Hi, I’m a new tortoise owner (my tortoise was hatched in 2008 but was living with my dad), He lives outside in the day and comes in at night, I’ve had him about 3 days now an he hasn’t really eaten, day 1 he had some sweet corn, day 2 he had some more sweet corn and today he’s had a bit of yellow pepper. I know what their diet should consist of and he needs leafy greens etc but he just won’t eat them? And I don’t want him to starve, as he was eating some pepper today I kept swapping it with some lettuce and dandelion and he would not even take a bite, as soon as I gave the pepper back he started eating again. When I got him the other day he had been missing in their garden for a week aswell so I’m a bit concerned that he hasn’t eaten a lot in that week and now he’s being really fussy. Any suggestions?
Tortoise is a picky eater
- Thread starter Carla485
- Start date
Welcome!
I expect you have a beautiful Greek or Hermann's tortoise? Most tortoises take time to settle in before they eat, a few days or more. Reptiles aren't mammals, they can go a loooooong time without eating and be just fine. Getting housing set up correctly is much more important to their health.
Testudo tortoises—Greek, Hermann's, and horsefields—are not designed to digest sugar, it's very hard on their system. What you are doing right now is giving him the equivalent of a Mars bar and then wondering why he won't eat broccoli.
Stop feeding him corn* and hang on for a bit; he absolutely will not starve himself. It's much harder on you than on him but stay strong!
*It is so weird to me that the UK has ever gotten in the habit of suggesting tortoises eat corn and bell peppers. We see a lot of crazy advice in North America but corn?!! It's basically a bag of sugar!! Apples too! How did that happen?
I expect you have a beautiful Greek or Hermann's tortoise? Most tortoises take time to settle in before they eat, a few days or more. Reptiles aren't mammals, they can go a loooooong time without eating and be just fine. Getting housing set up correctly is much more important to their health.
Testudo tortoises—Greek, Hermann's, and horsefields—are not designed to digest sugar, it's very hard on their system. What you are doing right now is giving him the equivalent of a Mars bar and then wondering why he won't eat broccoli.
Stop feeding him corn* and hang on for a bit; he absolutely will not starve himself. It's much harder on you than on him but stay strong!*It is so weird to me that the UK has ever gotten in the habit of suggesting tortoises eat corn and bell peppers. We see a lot of crazy advice in North America but corn?!! It's basically a bag of sugar!! Apples too! How did that happen?
Hello! Yes he is a Hermann’s tortoise! And ohh okay that makes sense! Maybe if I give him a few days to settle in and just offer him what he’s meant to eat he will start eating! I shall cut the corn and sugary bits out and he can just have healthy options and then it’s his choice whether he will eat or not, at least it will be there for him! I’m trying to get him in a routine at the moment, I get him up around 8/9am (or when he starts getting up, the other day he woke up much later lol) and he goes in the garden for the day and I try and give him some food when he wakes up although normally he doesn’t eat first thing he will start eating in the afternoon, then around 7pm I put him in his bed for the night.Welcome!
I expect you have a beautiful Greek or Hermann's tortoise? Most tortoises take time to settle in before they eat, a few days or more. Reptiles aren't mammals, they can go a loooooong time without eating and be just fine. Getting housing set up correctly is much more important to their health.
Testudo tortoises—Greek, Hermann's, and horsefields—are not designed to digest sugar, it's very hard on their system. What you are doing right now is giving him the equivalent of a Mars bar and then wondering why he won't eat broccoli.
*It is so weird to me that the UK has ever gotten in the habit of suggesting tortoises eat corn and bell peppers. We see a lot of crazy advice in North America but corn?!! It's basically a bag of sugar!! Apples too! How did that happen?
Housing wise I was really unsure what to do, he used to be in a tortoise table with a heat lamp when he was younger then a couple of years ago started going in the garden, I think he sometimes used to stay out overnight at my dads house. I have a sort of rabbit hutch for him at night, which is quite small, but I thought if he’s only sleeping in there he will be fine. I used a reptile substrate for the base layer (a soil that said it was fine for tortoises) and there’s about 3inches of that, then he’s got some meadow hay and some edible bedding (it has botanical flowers, edible leaves& dried grass in it) and then just his water bowl. The hutch is currently in my shed, I was going to leave it in the garden so he has the option to go in it but I thought he might get to cold and I have a lot of foxes etc where I live.
And it is crazy isn’t it, I’ve been researching their diet and some places tell me he can have one thing and he will love it and some places will say that he absolutely can not have it! I feel like it’s so difficult to get the right advice nowadays as not a lot of people really know about them! (Me being one!)
Thankyou!
He will eat when he gets nice and warmed up for the day; they aren't morning people! So no need to feed him in the morning, especially if he is in a garden.
You will hear different opinions about leaving him free roaming in a garden but many of them will be from North American owners. It's very normal where you live, the weather is adequate to his needs; Tortoises have been living very successfully in U.K. gardens for decades; just make very, very, very sure it is escape proof and start thinking in a month or two how you want to house him in winter.
