Help! My stubborn tort will not eat anything but grass hay!

[HughSokolski]

Hi everyone! I have posted about my best friend Frankie a few times before but I just wanted to reach out and see if anyone had any advice on how to diversify the diet of a stubborn tort? When I first got her a month or so ago I fed her Oxbow Orchard Grass Hay and Mazuri tortoise pellets because thats what the previous owner fed her regularly. Now that I have had her for this period I want to start diversifying her diet to ensure she is getting everything she needs! I bought Kale and put some in her enclosure but she refused to eat it. The second time, I did not add any other food until what was in the enclosure was gone and added more Kale. She did not touch it for two days and only went to her waterbowl and I became stressed that she was starving so added hay and sure enough she went right over and started eating. If anyone has any advice please help!!!!! Also, as a side question, is it bad if she does not eat anything but the grass hay and pellets?

 

[KarenSoCal]

Just wondering...what species is Frankie?

At least she's eating something that's good for her! We've had folks say their tortoise won't eat anything but lettuce. Hay and Mazuri is good for her, but I doubt she could get all the nutrients she needs from them. She needs variety.

What you need to do is this...get her hay and Mazuri ready as usual. You'll need to soak the Mazuri until it's mushy. Then take a small amount of a new food, like kale, and cut it up into very tiny pieces. Mix it into the Mazuri and hay. You can even start with 2 new foods, cut very small and in small amounts. Continue like this until she eats it right down with no hesitation. Then add just a bit more good stuff. And a bit more good stuff. As she gets to eating the good foods, slowly reduce the hay and Mazuri. When you move to all greens, you'll need to spritz the greens with water so the new food sticks to them.

Tortoises eat what they have eaten before. They aren't at all adventurous when it comes to eating. Once she gets used to the taste of the new food, she will probably accept it. This process can take a long time...weeks, months, or even a year. But it's worth it to be sure she's getting a varied diet. Torts do, however, have individual likes and dislikes. If you find something that she just won't eat, move on to something else. There are so many good foods to choose from.

Here's a very long list of foods good for tortoises.

Compiled by Tom:

Good foods for tortoises are "chicories," types of lettuce that are likely to be on the far side of the more common floppy green heads of lettuce most people buy. Anything labeled as simply "chicory" is good, as are radiccio, frisee, escarole, and endive; you might even find something labeled as dandelions. You may find a bag of "Spring" or "Spicy" mix that is good, just check the label to be sure it has some of the chicories I just mentioned. The leaves (just the leaves) of turnips and radishes are also good, as are carrot tops. Collards, mustard greens, bok choy, and other dark, leafy greens are okay as well. If you have any kind of Mexican/hispanic market near you, they will sell cactus, labeled "nopales." Cactus is a great food to rotate in the diet, as it is high in calcium.

You don't need to feed all of these at one time, just make sure your tortoise is getting access to different types of food. As you get more experienced, you can find the better types of food listed on the care sheets.

Here are a whole bunch of non-grocery store suggestions.

Mulberry leaves

Grape vine leaves

Hibiscus leaves

African hibiscus leaves

Blue hibiscus leaves

Rose of Sharon leaves

Rose leaves

Geraniums

Gazanias

Nasturtium

Lavatera

Pansies

Petunias

Hostas

Honeysuckle

Cape honeysuckle

Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...

Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:

There are soooooooo many...

Dandelion

Mallow

Filaree

Smooth Sow thistle

Prickly Sow thistle

Milk thistle

Goat head weed

Cats ear

Nettles

Trefoil

Wild onion

Wild mustard

Wild Garlic

Clovers

Broadleaf plantain

Narrow leaf plantain

Chick weed

Hawksbit

Hensbit

Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:

Category: Organic sourced diet items

kapidolofarms.com

"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes

Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html

Homegrown alfalfa

Mazuri Tortoise Chow

ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

Ones that you can buy in every store:

Arugula

Lambs lettuce

Chicory

Kale

Mustard greens

Organic kohlrabi leafs

Organic carrot leafs

Organic radish leafs

Dandelions

Radiccio


Their main diet should be broad leaf weeds, succulents and grasses. Store bought foods are okay, but not the best. Collards and dandelions are a good food, but neither should be used every day. Check out the plant ID section for lots of ideas on weeds to feed. You can get spineless opuntia cactus pads from most Mexican grocery stores, or grow them yourself. You can also easily grow grape leaves, african hibiscus, regular hibiscus (if it will survive in your area), and mulberry leaves. You can try red apple, ice plant, and jade plant too. Also look into Gazania, pansies, nasturtiums, carnations, geraniums and many others. At the grocery store, favor endive and escarole, but also use cilantro, carrot tops, mustard and turnip greens, bok choy, radiccio, swiss chard, watercress, parsley, all the lettuces, etc. Lots of variety is best. There are also tortoise "weed" seed mixes that you can grow. I like the "Testudo Mix" from Tortoisesupply.com.

