Won't eat proper food:(

[skullcrushersulcata]

Hello everyone! This is my first time posting.

I have a sulcata who will not eat "proper" sulcata food.
I have tried Mazuri pellets, alfalfa pellets (which both, I soak in water before giving to her), cactus pads, kale, and red lettuce. I recently found out that kale isn't good for sulcatas though, so I stopped that.
However, she refuses to eat the Mazuri, alfalfa, and cactus. She'll ignore it and poop in her house as protest.
I have a feeling the pieces may be too big for her jaw, but I'm not sure.
She loves kale, red lettuce, chinese cabbage, but I try not to feed her the cabbage and kale.
She goes outside for a few hours each day so I'm assuming she eats a lot outside (speculating from her poop).

Some facts:
I have no idea how old she is. I adopted her a almost a year ago and I'm planning to get her checked up for age and correct sex (we think she's female, but just in case) soon. She's still one hand pick-up-able though.

Her shell seems fine. No weird bumps or crevices.

She's an inside turtle but when it's warm out, we take her out for a couple of hours each day. Her inside house has good temperature and humidity.

She has a water bowl, which I've never seen her drink out of but I've seen her poop in it...

Please let me know what your sulcatas eat because mine seems insanely picky.

Thank you!

 

[Big Charlie]

Mine eats grass and weeds, and some leaves and flowers. He grazes every day except for part of the winter. He lives outside full time. Once your sulcata gets too big, you should consider having her live outside. There aren't enclosures you can put inside that are roomy enough for them. It looks like that won't happen for several years yet.


Your water bowl should be big enough for her to climb in.

 

[Yvonne G]

Baby sulcatas don't eat that kind of food. Read the thread here:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

there's a whole list of foods to choose from.

 

[Tom]

Here is some care info too.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Welcome to the forum.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

welcome

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome , Speedy eats alfalfa pellets but I have found they are like trying to soak a rock ! I put them in a small cup of water and nuke them in the microwave for a minute , then set them aside. once they are cool you can mush them up , so they are easier to eat .

 

[skullcrushersulcata]

Thank you everyone! Sorry for the late reply, the emails stopped coming after the first one and I thought no one replied I'm growing some stuff right now so hopefully she'll start eating again!