious. Where did he come from?
 

Ida K

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All sounds within the acceptable parameters. Yes, trying the kale is fine. I don't see anything obvious. Where did he come from?
I got him from Petco. I checked the basics to make sure he was healthy before getting him, though. shiny, clear eyes, active, no weird discharges etc. One problem could be that I didn't take him to the vet. If it may be parasite related then I will as soon as possible (the vet is not nearby so it is my fault for putting it off)
 

dmmj

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A parasite problem wouldn't cause him to only eat one thing. He just got spoiled on one food he likes, he won't starve as long as he is eating, time for trickery, chop up te other food finely, and wet it so it sticks, and he will have no choice but to eat everything.
 

Ida K

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Thanks everyone, today I spotted him trying to eat the floral design on the carpet, guess he was hungry... he gobbled down a huge leaf of kale. I will mix a few things together (kale, rose petal, dandelion, plantain, calcium supp., tnt) to introduce him to a more varied diet.
 

Ida K

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He was in a plastic tub as I was cleaning out his enclosure and he saw the carpet through the clear container lol
 

Wanda

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Mine have a hierarchy of things they like to eat. They pick out romaine lettuce first (which I rarely give them), hen it's dandelion flowers, then dandelion leaves, then rose petals then anything else that is there. If they are feeling picky they come over have a sniff and stomp off. I truly believe that Russians are unbelievably stubborn torts
 

ascott

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Dandelion is such an awesome food, so please do not remove it if at all possible from the diet....likely the tort is addicted to the dandi (after all, you can make a wine from the plant and flowers and torts seem to get addicted to it rather quickly...don't really blame them) and if the tort will eat other items then just mix it up a bit...
 

RainsOn

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I give "Digger" dandelions only after he eats his veggies. He will eat when he is hungry enough - just like kids. Tough love, mama. And . . don't panic. Everyone here has great ideas.
 
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