Looking for advise (on getting babies to eat)

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Sep 16, 2014
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Looking for advise
I have 5 baby spur s . I am after some advise on how to get them eating
I have seen 3 nibble at the food but that is all
 

lismar79

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Ohio USA
They are really attracted to the colors: Red, yellow, orange. Radicchio, chopped up squash (butternut & yellow seem to be a fav) & pumpkin all work. If mine go through a period where they do not eat much I mix fine pc of one of these things into their normal food. Romain also is a big tort fav so mixing this works too. Mine also seem to eat more after a good warm soak.
 

puffy137

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Hi Karl , very young babies don't eat much in the first few days of life, so don't worry. Where are you? any chance of them getting some sunshine on them ?
 
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I live in Wales in the UK
So not much sun at the moment
I have 4 normal baby's and one was born with no eyes so I am more worried about that one
The first was born 4 days ago and then the rest were 3 days
 

puffy137

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So you have bred these yourself ? Well done. In your climate its not so easy. I live in the middle east so ( it ain't half hot ) you will find lots of advice from people like Yvonne & Tom , who are the real experts:)
 

puffy137

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My experience with incubation was not good , they only lived a few weeks . So after that I left them with the older ones , ( I have this theory that they pick up immunity from the adults) This year I have been rewarded with 12 new babies, all doing well they are now 2 months old , eating well Romain lettuce & very lively .
 
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I have had my adult social for about 30 years
They will eat your fingertips be for you can put there food down lol
But baby's are a bit different just want them to be okay
 

puffy137

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Yes Romain lettuce seem to be a favourite. I always separate the babies into their 'nursery' every morning to make sure the older ones don't scoff the lot.:D They are such a greedy lot.
 

Yvonne G

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Here's what I do for my baby leopard tortoises:

I go out early a.m. and trim some leaves off the mulberry tree and grape vine. I walk around looking for weeds like puncture vine, prickly lettuce, sow thistle and if I can find any, I pick some of those. I take it in the house and wash it off.

In the meantime, I gather up all the babies and put them into a dishpan of warm water and just leave them there while I prepare their food.

I chop op the leaves and weeds into very tiny pieces. Then I chop up some endive, escarole, raddiccio, kale, collards, spring mix (minus the spinach), butter lettuce and whatever else I can find in the fridge. I grate some zucchini and carrot. I add soaked Zoo Med grassland pellets or Mazuri Tortoise diet, calcium and bird vitamins.

I mix this all up so its well mixed, then place a bit on a feeding tile. I place all the babies around the tile then quickly step out of their sight.

The remainder of the food is stored in an air tight bowl and it usually lasts three days.
 

puffy137

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Joined
Jul 31, 2014
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Here's what I do for my baby leopard tortoises:

I go out early a.m. and trim some leaves off the mulberry tree and grape vine. I walk around looking for weeds like puncture vine, prickly lettuce, sow thistle and if I can find any, I pick some of those. I take it in the house and wash it off.

In the meantime, I gather up all the babies and put them into a dishpan of warm water and just leave them there while I prepare their food.

I chop op the leaves and weeds into very tiny pieces. Then I chop up some endive, escarole, raddiccio, kale, collards, spring mix (minus the spinach), butter lettuce and whatever else I can find in the fridge. I grate some zucchini and carrot. I add soaked Zoo Med grassland pellets or Mazuri Tortoise diet, calcium and bird vitamins.

I mix this all up so its well mixed, then place a bit on a feeding tile. I place all the babies around the tile then quickly step out of their sight.

The remainder of the food is stored in an air tight bowl and it usually lasts three days.
 

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