Addicted To Mazuri?

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TortoiseBoy1999

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My new baby Leopard Tortoise seams to really like Mazuri. I try to feed him other greens, but he will only eat Mazuri. Can they get addicted to it? He'll take a few nibbles (tiny nibbles) at his lettuce here and there. He won't even touch his grass. So is he addicted to Mazuri? He's 4 months old and 2 1/4" long.
 

Eweezyfosheezy

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Yes they can get addicted to mazuri. I have only seen this in tortoises by themselves. I keep all of mine in groups so they eat whatever is there no problem. Since he's by himself now he may just want to eat what he wants to eat. I have only given him lettuce a few times so its possible he's just not fond of it yet. As for the grass I'm not sure why he wouldnt eat that. Try mixing it up really good with his mazuri.
 

wellington

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Most baby leopards don't like grass. Mine is 16 months and still doesn't like it. As for the Mazuri, lucky you. I can't get mine to touch that either. But what you can and should do, is chop the greens, etc up really small and hide it with in the mazrui mush.
 

Melly-n-shorty

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wellington said:
Most baby leopards don't like grass. Mine is 16 months and still doesn't like it. As for the Mazuri, lucky you. I can't get mine to touch that either. But what you can and should do, is chop the greens, etc up really small and hide it with in the mazrui mush.

agreed! and some times a little tough love will do the trick.
 

Greg T

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Nothing to worry about there. Continue to feed mazuri and mix greens in with it, then every few days give him no mazuri and only greens for one day and he'll learn to eat both. I'd keep the mazuri in his diet because I have good luck with it. This combination has kept my torts big and happy. :D
 

Neal

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They can develop an addiction to mazuri, to the point where they will reject all other foods...even to their death. What I would do in your situation is chopping up greens and other good types of food into tiny pieces and mixing it together with the mazuri. Start with a small amount of greens, then gradually increase the amount at each feeding. This usually does the trick.
 

Yvonne G

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And to add to Neal's post, make the Mazuri quite soft then mash it all up so it doesn't look like pellets anymore. Then mix it all together with the greens.
 

Eweezyfosheezy

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Mazuri is the only stuff I actually buy for them and give them. I have seed that I have grown that they chow down on (I probably should have sent you a baggie of some so you could try it out). I also have plenty of hibiscus I give to them twice a week. If this one only has a taste for mazuri then I would mix up grasses and other stuff like hibiscus in the mazuri.
 

TortoiseBoy1999

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Eweezyfosheezy said:
Mazuri is the only stuff I actually buy for them and give them. I have seed that I have grown that they chow down on (I probably should have sent you a baggie of some so you could try it out). I also have plenty of hibiscus I give to them twice a week. If this one only has a taste for mazuri then I would mix up grasses and other stuff like hibiscus in the mazuri.

Ok
 

dds7155

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senior members saying tortoise's get addicted to Mazuri is wrong,, it may be the preferences of that tortoise ,,
 

Neal

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dds7155 said:
senior members saying tortoise's get addicted to Mazuri is wrong,, it may be the preferences of that tortoise ,,

I'm confused...you're saying that a tortoise that prefers only mazuri is not "addicted" to mazuri?

Call it addiction, preference, or whatever you want, tortoises CAN develop a dependency on it, and reject all other foods. Unfortunately, I have seen this happen several times.
 

yagyujubei

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Sorry Neal, The same can be said for Iceburg, romaine, spring mix etc... I believe that if they are only fed one food, then that's what they recognise as food. Are you saying that you actually know of a tortoise that died because he would only eat mazuri, and when it was taken away it starved to death. Sounds like animal abuse to me.When I was a kid, I was told eat this or nothing, I was very stubborn, but they never let me starve.
Neal said:
They can develop an addiction to mazuri, to the point where they will reject all other foods...even to their death. What I would do in your situation is chopping up greens and other good types of food into tiny pieces and mixing it together with the mazuri. Start with a small amount of greens, then gradually increase the amount at each feeding. This usually does the trick.
 

Neal

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You're right Dennis, however the topic is about Mazuri...so I didn't think to mention other foods. No need to excuse yourself as I am well aware.

Yes I do actually know of a couple of tortoises that died because they rejected other foods, I wish I could say it happened to someone I know, but unfortunately it happened to me personally. I received a group of (young) leopard tortoises from a friend who I know had only been feeding them mazuri. When I got them, they did not eat anything but mazuri. My initial response to this was "tough love", which had been successful in the past for breaking a torotoises dependency on other types of foods (such as you mentioned). Surprisingly these tortoises completely rejected everything, and when I tried to re-introduce mazuri they rejected that too for a time. A few of them did not resume eating and later died. This all happened in a very short amount of time, so I have thought that maybe something else was at play here, but the bottom line is that they stopped eating because I took away the one food they were eating.

