How to get my hatchling to eat grass?

hyj1752

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I’ve had my buddy for about a month and a half and he’s been swell.

He’s been fed a variety of korean weeds. We unfortunately met during the winter where organic weeds are scarce so I’ve had to have some help - organic kale, chicory, along with sprouts and such. Fortunately, I met a farmer who grows different types of grass (timothy, oat, and others).

My bud won’t eat any grass - he hates it. I’ve tried to incorporate it by cutting it small and mixing it with things he loves. He’ll pick out what he likes and leaves it if he can’t.

How do I better introduce grass to him? Any suggestions are appreciated.
 

Hamiltondood

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I’ve had my buddy for about a month and a half and he’s been swell.

He’s been fed a variety of korean weeds. We unfortunately met during the winter where organic weeds are scarce so I’ve had to have some help - organic kale, chicory, along with sprouts and such. Fortunately, I met a farmer who grows different types of grass (timothy, oat, and others).

My bud won’t eat any grass - he hates it. I’ve tried to incorporate it by cutting it small and mixing it with things he loves. He’ll pick out what he likes and leaves it if he can’t.

How do I better introduce grass to him? Any suggestions are appreciated.
wheat grass is what i feed my hatchling.
hatchlings might not eat grass at first. just chop it up in his food super small and mix it up and maybe add tortoise pellets.
hay is for adults so dont bother with hay until he's bigger.
make sure the grass has no pesticides too :)
 

Tom

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I’ve had my buddy for about a month and a half and he’s been swell.

He’s been fed a variety of korean weeds. We unfortunately met during the winter where organic weeds are scarce so I’ve had to have some help - organic kale, chicory, along with sprouts and such. Fortunately, I met a farmer who grows different types of grass (timothy, oat, and others).

My bud won’t eat any grass - he hates it. I’ve tried to incorporate it by cutting it small and mixing it with things he loves. He’ll pick out what he likes and leaves it if he can’t.

How do I better introduce grass to him? Any suggestions are appreciated.
What species are we talking about? What size and age?
 

Hamiltondood

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What species are we talking about? What size and age?
they have a hatchling eastern hermanns tortoise
 

Hamiltondood

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wheat grass is what i feed my hatchling.
hatchlings might not eat grass at first. just chop it up in his food super small and mix it up and maybe add tortoise pellets.
hay is for adults so dont bother with hay until he's bigger.
make sure the grass has no pesticides too :)
just realized that this applies to sulcatas ?
the testudo species doesn't have to eat grass as much as sulcatas, broadleef weeds would be best.
you can also buy seeds and grow them so your tortoise can eat. i plan on sprinkling some in my tortoise's enclosure soon :)

here is what you should feed them (compiled by tom):
Feeding:
So much contradictory info on this subject. Its simple. What do they eat in the wild. Grass, weeds, leaves, flowers, and succulents. Feed them a huge variety of these things, and you'll have a healthy tortoise. All of these species are very adaptable when it comes to diet and there is a very large margin of error, and many ways to do it right. What if you don't have this sort of "natural" tortoise food available for part of each year because you are in the snow? You will have no choice but to buy grocery store food. What's wrong with grocery store food? It tends to lack fiber, some items are low in calcium or have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, and some items have deleterious compounds in them. All of these short comings can be improved with some simple supplementation and amendments. A pinch of calcium two times per week will help fix that problem. You can also leave cuttle bone in the enclosure, so your tortoise can self-regulate its own calcium intake. What about fiber? Soaked horse hay pellets, soaked ZooMed Grassland pellets, Mazuri tortoise chow, "Salad style", "Herbal Hay" both from @TylerStewart and his lovely wife Sarah at Tortoisesupply.com, or many of the dried plants and leaves available from Will @Kapidolo Farms. If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Add in arugula, cilantro, kale, collard, mustard and turnip greens, squash leaves, spring mix, romaine, green or red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, water cress, carrot tops, celery tops, bok choy, and whatever other greens you can find. If you mix in some of the aforementioned amendments, these grocery store foods will offer plants of variety and fiber and be able to meet your tortoises nutritional needs just fine. I find it preferable to grab a few grapevine or mulberry leaves, or a handful of mallow and clover, or some broadleaf plantain leaves and some grass, but with the right additions, grocery store stuff is fine too. Grow your own stuff, or find it around you when possible. Tyler and Sarah also sell a fantastic Testudo seed mix that is great for ALL tortoise species and also super easy to grow in pots, trays, raised garden beds, or in outdoor tortoise enclosures. When that isn't possible, add a wide variety of good stuff to your grocery store greens to make them better.

