Change of diet

[mjj]

Hi someone is giving me a horsefield tortoise as they don't have the time to spend with him and sounds like he has been giving it pet shop bought food and the odd bit of fruit. I'm new to all this myself but I'm doing lots of research and want to start feeding him the correct diet but is it ok to switch straight away or do I do it gradually? Any advice would be great.
Thank you.

 

[Kelly.324]

From my experience (which is really limited as I only rehomed my tortoise 2 months ago so I’m certainly no expert) I just switched his diet straightaway and he was fine, ate most of the things I put in front of him. There’s still some stuff though that he just doesn’t like/won’t eat, for example rocket being one.
However, I know a lot of people have said tortoises can be picky eaters and they’ve had to introduce new foods bit by bit and gradually reduce the old/unsuitable diet. So it might just depend how fussy an eater your tortoise is?
Personally I’d remove the fruit from his diet straightaway.
What sort of shop bought food is it?
I’m sure more experienced members could give you better advice though [emoji846]