Tortoises eating his eco earth?

Amyjoe09

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Can someone please send me a link on tips on how to get your tortoise stop eating the eco earth and start eating her pellets? She normally eats grass,weeds, clover from my yard but it has officially snowed here in Michigan. She will not eat the pellets even when I soak them. She just picks out the dandelion I managed to grow indoor and leaves the pellets and then goes for the eco earth... I'm also expecting a tortoises seed mix that I will attempt to grow indoors but I know that it most likely will not be enough for her entire diet through the winter. Also a link to house plants that's are healthy for tortoises would be great... Thanks in advance
 

Tom

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Are you using any colored bulbs for heat at night or during the day?
Are you using a cfl type UV bulb?
What type of pellet are you offering?

Personally I don't like coco coir for sulcatas. I prefer fine grade orchid bark. I've never had one try to eat orchid bark, and I have occasionally seen them trying to eat coco coir.
 

Amyjoe09

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No colored bulbs. I use the zoomed UVB tube bulb and zoo med repti basking spot lamp. I went to Lowes looking for orchid bark and all they had was the orchid mix with the white balls... So I went across the street and settled for eco earth at pet smart... They did not sell muzuri so I also had to settle for zoo med grassland tortoise food... We did drive by a store called the green thumb, my bf said its for people that grow marijuana but maybe we could look there for orchid bark there. If not maybe some online shopping is in order...
 

ascott

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Can someone please send me a link on tips on how to get your tortoise stop eating the eco earth and start eating her pellets? She normally eats grass,weeds, clover from my yard but it has officially snowed here in Michigan. She will not eat the pellets even when I soak them. She just picks out the dandelion I managed to grow indoor and leaves the pellets and then goes for the eco earth... I'm also expecting a tortoises seed mix that I will attempt to grow indoors but I know that it most likely will not be enough for her entire diet through the winter. Also a link to house plants that's are healthy for tortoises would be great... Thanks in advance

I would also suggest nice long warm water soaks when a tortoise decides the substrate is a yummy snack...hydration will help assure it moves on out while you are working on a diet that will satisfy the tort during winter confinement....:p
 

teresaf

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No colored bulbs. I use the zoomed UVB tube bulb and zoo med repti basking spot lamp. I went to Lowes looking for orchid bark and all they had was the orchid mix with the white balls... So I went across the street and settled for eco earth at pet smart... They did not sell muzuri so I also had to settle for zoo med grassland tortoise food... We did drive by a store called the green thumb, my bf said its for people that grow marijuana but maybe we could look there for orchid bark there. If not maybe some online shopping is in order...
Amazon.com sells mazuri. You can go mazuri website as well. Tortoises love it. Original Mazuri not Mazuri LS.
 

dmmj

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many people have used a product called miner all to stop tortoises from eating substrate and rocks
 

Amyjoe09

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I would also suggest nice long warm water soaks when a tortoise decides the substrate is a yummy snack...hydration will help assure it moves on out while you are working on a diet that will satisfy the tort during winter confinement....:p
Thanks she soaks herself sometimes and hates when I soak her but gotta do what you gotta do to poop...
 
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