Ibera Greek hatchling can’t eat food

StaffordC

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Hello everyone,

I offer my Ibera Greek Hatchling fresh food every morning & after his 30 min afternoon soak(Endive, Escarole, Mustard & Dandelion Greens, the ‘Broadleaf Testudo Seed Mix‘ from Tortoise Supply, and the Zoo Med Flower Topper until my ‘Herbal Hay’ comes in from Tortoise Supply.) I use a 4in. terra cotta saucer as my food bowl and I chop all of the food up into small pieces and make one large pile for him to try and make it easier for him to eat it. However, whenever he tries to eat he seems to bite everywhere around the food EXCEPT for the actual food. I am looking for suggestions on what to do to try and get him to eat or at least eat more than he is right now.

His temperatures are:
Basking: 95-100
Hot side: 79-82
Cool side: 75
Night time low: 70-72
Humidity: 70-80% at all times

He gets a 30 min soak outside every day in 95 degree water with access to sun.

I look forward to reading some tips on this or if any of you have experienced this. Thank you in advance!
 

Minority2

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Hello everyone,

I offer my Ibera Greek Hatchling fresh food every morning & after his 30 min afternoon soak(Endive, Escarole, Mustard & Dandelion Greens, the ‘Broadleaf Testudo Seed Mix‘ from Tortoise Supply, and the Zoo Med Flower Topper until my ‘Herbal Hay’ comes in from Tortoise Supply.) I use a 4in. terra cotta saucer as my food bowl and I chop all of the food up into small pieces and make one large pile for him to try and make it easier for him to eat it. However, whenever he tries to eat he seems to bite everywhere around the food EXCEPT for the actual food. I am looking for suggestions on what to do to try and get him to eat or at least eat more than he is right now.

His temperatures are:
Basking: 95-100
Hot side: 79-82
Cool side: 75
Night time low: 70-72
Humidity: 70-80% at all times

He gets a 30 min soak outside every day in 95 degree water with access to sun.

I look forward to reading some tips on this or if any of you have experienced this. Thank you in advance!

Hatchlings usually start off eating small amounts multiple times throughout the day. They're young so everything new offered may or may not take and may require several attempts before the tortoise understands that it is okay to eat. Instead of chopping food into little pieces, offer whole amounts so the tortoise can tear and chomp through their food like they do in the wild. Even if the food is too large for their mouth they will eventually be able to tear through them.

Raise your hot side temperature to 85F-90F while keeping the cool side above 80F during the daytime. Try to achieve 100% humidity level if possible. An overall warmer enclosure is going to help encourage the tortoise to move around more, causing them to exercise, and eat more as a result.
 

StaffordC

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Location (City and/or State)
San Luis Obispo, CA
Hatchlings usually start off eating small amounts multiple times throughout the day. They're young so everything new offered may or may not take and may require several attempts before the tortoise understands that it is okay to eat. Instead of chopping food into little pieces, offer whole amounts so the tortoise can tear and chomp through their food like they do in the wild. Even if the food is too large for their mouth they will eventually be able to tear through them.

Raise your hot side temperature to 85F-90F while keeping the cool side above 80F during the daytime. Try to achieve 100% humidity level if possible. An overall warmer enclosure is going to help encourage the tortoise to move around more, causing them to exercise, and eat more as a result.

Thank you for your reply, I have tried offering him whole pieces of each of the foods I mentioned before, and he will just look at it and not really pay much attention to it. I will try to achieve the highest humidity possible for him which shouldn’t be too hard. I will also work on getting the hot side temperature up to 85-90 and the cold side to 80 during the day. That won’t be too hard to do right now with the heat wave on the Central Coast in CA.
 

Minority2

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Thank you for your reply, I have tried offering him whole pieces of each of the foods I mentioned before, and he will just look at it and not really pay much attention to it. I will try to achieve the highest humidity possible for him which shouldn’t be too hard. I will also work on getting the hot side temperature up to 85-90 and the cold side to 80 during the day. That won’t be too hard to do right now with the heat wave on the Central Coast in CA.

You can try using Mazuri tortoise diet food (5M21). Get a couple of pellets, wet it, and apply that into a thin-coating around the food you want your tortoise to eat. That usually works but some tortoises can be pretty stubborn. Eventually they will get the hint and begrudgingly eat what you provide them because tortoises aren't going to let themselves starve.
 

Yvonne G

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Some baby tortoises have trouble with depth perception. They outgrow it eventually, and in the meantime, you can help him by cutting the food up into very tiny pieces and stacking it right up against a wall so it can't move away from him as he bites at it.
 

StaffordC

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You can try using Mazuri tortoise diet food (5M21). Get a couple of pellets, wet it, and apply that into a thin-coating around the food you want your tortoise to eat. That usually works but some tortoises can be pretty stubborn. Eventually they will get the hint and begrudgingly eat what you provide them because tortoises aren't going to let themselves starve.

I also ordered that from Tortoise Supply also. I made sure to not get the LS one because I have read all over that many tortoises do not like that as much.
 

StaffordC

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Some baby tortoises have trouble with depth perception. They outgrow it eventually, and in the meantime, you can help him by cutting the food up into very tiny pieces and stacking it right up against a wall so it can't move away from him as he bites at it.

