eating problems

[LeBeauMonde]

Hatchling Hermann's Tortoise

In edition to extensive frustration finding anything healthy and edible for my tortoise - the few things I have found the tortoise will not eat.

I've tried grape leaves and Bermuda grass. The tortoise won't eat either. The tortoise only eats processed tortoise pellets (not many) or occasionally nibbles on red lettuce or red mustard greens. - but not much at all.

Any thoughts or tips? I am getting worried. I've had the tortoise about two weeks.

 

[Sh3wulf]

I would try soaking the pellets into a mush and then mix in small amounts of what you want him to eat. Mash it all up into a tortoise meatball and voila, he doesn't even know he's eating anything new until he's already got a mouthful.
Slow introduction of small amounts was the trick with my little leopard.
Hope you have some luck. Just keep trying, they can be stubborn, but that's one of the reasons we adore them.
Hopefully someone else can chime in with some ideas



Two kids, One husband, One Hines57, One Leopard Tortoise, and a room at the sanitarium lol

 

[Yvonne G]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with starting your little hatchling out on grocery store greens. The main thing is to get it eating.

Buy some of the packaged lettuces. If you can find Santa Barbara mix, that's a real good one. Spring Mix is also good, but you have to take out an awful lot of the spinach because they put so darned much in it.

So if you can get the baby started eating anything, then after about a week, you can start to incorporate small amounts of more natural foods. But cut it up real small.

I'm not sure if the Hermann's tortoises eat grass. I think they eat more broad-leaf greens and weeds.