Tortoise Treat Ball??

Krista S

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
1,364
Location (City and/or State)
Saskatchewan
I am not aware of the fad you are referring to, but I personally think it’s a great idea for enrichment. I’ve been making a “treat ball” of sorts every now and then for my tortoise for over 3 years. It creates interest and makes them work a little for their food, vs just putting it in their dish. I do this maybe a couple times per month. No harm can come from it. I say give them the best of both worlds.…proper care and enrichment. Here’s one of the first ones I made a few years ago.

0CED3CB3-51DF-47DD-973B-9437CE0D0AFE.jpeg
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
I am not aware of the fad you are referring to, but I personally think it’s a great idea for enrichment. I’ve been making a “treat ball” of sorts every now and then for my tortoise for over 3 years. It creates interest and makes them work a little for their food, vs just putting it in their dish. I do this maybe a couple times per month. No harm can come from it. I say give them the best of both worlds.…proper care and enrichment. Here’s one of the first ones I made a few years ago.

View attachment 349651
What would help more then a dogs toy is either a yard to graze in or hiding the food around the enclosure and making them roam for it. Planted/growing plants or grass in the enclosure too. All much more natural.
 

Krista S

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
1,364
Location (City and/or State)
Saskatchewan
What would help more then a dogs toy is either a yard to graze in or hiding the food around the enclosure and making them roam for it. Planted/growing plants or grass in the enclosure too. All much more natural.
Those are all great suggestions too! 🙂 I am all about trying to provide enrichment for my tortoise in a variety of ways. My tortoise does get to graze outside occasionally and I’ve got a lot of plants in his enclosure. He loves nibbling on and sitting under the plants. All of these things, including the occasional food ball are beneficial in my books. It doesn‘t matter that the “ball“ I use is made for a dog. Unfortunately nobody makes enrichment things for tortoises, so it’s up to the owner to use their imagination and get creative.
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Those are all great suggestions too! 🙂 I am all about trying to provide enrichment for my tortoise in a variety of ways. My tortoise does get to graze outside occasionally and I’ve got a lot of plants in his enclosure. He loves nibbling on and sitting under the plants. All of these things, including the occasional food ball are beneficial in my books. It doesn‘t matter that the “ball“ I use is made for a dog. Unfortunately nobody makes enrichment things for tortoises, so it’s up to the owner to use their imagination and get creative.
That's where the proper care etc comes in. There aren't toys because that's not the kind of pet they are.
 

Krista S

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
1,364
Location (City and/or State)
Saskatchewan
Can I ask where your resentment of a dog ball comes from? Do you feel I am harming my tortoise? Do you feel tortoises don’t benefit from enrichment? I am not using it as a toy and have not mentioned tortoise toys in this thread. I’m using it as an enrichment opportunity, to create interest and provide another grazing opportunity a couple times a month. This certainly does not mean that I don’t give my tortoise proper care. I don’t understand why something so harmless is such an issue for you. This place is exhausting. 😔
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Can I ask where your resentment of a dog ball comes from? Do you feel I am harming my tortoise? Do you feel tortoises don’t benefit from enrichment? I am not using it as a toy and have not mentioned tortoise toys in this thread. I’m using it as an enrichment opportunity, to create interest and provide another grazing opportunity a couple times a month. This certainly does not mean that I don’t give my tortoise proper care. I don’t understand why something so harmless is such an issue for you. This place is exhausting. 😔
I just don't think they need toys as much as they need proper space and enclosures, diet etc which should be first and foremost. Not meaning you aren't already giving that.
So many newbies read very little about proper care. They see they can add a ball and oh wow, they think they have done great. If a proper enclosure inside and out is given they really don't need toys or enrichment whatever you want to call it. Does it hurt them, no.
I have been here a long time and see how a lot of newbies join. They think this place is a show and tell. They read the fun post and post pics of their torts with all the wrong/bad crap. So many of them already think they got a pet that's going to be like a dog. Very few of those ones actually read the proper care threads.
Sometimes you have to remember the newbies when posting and elaborate so the important stuff gets out there too, not just a toy is okay to use as a feeding device.
 

