Food Similar to Kale?

[Marty333]

Hey everyone! Chevy is like really into Kale which is ok and all but now thats the only thing he wants to eat (and you see how many choices I present to him). Is there any other type of green that tastes/looks like Kale that is healthier? Also when I sprinkle the calcium powder on his food he won't eat it. I notice it has quite an unpleasant smell is that the reason?

Thanks!
Marta

 

[Floof]

Collard greens might do the trick. It's the closest tort-friendly green to kale I can think of. Otherwise, mix the kale with good food and chop it all very small so he can't pick out the kale. Start with completely, or almost completely, kale, and slowly and steadily add more and more "good" greens to the mix through feedings until he's eating all good stuff again. In the future, maybe avoid giving him much (if any), just to be on the safe side.

You may be able to take the same approach with calcium powder. Start with very, very little, and build up how much you add until he's used to the normal amount. If your current regiment is every few days, though, the better option may be to do a light dust every day so he doesn't have the chance to decide to stop liking the calcium again between doses.

 

[tortoisenerd]

The calcium might taste strong or bitter to him. Start with a very tiny amount and increase it over time in addition to feeding calcium-rich foods (like cactus pads). As for the kale, it is a healthy food, but should be limited as it can cause goiter...really every food should be limited as variety is key. I like to feed about 20 different greens and foods over a few months. This can help a tort becoming hooked on any one food. Some items similar to kale in taste may be mustard or collard greens, both of which are higher in oxalic acid but good as part of a varied diet (such as when mixed with lower oxalic acid greens, like spring mix without spinach or chard). My tort also loves kale--I think it and frisee are probably his favorites. Stop feeding the kale and feed a nice mix of greens to get him eating a varied diet. After time you may be able to reintroduce it in as a part of the varied diet. Good luck!

 

[Annieski]

Marty--As Chevy gets a little older--his "tastebuds" may make him more adventurous to try "new" things. You may want to add something colorful[like raddichio] cut up very small with the kale or other greens and let him pick. I also found that when Mortimer was little, like Chevy, he would chomp on his cuttle bone--if it was moistened. Found this out by accident, when the cuttle bone ended up in his water dish while he was moving about.

 

[Marty333]

Thank you all for the replies I tried raddiachio once and he didnt like it but I will try again. Also I think I will see how well he will eat if I don't have Kale in his dinner. Thank You so much! Also do baby torts like endive?

 

[Annieski]

Thank you all for the replies I tried raddiachio once and he didnt like it but I will try again. Also I think I will see how well he will eat if I don't have Kale in his dinner. Thank You so much! Also do baby torts like endive?

I have a hard time separating "baby torts" from "baby Humans". I look at their growth as being on the "outside"[their size and weight] and the "inside"[the maturing of their internal organs]. Human babies drink the same "milk" day after day, to allow the digestive system to "mature", to be able to produce the enzymes and other gastric "juices" needed to break-down more complex foods. When Mortimer was younger[before 1 year] he was just satisfied with the more common and "easier-to-digest" greens that I fed him. Occassionally, I would offer something new[that I knew was ok]. If he ate it--great, but if he didn't--that was ok,too. I would wait a week or 2 and try again. Be sure to cut the pieces of anything new--very small, and mix it into Chevy's normal diet. The most important thing to remember is for Chevy to keep eating and continue to thrive[which should be EASY, with a Mom like YOU]. PS---endive is great for sulcata's---try some watercress also.

 

[Marty333]

Thank you all for the replies I tried raddiachio once and he didnt like it but I will try again. Also I think I will see how well he will eat if I don't have Kale in his dinner. Thank You so much! Also do baby torts like endive?

I have a hard time separating "baby torts" from "baby Humans". I look at their growth as being on the "outside"[their size and weight] and the "inside"[the maturing of their internal organs]. Human babies drink the same "milk" day after day, to allow the digestive system to "mature", to be able to produce the enzymes and other gastric "juices" needed to break-down more complex foods. When Mortimer was younger[before 1 year] he was just satisfied with the more common and "easier-to-digest" greens that I fed him. Occassionally, I would offer something new[that I knew was ok]. If he ate it--great, but if he didn't--that was ok,too. I would wait a week or 2 and try again. Be sure to cut the pieces of anything new--very small, and mix it into Chevy's normal diet. The most important thing to remember is for Chevy to keep eating and continue to thrive[which should be EASY, with a Mom like YOU]. PS---endive is great for sulcata's---try some watercress also.

Hmm I never thought of it that way but it is so true! Ok I will pick up some endive and slowly introduce it to his regular food thank you so much.

 

[Floof]

I also found that when Mortimer was little, like Chevy, he would chomp on his cuttle bone--if it was moistened. Found this out by accident, when the cuttle bone ended up in his water dish while he was moving about.

Forgot all about cuttlebone.

Marty, you've mentioned in other posts he doesn't munch on it much. Try moistening it and seeing how he takes to it then. If that doesn't work out, maybe try breaking it into smallish chunks. That's the only way my male Russian tort would take it.

I've also heard of people crushing some of the cuttlebone into a powder and offering that to a baby tortoise since it's easier to munch on than a hard chunk of cuttlebone.. Which might be the same logic behind Mortimer's "childhood" preference of wet cuttlebone.

 

[Badgemash]

Endive is one of the few things that all of our babies can agree on. If I put any in there they act like little sharks around a chum bucket, it can get expensive though, especially as they get bigger and eat more.

-Devon

 

[smithdoge]

It's the closest tort-friendly green to kale I can think of. Otherwise, mix the kale with good food and chop it all very small so he can't pick out the kale.