New Leopard Torts Mom

Hello everyone. I have 2 leopard torts that are a little over a month old. The pet store had them on bark only and today I was able to get a better substrate with 50/50 play sand and coconut fiber. Added spagnum moss as well. My smaller one, Ninja seemed to be a bit stressed today with the change so I added a little bit of bark in certain areas of enclosure and that seemed to settle Ninja. My other one is Nertle and seems fine. The pet store had them on a lettuce diet and I am diligently trying to get them off of it. I have bought Mazuri and some other tort foods trying a mixture of that to entice them off the lettuce but still being finicky. How long should I expect before they start eating more of a healthy diet? Is it one of those, they will eat the new diet when hungry? Thank you in advance for your expertise.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Do they eat at all?

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ. We all like Picts of your torts and their enclosure . Leopards rule ! View attachment 120250View attachment 120251View attachment 120252 as you can see I chop their food real fine so I can add or substac what I want and they eat it hope this helps

Hello and Welcome to the forum! ! !

Welcome

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

I wouldn't exactly say that manufactured tortoise pellets are any better or worse than lettuce. Please read the care sheet pinned at the top of our Leopard section. There's a whole list of good food items in there for you to feed your tortoise. Don't just pick out one or two. The tortoise needs a variety. You can use all of them at one time or another.

Heather H said:

Hi and welcome to the forum. Do they eat at all?

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Yes, they do eat however just lettuce.

Welcome to the forum.

rkelleh said:

Yes, they do eat however just lettuce.

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Chop everything up tiny and mix with lettuce. Keep adding less lettuce. How are their poops. Lettuce can cause runny poop and had little to no nutritional value.

Heather H said:

Chop everything up tiny and mix with lettuce. Keep adding less lettuce. How are their poops. Lettuce can cause runny poop and had little to no nutritional value.

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Their poop is fine, not runny at all. Thank you for the info. My husband laughed at me today as I had a grocery list for the torts too. Spring mix and other items from the okay list chopped and their salad is prepped for the week.

Their salad is prepped for the week. Even picked up a new soaking arena for them. They can soak while I prep their food and they are safe from my other house critters. No worries, they do not touch the counters and I diligently clean before and after with handling of them to ensure no contamination of anything. Thanks for the info on food. Grocery shopping complete and after thinking about it, they are probably used to fresh items versus pet store stuff. I appreciate everyone's advice. I feel better knowing they have a good variety now.

My husband accidentally added dandelion to his salad a few weeks ago. He did not enjoy it.

Thank you for the advice on the food. Ninja and Nertle are chowing down and seem to be happy campers. They even took out a small aloe I planted in their substrate. I have tons of aloe but how often should I plant one in their enclosure?

Sparingly. it's listed as feeding in moderation.

rkelleh said:

Their poop is fine, not runny at all. Thank you for the info. My husband laughed at me today as I had a grocery list for the torts too. Spring mix and other items from the okay list chopped and their salad is prepped for the week.

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My wife don't laugh cause in the summer and in AZ we have a long summer I spend a hundred dollars every 2 weeks feeding my torts

Thank you. I will make sure I put one in randomly over time. I have to admit that it was pretty cool watching them eat it. Thanks again.

Grandpa Turtle 144 said:

My wife don't laugh cause in the summer and in AZ we have a long summer I spend a hundred dollars every 2 weeks feeding my torts

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Ouch

My husband surprised me and ordered some seeds so I can start growing a garden for the torts. I was so worried about pesticides and whatnot that he felt bad after fertilizing the lawn. I can only imagine the grocery bill over time when they get bigger.

rkelleh said:

My husband surprised me and ordered some seeds so I can start growing a garden for the torts. I was so worried about pesticides and whatnot that he felt bad after fertilizing the lawn. I can only imagine the grocery bill over time when they get bigger.

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Look up some info. On composting cause you can use compost tea to feed your lawn and garden and it won't hurt your tort if he eats your lawn . Just tring to help .