I am WAY confused on DIET!

[way2gfy]

Mochii you are absolutely correct about the D3, unless you really know what you're doing, your tort should get a calcium only supplement, as D3 can indeed be toxic if not given the proper dose. Well done, I'm impressed how much you're learning so fast! Knowledge is power
And thats perfect to sprinkle the calcium on his food, best way for him to eat it Even easier is to put the calcium supp in a salt shaker, so its very easy to sprinkle the correct amount onto his greens

Okay, I am not going to use the Calcium powder stuff. I did get him a cuttlebone and some wheat grass from Petsmart yesterday. I found this stuff called 'Natural Grassland Tortoise Food' and it says it is 'The correct high fiber diet for all GRASSLAND TORTOISE species such as: Russian, Sulcata, Leopard, Pancake, Greek, Hermann's, Desert Tortoises, etc' and looks like little tiny chunks of hay. It has Oat, Timothy and Alfalfa grasses in it as well as Dandelion Greens and Yucca. I thought I would try it since Squirt hasn't eaten anything since I found him last week. He only ate like 2 little chomps out of a Dandelion I pulled from my backyard but I was getting really concerned because of how we came about each other. I softened it up a little with some water and crushed a little bit of the cuttlebone up in it and gave it to him with some clippings of the wheat grass. YAY!!!! He was chomping it up.

I have some stuff on the bottom of his tank that is called Jungle Bed made by T-Rex that I think I will mix in with some play sand to give some more footing. I also don't think that his food dish is working too well and may go with a rough feeling floor tile.

Any more suggestions ya'all want to give me?

Thanks.

This is the food I got him that looks like little chunks of hay:

 

[Yvonne G]

Its a young desert tortoise. The size says appx. 5 or 6 years old, however if it lived in a box in a closet who knows how much it was fed or if it had heat to digest its food, so it could be older. But its not full grown yet.

Yvonne

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this stuff called 'Natural Grassland Tortoise Food' and it says it is 'The correct high fiber diet for all GRASSLAND TORTOISE species such as: Russian, Sulcata, Leopard, Pancake, Greek, Hermann's, Desert Tortoises, etc' and looks like little tiny chunks of hay. It has Oat, Timothy and Alfalfa grasses in it as well as Dandelion Greens and Yucca. I thought I would try it since Squirt hasn't eaten anything since I found him last week. He only ate like 2 little chomps out of a Dandelion I pulled from my backyard but I was getting really concerned because of how we came about each other. I softened it up a little with some water and crushed a little bit of the cuttlebone up in it and gave it to him with some clippings of the wheat grass. YAY!!!! He was chomping it up.


I have some stuff on the bottom of his tank that is called Jungle Bed made by T-Rex that I think I will mix in with some play sand to give some more footing. I also don't think that his food dish is working too well and may go with a rough feeling floor tile.

Any more suggestions ya'all want to give me?

Thanks.

If you want to feed the pelleted food shown in your post, that's fine, however I would lay down a nice bed of greens first, then top the greens with moistened pelleted food. I just love that picture of the tortoise with that dried old food sticking out of his mouth. He must have been starving to want to eat that. But you're lucky that he's eating at all!!

I like to use "jungle bed" and "forest floor." These are ok substrates. And mixing them with your original substrate is a good idea. You can then moisten it all over, stir it up with your hand and smooth it out. Its good for it to stay moist underneath with the top layer drying out.

Yvonne

 

[way2gfy]

Its a young desert tortoise. The size says appx. 5 or 6 years old, however if it lived in a box in a closet who knows how much it was fed or if it had heat to digest its food, so it could be older. But its not full grown yet.

Yvonne

---

this stuff called 'Natural Grassland Tortoise Food' and it says it is 'The correct high fiber diet for all GRASSLAND TORTOISE species such as: Russian, Sulcata, Leopard, Pancake, Greek, Hermann's, Desert Tortoises, etc' and looks like little tiny chunks of hay. It has Oat, Timothy and Alfalfa grasses in it as well as Dandelion Greens and Yucca. I thought I would try it since Squirt hasn't eaten anything since I found him last week. He only ate like 2 little chomps out of a Dandelion I pulled from my backyard but I was getting really concerned because of how we came about each other. I softened it up a little with some water and crushed a little bit of the cuttlebone up in it and gave it to him with some clippings of the wheat grass. YAY!!!! He was chomping it up.


I have some stuff on the bottom of his tank that is called Jungle Bed made by T-Rex that I think I will mix in with some play sand to give some more footing. I also don't think that his food dish is working too well and may go with a rough feeling floor tile.

Any more suggestions ya'all want to give me?

Thanks.

If you want to feed the pelleted food shown in your post, that's fine, however I would lay down a nice bed of greens first, then top the greens with moistened pelleted food. I just love that picture of the tortoise with that dried old food sticking out of his mouth. He must have been starving to want to eat that. But you're lucky that he's eating at all!!

I like to use "jungle bed" and "forest floor." These are ok substrates. And mixing them with your original substrate is a good idea. You can then moisten it all over, stir it up with your hand and smooth it out. Its good for it to stay moist underneath with the top layer drying out.

Yvonne

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Hey Yvonne, the picture of him with the food in his mouth is actually the Wheat Grass. I looks a little dry because the selection at Petsmart was not all that great. That is the top part of the grass and he will get some better looking stuff tomorrow. That is a good idea to put it down on a bed of greens first. That way he might 'accidently' chomp on some of the fresh stuff and realize it's yummy, LOL.

That is the first substrate I have had for him and I have been reading that others use it mixed with some Play Sand from Home Depot. Do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks. Glad you like the picture of my lil' guy. He's so precious and I am glad we found each other because I know I will give him lots of love!

 

[Stazz]

All sounds good to me. He'll definitely start eating, he's just getting used to his new, proper environment, takes a while for some to get used to new things Just like us huh! Yeah I don't buy the calcium supp, I grate the soft side of the cuttle bone with a spoon and its sprinkled all over Tallula's food, and it's never bothered her that its on her food, she's a piglet I look forward to seeing more pics of you DT Have you found a name for him yet?

 

[Crazy1]

It's a good thing you found each other or he/she may not have lasted long in the closet, starving and dehydrating it makes me shutter to thing someone left him like that. Glad you're getting him/her to eat.

 

[purpod]

Hoooray ~ your lil' pal is eating!! Sooo glad to hear it & what a little cutie!

& Yes, Praises to God that your lil' one now has a responsible owner; now if you can figure out a name... tee-hee-hee ~

Seriously, congrats & well wishes to you both ~
Purpod

 

[K9KidsLove]

Hi...I am glad that you were able to find your new buddy. Since you don't know how long he has been in the closet, you might want to put him in a container with warm water to soak about 30 minutes a day for a couple of weeks. The water should be about even with where the carapace meets the plastron.
Also, after you have had him for a couple of weeks, take a fresh poop sample to a tortoise vet to do a fecal to check for parasites, coccidia, bacteria, etc.
A good natural way to keep worms under control is to feed pumpkin about every 3 or 4 weeks. I get a can of 100% pumpkin in the pie fillings section at Walmart. I give a good big teaspoon full. Mine eat it off my spoon. The rest I put in an ice cube tray & freeze it. Then put the pieces in a baggie & take a piece out every 3 or 4 weeks, thaw it & feed it.
You have received some great info. Keep asking questions. That is how we all learned how to do things right.
Good luck
Patsy