URGENT! Rescue tortoise serious diet problem

[Southshore]

Hello! I hope all you people are well with your torts!

4 days back I received a rescue tortoise. He has shell with pyramiding so from what I have learnt he has been fed an inappropriate diet.

The problem is, HE IS NOT EATING ANY KIND OF GRASS OR WEED. This is supposed to be 90% of his diet.

HOW DO I GET HIM TO EAT GRASS?

I will ge really grateful for your input. He has gone 3 days hungry!

P. S. Tried to upload image but once I select the image (it shows the name of the image selected) and press upload it says no file. Any solution to this?

 

[wellington]

First pyramiding is not from the diet but being raised to dry.
He looks to possibly have metabolic bone disease (MBD)
Get him well hydrated, warm soaks daily for about a week. Slowly add grass to the diet you are feeding and do not feed fruit.
Add calcium twice weekly to his diet and get him in the natural sun with shade provided.

 

[wellington]

If you post how you are housing him, and what you are using for heat, lights, diet we can help further.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

In addition to @wellington s advice, you can take a look at this article: introduhttps://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/tortoise-diet/introducing-a-new-diet/c

They worked for me when introduced a healthier diet to my Russian.

For technical difficulties you can make a post on this section: https://tortoiseforum.org/forums/site-help-and-feedback.9/

But it seems like you managed to post some photos eitherway.

 

[Tom]

Hello! I hope all you people are well with your torts!

4 days back I received a rescue tortoise. He has shell with pyramiding so from what I have learnt he has been fed an inappropriate diet.

The problem is, HE IS NOT EATING ANY KIND OF GRASS OR WEED. This is supposed to be 90% of his diet.

HOW DO I GET HIM TO EAT GRASS?

I will ge really grateful for your input. He has gone 3 days hungry!

P. S. Tried to upload image but once I select the image (it shows the name of the image selected) and press upload it says no file. Any solution to this?

Tortoises are creatures of habit. They eat what they are used to eating. It takes weeks or months to introduce new foods and you have to do it slowly, using only tiny amounts at first. You get him to eat grass by mixing tiny amounts of chopped, soft, freshly sprouted grass into a chopped up pile of the tortoises favorite current foods. There should be hardly any at first. It should be barely noticeable to the tortoise at first.

As Wellington said, pyramiding is caused by growth in conditions that are too dry. It is NOT caused by food or the wrong diet.

Here is the current and correct housing and care info:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

More helpful info here, and questions are welcome:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[EppsDynasty]

You can get ANY tort to eat what it is you want them to with patience and consistency. In our Rescue we have encountered many torts fed all the wrong things and now have EVERY tort eating healthy. We have been told repeatedly "My Tortoise won't eat that" and within 2 weeks we reply "well they do now."

 

[Southshore]

You can get ANY tort to eat what it is you want them to with patience and consistency. In our Rescue we have encountered many torts fed all the wrong things and now have EVERY tort eating healthy. We have been told repeatedly "My Tortoise won't eat that" and within 2 weeks we reply "well they do now."

Thank you for responding. So, what's the secret?

 

[Southshore]

If you post how you are housing him, and what you are using for heat, lights, diet we can help further.

Thank you Sir for responding. He is in an outdoor enclosure 18x15 feet wide. I live in Pakistan so LOTS of sun can get really hot here. Clean drinking water in a bowl. There was like a natural puddle of water in the soil so he started soaking himself in it by himself. Is it OK for them to soak in that because it's water standing directly in the soil hence they are in cantact with the mud underneath and on the side or should they be soaked in a tub in clean water?

He is only eating SOME hibiscus for now. How much hibiscus can I feed him?

Just planted a mulberry tree the leaves have dropped waiting for the plant to take root so I will give him that to. Will also plant grape in a couple of days.

What else can I try feeding him except for grass which he doesn't eat at all to find out what he likes best so I can start mixing the grass in with it?

I will send a photo of the enclosure tomorrow.

 

[Southshore]

Tortoises are creatures of habit. They eat what they are used to eating. It takes weeks or months to introduce new foods and you have to do it slowly, using only tiny amounts at first. You get him to eat grass by mixing tiny amounts of chopped, soft, freshly sprouted grass into a chopped up pile of the tortoises favorite current foods. There should be hardly any at first. It should be barely noticeable to the tortoise at first.

As Wellington said, pyramiding is caused by growth in conditions that are too dry. It is NOT caused by food or the wrong diet.

Here is the current and correct housing and care info:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

More helpful info here, and questions are welcome:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you for responding Sir. What are the things I can try giving him to find out his favorite food?

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[EppsDynasty]

Thank you for responding. So, what's the secret?

So the real secret is environment, they HAVE to be warm consistently. If he is not eating regularly then you have something going for yourself .... hunger. It is so much easier to get them to eat healthier items when they are hungry. Do you have access to Mazuri?

This is a great all around nutritional food.
@wellington is 100% right, they will eat what they are used to. So what you have to do is get them to 'get used to' foods you want them to eat. Keep putting the foods you want in front of them, it may work better if they do not see you for a while and feel a little safer or not stressed. You give them this food everyday until they eat it, then continue for a few days with that food. Once you have got them to eat 1 new food you now can work on another.

 

[Southshore]

So the real secret is environment, they HAVE to be warm consistently. If he is not eating regularly then you have something going for yourself .... hunger. It is so much easier to get them to eat healthier items when they are hungry. Do you have access to Mazuri?

This is a great all around nutritional food.
@wellington is 100% right, they will eat what they are used to. So what you have to do is get them to 'get used to' foods you want them to eat. Keep putting the foods you want in front of them, it may work better if they do not see you for a while and feel a little safer or not stressed. You give them this food everyday until they eat it, then continue for a few days with that food. Once you have got them to eat 1 new food you now can work on another.

 

[Southshore]

Unfortunately no Mazuri available Sir

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

What kind of pellets do you have? Are there any sold to tortoises? What about hay pellets for rabbits? These are also good fiber supplements.

 

[Southshore]

What kind of pellets do you have? Are there any sold to tortoises? What about hay pellets for rabbits? These are also good fiber supplements.

 

[Southshore]

I live in a third world country in Pakistan only pellets available are for cats, dogs and fish feed. Nothing more

 

[Tom]

I live in a third world country in Pakistan only pellets available are for cats, dogs and fish feed. Nothing more

Do people have horses? How about chickens? You can use chicken lay crumbles or soaked horse hay pellets to mix in with grocery store lettuce if need be.

Also, be sure he is not getting to hot during the day or too cold at night.