Feeding Methods - To chop or not??

Clementine's Keeper

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Hoping this doesn't seem like an idiotic question.... recently i've read several pieces saying you need to finely chop food for young torts. I've always fed Clementine (18 months) big/whole leaves which she stands on and tears apart. I guess i presumed that's how she'd eat in the wild. When I tried small pieces she did eat but she waved it about a lot before getting it in her mouth so I went back to big leaves. Does it really matter? Is there something I don't know about her eating habits? Am I being mean?
 

jsheffield

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I've been chopping stuff for Darwin, but he's still sub-100g ... I assume when he's a bit more grown, I'll use bigger chunks or whole food.

Jamie
 

Violanna

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I’m still super new, but I was under the impression chopping was just to get the foods mixed up and prevent picky eating?
 

RosemaryDW

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They don’t need their food cut up; they have tremdously strong jaws. In the wild no one is cutting their food up, they pull bites off whatever plant they are eating. Plus it’s good for their beaks.

Here is a picture of a very hard stem I cut off a summer squash. I had to really put some force into cutting it, with my biggest knife.

C60F39D9-798D-4757-9DE0-C1504AC5369B.jpeg

And here is a picture of it thirty seconds after my tortoise got it.

EBE275C8-86C3-44A7-9FF4-2D7677656156.jpeg

Adults and subadults don’t need their food cut up.
 

Gillian M

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Oh no, you are not being mean.

Oli used to eat his food by tearing it apart firstly. But later on he became a spoiled brat and stopped eating alone. I've been hand feeding him.:D

And welcome to the forum @Clementine's Keeper .:)
 

SPILL

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As others have said it is not necessary, but I think there are times when it's helpful with little ones. I use Tortoise Supply's herbal hay and my own herb mixture and it's easier to mix those into chopped up foods than whole leaves. I also think it helps when introducing new items to the diet.
 

Minority2

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I don't chop the food I offer into smaller pieces. I do however, coat and or form large balls of mazuri with other lesser desirable foods and offer them to my tortoises. Kind of like a spread/smear on toast or a scotch egg/rice ball. Great way to trick your young tortoises into eating lots of fiber rich foods early on.
 

Clementine's Keeper

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They don’t need their food cut up; they have tremdously strong jaws. In the wild no one is cutting their food up, they pull bites off whatever plant they are eating. Plus it’s good for their beaks.

Here is a picture of a very hard stem I cut off a summer squash. I had to really put some force into cutting it, with my biggest knife.

View attachment 256501

And here is a picture of it thirty seconds after my tortoise got it.

View attachment 256502

Adults and subadults don’t need their food cut up.
That's impressive! Lovely pic. Thanks for replying [emoji16]
 

Clementine's Keeper

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Thanks everyone. I'll continue as I was. I love watching her get stuck into tearing apart her food. She's so entertaining, but she does throw me the odd cold stare if I sit and watch her eat for too long. Anyone might think I love her more than she loves me ... [emoji848]
 
N

no one

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I would not like it if someone stares at me to long when I am eating. Lol
But you are right, watching my Tortoises eat is what I love too!!

I didn't chop up the food for all my Tortoises. But then I got a 4 month old little Russian from my husband. I chopped it up for him, he is so young. But today I saw him tear his food like the others, so I guess I don't have to.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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It's a great question, BTW. I chop and mix several greens so that they eat a wide variety. For some reason they can become fixated on few things, especially with the "treat" idea. But there are days when time is limited and they all get partial whole heads cut from the base up. Depending on the species of tortoise and the type of green they seem to not miss a beat and eat it all, or self fast that day.

Favorites greens picked from a chopped mix pile, may be ignored at whole head feedings.

They can be fickle little animals.
 

Yvonne G

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I like to chop up food for BABY tortoises because they eat more that way. A baby might spend 15 minutes trying to eat one small partial leaf of something, get tired and move away from the food, or he will spend that 15 minutes tearing into a pile of chopped up food that he doesn't have to fight to eat, and get a whole lot more into his body. Once they're big enough to move outside I don't chop anymore.
 
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