I personally think he will be as happy as a tortoise can be in dry bedding. I'd be surprised if he picked anything edible out of the hay but you never know. You will need to keep it clean of everything that comes out of your tortoise. You are going to get some feedback on using only dirt and that is a fine approach. I personally like to look for guidance for the person in North America who breeds more testudo tortoises, Hermann's in particular and that is Chris Leone at Garden State Tortoises. Take a look at his long care sheet (it includes caring for babies and young tortoises) and you will note that when it comes to indoor hides he recommends straw and/or reptile bark. Take a look at the photo of the outdoor housing he has built for his Hermann's, which includes straw burrowing areas. He also had advice on making sure your enclosure/garden is secure.
The water bowl that's in there is not useful for tortoises; I know they sell them for tortoises but they are for lizards and snakes, animals with flexible bodies. Your tortoise can't bend his neck down to drink out of that. Get yourself a cheap, flat terra cotta saucer that is bigger than he is, something he can walk in and out of. If you can return that one you were sold, do so!
Nor does he need that giant calcium block (is that what that is?) Adult male tortoises need maybe a pinch now and again, nothing so big as that. If you want to still leave him something to munch on, get a cheap bird cuttlebone at the pet store and leave in a bit of that, not the whole thing. I just throw a piece on the ground outside, if my tortoise wants it, she can have it when she thinks she needs it—she's much better at knowing what she needs than I do.
Don't worry about the food; half of us here don't agree on certain things. But we all agree that sugar shouldn't be on the menu!
You will hear different opinions about leaving him free roaming in a garden but many of them will be from North American owners. It's very normal where you live, the weather is adequate to his needs; Tortoises have been living very successfully in U.K. gardens for decades; just make very, very, very sure it is escape proof and start thinking in a month or two how you want to house him in winter.
I personally think he will be as happy as a tortoise can be in dry bedding. I'd be surprised if he picked anything edible out of the hay but you never know. You will need to keep it clean of everything that comes out of your tortoise.
You are going to get some feedback on using only dirt and that is a fine approach. I personally like to look for guidance for the person in North America who breeds more testudo tortoises, Hermann's in particular and that is Chris Leone at Garden State Tortoises. Take a look at his long care sheet (it includes caring for babies and young tortoises) and you will note that when it comes to indoor hides he recommends straw and/or reptile bark. Take a look at the photo of the outdoor housing he has built for his Hermann's, which includes straw burrowing areas. He also had advice on making sure your enclosure/garden is secure.The water bowl that's in there is not useful for tortoises; I know they sell them for tortoises but they are for lizards and snakes, animals with flexible bodies. Your tortoise can't bend his neck down to drink out of that. Get yourself a cheap, flat terra cotta saucer that is bigger than he is, something he can walk in and out of. If you can return that one you were sold, do so!
Nor does he need that giant calcium block (is that what that is?) Adult male tortoises need maybe a pinch now and again, nothing so big as that. If you want to still leave him something to munch on, get a cheap bird cuttlebone at the pet store and leave in a bit of that, not the whole thing. I just throw a piece on the ground outside, if my tortoise wants it, she can have it when she thinks she needs it—she's much better at knowing what she needs than I do.
Don't worry about the food; half of us here don't agree on certain things. But we all agree that sugar shouldn't be on the menu!
P.S. if you ever read your tortoise can't eat buttercups it is not correct. They are marked in a well known food database as horrible but the fact is testudo eat plenty of buttercups in the wild and we have U.K. owners whose tortoises have been munching on buttercups in the lawn for decades.
Of all the misinformed feedback out there it's the info on buttercups that really gets under my skin.
Of all the misinformed feedback out there it's the info on buttercups that really gets under my skin.
Thankyou so much! That is very helpful! Now you say that, I’ve realised that he actually does seem to want to eat as it gets later in the day so I won’t bother sitting there for ages trying to get him to eat in the mornings anymore!😂 I will definitely go and have a look at Chris Leone that sounds really interesting! I will also have a look for a good water bowl for him! Food wise he actually ate some lettuce yesterday and I was feeding him some leaves from the garden which he ate so maybe he isn’t as fussy as I thought and it was just that he needed to settle in! Thankyou very much!!☺️He will eat when he gets nice and warmed up for the day; they aren't morning people! So no need to feed him in the morning, especially if he is in a garden.
You will hear different opinions about leaving him free roaming in a garden but many of them will be from North American owners. It's very normal where you live, the weather is adequate to his needs; Tortoises have been living very successfully in U.K. gardens for decades; just make very, very, very sure it is escape proof and start thinking in a month or two how you want to house him in winter.
I personally think he will be as happy as a tortoise can be in dry bedding. I'd be surprised if he picked anything edible out of the hay but you never know. You will need to keep it clean of everything that comes out of your tortoise.
The water bowl that's in there is not useful for tortoises; I know they sell them for tortoises but they are for lizards and snakes, animals with flexible bodies. Your tortoise can't bend his neck down to drink out of that. Get yourself a cheap, flat terra cotta saucer that is bigger than he is, something he can walk in and out of. If you can return that one you were sold, do so!
Nor does he need that giant calcium block (is that what that is?) Adult male tortoises need maybe a pinch now and again, nothing so big as that. If you want to still leave him something to munch on, get a cheap bird cuttlebone at the pet store and leave in a bit of that, not the whole thing. I just throw a piece on the ground outside, if my tortoise wants it, she can have it when she thinks she needs it—she's much better at knowing what she needs than I do.
Don't worry about the food; half of us here don't agree on certain things. But we all agree that sugar shouldn't be on the menu!