Buckwheat; cactus; vetch; Mohave aster; creosote bush; desert four o’clock; tacoma stans; bladderpod; globe mallow; goldenhead; burro weed; so many things!

 

[HughSokolski]

Just wondering...what species is Frankie?

At least she's eating something that's good for her! We've had folks say their tortoise won't eat anything but lettuce. Hay and Mazuri is good for her, but I doubt she could get all the nutrients she needs from them. She needs variety.

What you need to do is this...get her hay and Mazuri ready as usual. You'll need to soak the Mazuri until it's mushy. Then take a small amount of a new food, like kale, and cut it up into very tiny pieces. Mix it into the Mazuri and hay. You can even start with 2 new foods, cut very small and in small amounts. Continue like this until she eats it right down with no hesitation. Then add just a bit more good stuff. And a bit more good stuff. As she gets to eating the good foods, slowly reduce the hay and Mazuri. When you move to all greens, you'll need to spritz the greens with water so the new food sticks to them.

Tortoises eat what they have eaten before. They aren't at all adventurous when it comes to eating. Once she gets used to the taste of the new food, she will probably accept it. This process can take a long time...weeks, months, or even a year. But it's worth it to be sure she's getting a varied diet. Torts do, however, have individual likes and dislikes. If you find something that she just won't eat, move on to something else. There are so many good foods to choose from.

Here's a very long list of foods good for tortoises.

Compiled by Tom:

Good foods for tortoises are "chicories," types of lettuce that are likely to be on the far side of the more common floppy green heads of lettuce most people buy. Anything labeled as simply "chicory" is good, as are radiccio, frisee, escarole, and endive; you might even find something labeled as dandelions. You may find a bag of "Spring" or "Spicy" mix that is good, just check the label to be sure it has some of the chicories I just mentioned. The leaves (just the leaves) of turnips and radishes are also good, as are carrot tops. Collards, mustard greens, bok choy, and other dark, leafy greens are okay as well. If you have any kind of Mexican/hispanic market near you, they will sell cactus, labeled "nopales." Cactus is a great food to rotate in the diet, as it is high in calcium.

You don't need to feed all of these at one time, just make sure your tortoise is getting access to different types of food. As you get more experienced, you can find the better types of food listed on the care sheets.

Here are a whole bunch of non-grocery store suggestions.

Mulberry leaves

Grape vine leaves

Hibiscus leaves

African hibiscus leaves

Blue hibiscus leaves

Rose of Sharon leaves

Rose leaves

Geraniums

Gazanias

Nasturtium

Lavatera

Pansies

Petunias

Hostas

Honeysuckle

Cape honeysuckle

Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...

Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:

There are soooooooo many...

Dandelion

Mallow

Filaree

Smooth Sow thistle

Prickly Sow thistle

Milk thistle

Goat head weed

Cats ear

Nettles

Trefoil

Wild onion

Wild mustard

Wild Garlic

Clovers

Broadleaf plantain

Narrow leaf plantain

Chick weed

Hawksbit

Hensbit

Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:

Category: Organic sourced diet items

kapidolofarms.com

"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes

Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html

Homegrown alfalfa

Mazuri Tortoise Chow

ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

Ones that you can buy in every store:

Arugula

Lambs lettuce

Chicory

Kale

Mustard greens

Organic kohlrabi leafs

Organic carrot leafs

Organic radish leafs

Dandelions

Radiccio


Their main diet should be broad leaf weeds, succulents and grasses. Store bought foods are okay, but not the best. Collards and dandelions are a good food, but neither should be used every day. Check out the plant ID section for lots of ideas on weeds to feed. You can get spineless opuntia cactus pads from most Mexican grocery stores, or grow them yourself. You can also easily grow grape leaves, african hibiscus, regular hibiscus (if it will survive in your area), and mulberry leaves. You can try red apple, ice plant, and jade plant too. Also look into Gazania, pansies, nasturtiums, carnations, geraniums and many others. At the grocery store, favor endive and escarole, but also use cilantro, carrot tops, mustard and turnip greens, bok choy, radiccio, swiss chard, watercress, parsley, all the lettuces, etc. Lots of variety is best. There are also tortoise "weed" seed mixes that you can grow. I like the "Testudo Mix" from Tortoisesupply.com.

Buckwheat; cactus; vetch; Mohave aster; creosote bush; desert four o’clock; tacoma stans; bladderpod; globe mallow; goldenhead; burro weed; so many things!

She's a Russian!!!!! Thanks for the good advice! I definitely will try getting a Spring Mix and cutting it up for her!!!