I have been doing that for him and he seems to like it more than just being offered whole pieces of the food I am giving him. He was able to get quite a few good bites today, but he really isn't eating too much. What is the average amount a hatchling will eat?
 
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Yvonne G

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I put a pile about as big as the hatchling and leave it there all day. It's still edible after the light has dried it out. If he eats it all before the end of the day then the next day I make the pile bigger. The goal is for there to always be a little food left at the end of the day.
 

StaffordC

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I put a pile about as big as the hatchling and leave it there all day. It's still edible after the light has dried it out. If he eats it all before the end of the day then the next day I make the pile bigger. The goal is for there to always be a little food left at the end of the day.

I give him a pile of food the size of his body and I leave it in there for him even after it is dried out by the light but every morning when I take his old food out to replace it with fresh stuff, 90% of the food I give him is still there. I feel like he isn’t eating enough. When I received him(from Tortoise Town before I read all of the terrible reviews of that site on here) he was 15.95 grams. After 3 weeks, he has lost ~ 1 gram and weighs 14.78 grams.
 

Yvonne G

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Try putting out a smaller amount. Maybe he's overwhelmed by the large amount.

Have you been able to I.D. any food that he's particularly fond of? You can mush it up in the food processor then mix the resultant 'mush' into the chopped greens. Even maybe try iceburg lettuce.
 

StaffordC

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Try putting out a smaller amount. Maybe he's overwhelmed by the large amount.

Have you been able to I.D. any food that he's particularly fond of? You can mush it up in the food processor then mix the resultant 'mush' into the chopped greens. Even maybe try iceburg lettuce.

It's hard for me to identify exactly which foods he likes because I chop up the pieces so small and mix them all together for him. Do you think it would be beneficial to mush up all of his food in the food processor for him so when he takes a bite and actually bites into the food, I know that he will be getting something?
 

Yvonne G

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You could try it. There's no wrong answer when you're trying to get a baby to eat.
 

StaffordC

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You could try it. There's no wrong answer when you're trying to get a baby to eat.

Alright, thank you for all of your help, Yvonne! I will give that a try and keep my fingers crossed that he will eat more for me! I have also been trying out different soaks for him. I have tried putting Gerber carrot baby food in the soak water and I have also tried putting liquid bird vitamins in the water with him. Are those both still good practices to do?
 

Maggie3fan

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It's hard for me to identify exactly which foods he likes because I chop up the pieces so small and mix them all together for him. Do you think it would be beneficial to mush up all of his food in the food processor for him so when he takes a bite and actually bites into the food, I know that he will be getting something?
I have seen many tortoises with that lack of depth perception, it will pass, but while he's missing his food offer radicchio, they like red and my tortoises will go after that first
 

Tom

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When I received him(from Tortoise Town...
There is your problem... Sorry man.

Your care and routine sound perfect. If this baby can survive, it will because of your excellent care. If it doesn't, we all know why, and its no fault of yours.

Are you using indoor UV? What type of bulb?
 

StaffordC

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There is your problem... Sorry man.

Your care and routine sound perfect. If this baby can survive, it will because of your excellent care. If it doesn't, we all know why, and its no fault of yours.

Are you using indoor UV? What type of bulb?

I know, it is unfortunate that businesses like that are allowed to sell tortoises online or even raise them in the first place. I didn't find out about this forum until after I had received him, or else I would have gone through Tortoise Supply or Garden State Tortoises for my Greek Hatchling. I do have a UV bulb for him and it is a Zoo Med 10.0 T8. However, since I have been taking him outside for at least 30-45 minutes every day for his soaks, I haven't been using it. I have read your care sheet for raising temperate species of tortoises probably 5-6 times just so that I could make sure that I have everything perfect for him to give him the best chance of survival. I have also read Chris's very long and extensive care sheet for Greek tortoises in particular twice. I am doing everything I can to help him push through the terrible conditions he was started in.
 

StaffordC

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I have seen many tortoises with that lack of depth perception, it will pass, but while he's missing his food offer radicchio, they like red and my tortoises will go after that first

I will be sure to give this a shot for him. The Zoo Med flower topper has 5-6 different kinds of vibrant colored flowers in it, and I feel like he enjoys the colors of those also.
 

Tom

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I know, it is unfortunate that businesses like that are allowed to sell tortoises online or even raise them in the first place. I didn't find out about this forum until after I had received him, or else I would have gone through Tortoise Supply or Garden State Tortoises for my Greek Hatchling. I do have a UV bulb for him and it is a Zoo Med 10.0 T8. However, since I have been taking him outside for at least 30-45 minutes every day for his soaks, I haven't been using it. I have read your care sheet for raising temperate species of tortoises probably 5-6 times just so that I could make sure that I have everything perfect for him to give him the best chance of survival. I have also read Chris's very long and extensive care sheet for Greek tortoises in particular twice. I am doing everything I can to help him push through the terrible conditions he was started in.
I've seen those cfl bulbs cause this sort of aiming problem with food before, so I suspected that might be the case here. On one hand, I'm glad that you've eliminated that possibility, but on the other hand, I don't know what would cause it. Maybe TT had the baby under one of those bulbs before you got it?

I hope he pulls through. You are giving him the best chance possible to make it.
 
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