The story is embarrassing, but you basically accused (me, even if indirectly) of animal abuse so I at least wanted to give you the whole story. Looking back I know I did not make the right choice in stopping mazuri cold turkey. I have learned from the mistake, and can say that since then I have had another opportunity to break bad eating habits in a tortoise, which was successfully. You can call it animal abuse, and I can accept that, but understand that my actions were based on past experience and doing what I thought was most effective.
 

TortoiseBoy1999

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Neal said:
You're right Dennis, however the topic is about Mazuri...so I didn't think to mention other foods. No need to excuse yourself as I am well aware.

Yes I do actually know of a couple of tortoises that died because they rejected other foods, I wish I could say it happened to someone I know, but unfortunately it happened to me personally. I received a group of (young) leopard tortoises from a friend who I know had only been feeding them mazuri. When I got them, they did not eat anything but mazuri. My initial response to this was "tough love", which had been successful in the past for breaking a torotoises dependency on other types of foods (such as you mentioned). Surprisingly these tortoises completely rejected everything, and when I tried to re-introduce mazuri they rejected that too for a time. A few of them did not resume eating and later died. This all happened in a very short amount of time, so I have thought that maybe something else was at play here, but the bottom line is that they stopped eating because I took away the one food they were eating.

The story is embarrassing, but you basically accused (me, even if indirectly) of animal abuse so I at least wanted to give you the whole story. Looking back I know I did not make the right choice in stopping mazuri cold turkey. I have learned from the mistake, and can say that since then I have had another opportunity to break bad eating habits in a tortoise, which was successfully. You can call it animal abuse, and I can accept that, but understand that my actions were based on past experience and doing what I thought was most effective.

Well I fead him a grass pellet yesterday and he LOVED it. He completely devoured the whole think! I've never seen him eat something so fast! I guess that my problem is solved!
 

Neal

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TortoiseBoy1999 said:
Well I fead him a grass pellet yesterday and he LOVED it. He completely devoured the whole think! I've never seen him eat something so fast! I guess that my problem is solved!

That's good to hear!
 

yagyujubei

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Sorry if I accused you, even indirectly. I think what I was trying to say was. IF ALL THEY HAVE BEEN EATING THEIR ENTIRE LIFE WAS ONE PARTICULAR FOOD, (sorry caps) that maybe they don't recognize anything else as food. Mine have been eating mazuri their entire lives, but they'll eat anything I put in front of them. If they fill up on grazing all day, and I offer mazuri late in the day, they aren't very interested. I'm not an advocated in "tough love" in any form for any extended period. I suspect, that since your tortoises were new to you, there was something else in play at the time, as I think that if they'd been on mazuri for awhile, they should've had enough reserves to weather a hunger strike. Again, didn't mean anything by my earlier remarks.
Neal said:
You're right Dennis, however the topic is about Mazuri...so I didn't think to mention other foods. No need to excuse yourself as I am well aware.

Yes I do actually know of a couple of tortoises that died because they rejected other foods, I wish I could say it happened to someone I know, but unfortunately it happened to me personally. I received a group of (young) leopard tortoises from a friend who I know had only been feeding them mazuri. When I got them, they did not eat anything but mazuri. My initial response to this was "tough love", which had been successful in the past for breaking a torotoises dependency on other types of foods (such as you mentioned). Surprisingly these tortoises completely rejected everything, and when I tried to re-introduce mazuri they rejected that too for a time. A few of them did not resume eating and later died. This all happened in a very short amount of time, so I have thought that maybe something else was at play here, but the bottom line is that they stopped eating because I took away the one food they were eating.

The story is embarrassing, but you basically accused (me, even if indirectly) of animal abuse so I at least wanted to give you the whole story. Looking back I know I did not make the right choice in stopping mazuri cold turkey. I have learned from the mistake, and can say that since then I have had another opportunity to break bad eating habits in a tortoise, which was successfully. You can call it animal abuse, and I can accept that, but understand that my actions were based on past experience and doing what I thought was most effective.
 

Neal

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yagyujubei said:
Sorry if I accused you, even indirectly. I think what I was trying to say was. IF ALL THEY HAVE BEEN EATING THEIR ENTIRE LIFE WAS ONE PARTICULAR FOOD, (sorry caps) that maybe they don't recognize anything else as food.

While that might have been your intent, what you actually said is "it sounds like animal abuse". But, you have explained yourself and I understand where you're coming from and why you said it. I just couldn't shrug off such a remark.
 
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