Fussy eater, lettuce only

[Chereece]

hi all , I'm a new tortoise owner (3 weeks in) and would like some advice please, my tortoise is about a year and a half and I've made a tortoise table for him. He only eats lettuce... I don't really want to just feed him this as no nutritional value as just water. I've tried him on loads of different green stuff.. leaves, grass, weeds, mangtout, cucumber, water cress, strawberry , leaves from different plants in the house, cabage and he won't even try any thing other than lettuce. Even his tortoise pellets and feeding block he won't touch,I've fed him greens and no lettuce and he went two whole days without eating so I gave in and gave him lettuce. Has anyone had a fussy feeder and any suggestions on widening his variety of food? Many thanks

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi Chereece

Remember your the parent and the tort is the child ( you can't just give them candy or starve them ) chop up the food and the lettuce together and wet it so it sticks together . And give it fresh every day , but you have to be strong . Here's some help !

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

What species and size tortoise?

 

[Yvonne G]

Put a bunch of lettuce into the food processor or blender and grind it up until it is liquid. Chop up some of the milder tasting greens like grape and mullberry leaves into small bite size pieces. Mix them all together so all the greens are coated. Now the greens look, taste and smell like lettuce and he should eat. Gradually, over time reduce the amount of lettuce until you've eliminated it altogether.

 

[Stuart S.]

Hello and welcome! You've come to the right place, these guys are great

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome Chereece!

It's not uncommon for a tortoise to have a hard time changing to a new diet. It would be hard on you and me, right? Especially if we were used to eating chips and soda!

As mentioned above by Grandpa Turtle, you need to be the parent and stay strong. Two days is pretty much nothing to a tortoise.

Try chopping up a little of something good with his lettuce. Just a little, you can keep most of it lettuce for now. Mix them up together; some people use a little chopped cucumber or cucumber juice to make the mixture more attractive to the tortoise.

Over time you can decrease the lettuce and increase other foods. This can take quite a while, depending on your tortoise. Mine wasn't the pickiest eater but it still took five months to get her fully transitioned to weeds and other good foods. The first few weeks were hard but I'm pretty sure they were harder on me than her.

He can go a long time without food without doing much harm. Just make sure he's got water and keep offering the food.

What kind of tortoise do you have? If it is a testudo species (Russian, Hermann's, etc.), I probably wouldn't be including strawberries. That's basically candy and is unlikely to get your tortoise to try something good for him. Other kinds of tortoise can have some fruit, is why I ask.

STAY STRONG!

 

[RosemaryDW]

Ha! Yvonne summed things up while I was typing that long thread above. What she said.

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome!

I would like to see what a one and a half year old tortoise that eats nothing but lettuce looks like...any pics?
Give your tortoise everything that the diet sheets say is the right stuff, and keep doing it until he gives in...he will!
And yes - please do post some pics of the enclosure etc. too so we can help you better!

 

[eric joranson]

I had success weening my tortoise (a sulcata) off eating only kale; by getting the pellet form of tortoise food; (zoo med grassland tortoise food). I would soak it until soft and mix in his favorite into it; making sure parts of it are sticking out of the mash pile. Even trying to pick it out; it would get some of the mash pile. It took me 2 months of this method., now he just eats the mash and ignores the kale. I now do not even add kale to mash. It was not long after that he would try lots of new foods. Slow and steady the course. Good luck.

 

[Chereece]

Hi all thank you for all the tips, he's a Russian tortoise given to me as a gift so I don't know what his diet was like before or habits were before. I'm going to try mushing and mixing his food and see how it goes I just feel awful when I know he's not eaten but like you say I need to be the stronger one even if it does take two months. I've screen printed nearly ever message as really helpful so thank you all x how can I tell if he's happy ? I don't think he likes being handled either , is this normal? Also bath time is a nightmare .... I don't think he likes them and get scared easily , any advice?

 

[Chereece]

Ps I love this site, all the pet shops and websites are all confusing with what you should and shouldn't do so it's nice to speak to real people with real opinions

 

[RosemaryDW]

I don't think he likes being handled either , is this normal?

It's totally normal. It could be just from being in a new place or that he had a bad experience before. Remember that to him, anything that picks him up from above is a predator, it's going to put stress on him.

Tortoises aren't happy or sad, per se. We can make them feel safe by providing the right care, or we can put stress on them by providing the wrong kind. Once you make him feel safe for a while, he should get a little bolder. Like the food, it may take some time.

Also bath time is a nightmare .... I don't think he likes them and get scared easily , any advice?

I learned something really helpful from @JoesMum about bathing. I put mine in just after she starts moving around in the morning, while she's still sluggish. I take the bath container to her, rather than the other way around. That way she isn't in the air very long and she isn't alert enough to try to make a run for it. When I first started this, I also set the timer for ten minutes and walked away; she didn't need me watching and I knew I had the water at the right level--she wasn't going to drown. She struggles for a few seconds but in 90 degree water chills out pretty quick. I weigh her right after and then put her down. I don't think she calmed down right away but it was a pretty quick transition.

I struggle with the recommendations to soak frequently for a Russian. I soak mine once a week, so I can give her an eyeball and do the weigh in. The reality is I have never seen her drink other than when she comes out of hibernation. The soak doesn't hurt her but I don't personally think it's required weekly. Ten minutes is about the time she is ready to come out but if she gets angsty after five minutes, I take her out then.

If my Russian seemed very stressed by being soaked and had had recent opportunity to drink, I'd probably give her a break for a couple of weeks at least. But I have only owned the one and I don't know the history of yours. I think the more experienced owners will tell you not to skip them. So try it the low key way above and see how he does.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Ps I love this site, all the pet shops and websites are all confusing with what you should and shouldn't do so it's nice to speak to real people with real opinions

No shortage of real opinions here, lol!

 

[TammyJ]

No shortage of real opinions here, lol!

Absolutely true, in my opinion, and that's final.