here is a list of safe weeds (from one of tom's posts):
 

hyj1752

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Sep 17, 2020
Messages
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Location (City and/or State)
Seoul
just realized that this applies to sulcatas ?
the testudo species doesn't have to eat grass as much as sulcatas, broadleef weeds would be best.
you can also buy seeds and grow them so your tortoise can eat. i plan on sprinkling some in my tortoise's enclosure soon :)

here is what you should feed them (compiled by tom):
Feeding:
So much contradictory info on this subject. Its simple. What do they eat in the wild. Grass, weeds, leaves, flowers, and succulents. Feed them a huge variety of these things, and you'll have a healthy tortoise. All of these species are very adaptable when it comes to diet and there is a very large margin of error, and many ways to do it right. What if you don't have this sort of "natural" tortoise food available for part of each year because you are in the snow? You will have no choice but to buy grocery store food. What's wrong with grocery store food? It tends to lack fiber, some items are low in calcium or have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, and some items have deleterious compounds in them. All of these short comings can be improved with some simple supplementation and amendments. A pinch of calcium two times per week will help fix that problem. You can also leave cuttle bone in the enclosure, so your tortoise can self-regulate its own calcium intake. What about fiber? Soaked horse hay pellets, soaked ZooMed Grassland pellets, Mazuri tortoise chow, "Salad style", "Herbal Hay" both from @TylerStewart and his lovely wife Sarah at Tortoisesupply.com, or many of the dried plants and leaves available from Will @Kapidolo Farms. If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Add in arugula, cilantro, kale, collard, mustard and turnip greens, squash leaves, spring mix, romaine, green or red leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, water cress, carrot tops, celery tops, bok choy, and whatever other greens you can find. If you mix in some of the aforementioned amendments, these grocery store foods will offer plants of variety and fiber and be able to meet your tortoises nutritional needs just fine. I find it preferable to grab a few grapevine or mulberry leaves, or a handful of mallow and clover, or some broadleaf plantain leaves and some grass, but with the right additions, grocery store stuff is fine too. Grow your own stuff, or find it around you when possible. Tyler and Sarah also sell a fantastic Testudo seed mix that is great for ALL tortoise species and also super easy to grow in pots, trays, raised garden beds, or in outdoor tortoise enclosures. When that isn't possible, add a wide variety of good stuff to your grocery store greens to make them better.

here is a list of safe weeds (from one of tom's posts):
Thank you so much for this info - I’m going to see what I can het shipped to Korea for now, and give him lots of variety. Thank you for your time
 

Tom

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He’s very small, 29.1g and 5.2cm, he’s an eastern hermann’s tortoise. He cannot be older than 6 months
They are not grass eaters. You need broadleaf weeds of the right types.
 

hyj1752

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Seoul
They are not grass eaters. You need broadleaf weeds of the right types.
Hi! So what would classify as broadleaf weeds I could purchase?

This would help immensely thank you..
 

Tom

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Hi! So what would classify as broadleaf weeds I could purchase?

This would help immensely thank you..
Skip the text of this thread and scroll down for a whole list of items that you can find or grow. The text is all about grass and sulcatas, but farther down there is a plant list.
 

Yvonne G

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plantain, dandelion, purselane, lambs quarter, nettle, chickweed, clover, mustard, mallow to name just a few
 
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