Lyn W

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
My tort has an Ikea kiddies tunnel he likes to stomp through around and under to break up his outside enclosure sometimes, and I put his food in different places so he can look for it but from what I've read balls are mistaken by torts as tort shaped and could be a cause of anxiety and aggression which is often interpreted by keepers as playing.
 

lovingthelakes

New Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2021
Messages
14
Location (City and/or State)
Mt Pleasant, MI
Those are all great suggestions too! 🙂 I am all about trying to provide enrichment for my tortoise in a variety of ways. My tortoise does get to graze outside occasionally and I’ve got a lot of plants in his enclosure. He loves nibbling on and sitting under the plants. All of these things, including the occasional food ball are beneficial in my books. It doesn‘t matter that the “ball“ I use is made for a dog. Unfortunately nobody makes enrichment things for tortoises, so it’s up to the owner to use their imagination and get creative.
Agree that enrichment opportunities are great to provide in addition to proper care. That’s why the professional zoologists do it at zoos. I haven’t done the food ball, but did get a tiny dog toy for rolling around…as mine loves to “bulldoze” things. It’s from the KONG brand it’s made to be tough enough to not have pieces break off if he bites it. He enjoys rolling it around the small hills to different areas in his enclosure, as well as the humidity reader.
 

Krista S

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Aug 4, 2019
Messages
1,364
Location (City and/or State)
Saskatchewan
Agree that enrichment opportunities are great to provide in addition to proper care. That’s why the professional zoologists do it at zoos. I haven’t done the food ball, but did get a tiny dog toy for rolling around…as mine loves to “bulldoze” things. It’s from the KONG brand it’s made to be tough enough to not have pieces break off if he bites it. He enjoys rolling it around the small hills to different areas in his enclosure, as well as the humidity reader.
That’s great! Now that my Hermann’s tortoise is bigger, I use the Kong brand too. I inspect it before and after each use and there has never been even a puncture in it. Great quality!
 

TortoisesFLA

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2014
Messages
25
Location (City and/or State)
West Coast of Florida
Can I ask where your resentment of a dog ball comes from? Do you feel I am harming my tortoise? Do you feel tortoises don’t benefit from enrichment? I am not using it as a toy and have not mentioned tortoise toys in this thread. I’m using it as an enrichment opportunity, to create interest and provide another grazing opportunity a couple times a month. This certainly does not mean that I don’t give my tortoise proper care. I don’t understand why something so harmless is such an issue for you. This place is exhausting. 😔
Seriously!
I thought the treat ball looked like something to try. Now I’m afraid I’ll ruin my tortoise’s existence :/
 

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
7,119
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
I think enrichment for any animal in an enclosure is extremely important. I have found that an empty toilet pater roll seems to bring Tortellini and Josephine joy. They scoot it around, role it, and sit it straight up.
The joy is all yours.
 

OliveW

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2022
Messages
286
Location (City and/or State)
Branford, FL
Seriously!
I thought the treat ball looked like something to try. Now I’m afraid I’ll ruin my tortoise’s existence :/

I feel like as long as they can't bite into the actual ball, each individual mom/dad should be able to gauge their tort's enjoyment or lack thereof.

For mine, I think it would annoy him, but he has lots of acreage that he gets to explore every day.

Last week, I found my boy's "wiggle spot" by complete accident. I looked it up here on the forum, and lots of others say this little wiggle dance is a pleasure response. That was not the case with mine. He was terrified, I'm positive of it as I could feel it.

Maybe it was because it caught him off guard, and perhaps he would enjoy it if he was expecting it. As it was, I really believe he thought he was being attacked from behind.

My point being, if you have good intuition and know you're own tortoise well, you should know what he/she needs and be able to judge their reaction to anything you add to their lives.
 

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
7,119
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
Actually I really don't see the harm in it if it's not toxic or otherwise dangerous.
 

jsheffield

Well-Known Member
Moderator
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2018
Messages
3,114
Location (City and/or State)
Westmoreland, NH
What do people think of this new fad of a tortoise treat ball?? I think its strange and wondering if anyone uses one.
I've tried a variety of enrichment activities for my torts, as they live inside for lots of the year.

I stopped using the ball because I was worried they might be able to bite a piece of it off.

I sometimes suspend food just in their reach, so they have to work for it, and also hide treats for them to smell and seek out.

Jamie
 

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,660
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
I think enrichment for any animal in an enclosure is extremely important. I have found that an empty toilet pater roll seems to bring Tortellini and Josephine joy. They scoot it around, role it, and sit it straight up.
Do you have a pair living together? If so, you need to separate them.
 

New Posts

Top