Leopard Tortoise diet discrepancy...

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The_Wagners

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We have been having issues with our little leopard this past week trying to get him to eat items we've read are good for him. He will eat dark leafy greens like collard or escarole without fail and also loves romaine. However, every attempt to get him to feed on orchard grass, or timothy hay, zoo med's grassland tortoise food, and Mazuri have all ended in failure. The little guy will take a taste test and quickly lose interest in it.

Now, every site we've been to has said leopards need a diet comprised 70+% of grasses and hay. However, through our research, according to this study(PDF available at africantortoise.com HERE), of 124 feedings recorded, 51% of the items eaten were suculents and 74.5% forbs in general, whereas grasses only comprised of 16.8% even though the grasses were more readily available. Now, one could suggest the tortoises are choosing what tastes better, but according to the same study it mentions plant selection is partially based on the animal's nutrient requirements. The study also showed higher concentrations of leopard tortoises in areas where humans had introduced higher concentrations of succulents(used as fencing). This would suggest that the tortoises are actually seeking out the succulents in contrast to the higher availability of grasses.

So, some of the main points we've gathered from the study are:
  • Tortoises select the plants in which to eat depending upon various issues, one of which is nutrient requirement.
  • Given the option, Leopard Tortoises will choose to eat a diet of over 50% succulents(potentially partly due to water content)
  • Even with a plentiful availability of grasses, wild leopards have been witnessed choosing said grasses ONLY 16.8% when other foods are available.
  • When given the option, leopard tortoises were shown to eat 74.5% forbs(flowering plants that aren't grasses)

It seems the diet prescribed for leopard tortoises on various websites is rather reversed from the given study above. Why wouldn't the primary diet be comprised of primarily forbs with grasses and legumes available as a side?

And if our interpretations of the study are wrong, how do you get a baby tortoise to eat right when he(or she) outright refuses?
 

Laura

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its too young to like dry hay... stick with the dark leafy greens and cactus.. chop up the hay and sprinkle it on top of wet greens..
 

Tom

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With the exception of larger sulcatas, very few tortoises will just eat dry grass hay. There are occasional exceptions, but I wouldn't call that the norm. I've seen the study you refer to and I agree that the babcocki subspecies of leopards appears to be much less into grass than what all the books say. However, they don't appear to be all that into any succulents that I have offered either.

Reading and learning from studies done in the wild is great, but we don't have many of those plants available to us here, and our captive bred and raised tortoises have never seen them. Tortoises are creatures of habit and don't usually adapt to changes quickly. Changes in diet must be made slowly and gradually. I feed my hatchlings everything under the sun, and I have found this makes them much less picky in the long run, but not too many breeders do this apparently. I believe the best diet for a regular leopard is mostly leafy green weeds and some grass mixed in. Grocery store greens are okay, but broadleaf weeds are better. I also like rose, hibiscus and grape leaves for them. Don't forget mulberry leaves too. Occasional opuntia cactus...

My tortoises won't eat plain ZooMed either. I soak it and then mush it all up with the greens. To get them started on it, just use a small amount mixed in with their favorite stuff that is finely chopped and all mixed together. You can put grass hay in a blender and mix the powdery stuff the same way with the greens. Same for Mazuri. Start with very small quantities of the new stuff and gradually up the ratio. Sometimes mine will eat light with new stuff added in. They seem to be waiting for something better the next day. If they do this, I will feed them the same thing 3-4 days in a row. After a day or two they get hungry real quick and eat whatever I put in front of them.

Your baby is refusing this new stuff because he doesn't recognize what you are offering as food. Feed him what he wants, is used to, and will eat, while gradually mixing in more and more of what you want him to eat. It will take time.

Just for fun, I heard from a long time leopard breeder whose friend is a leopard tortoise field researcher that a primary food of wild leopard tortoise babies is mammal feces. He said mostly herbivore, ungulates to be specific, but also occasional carnivore feces too. Guess what soaked Mazuri resembles and smells like?
 

Zamric

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Tom said:
Just for fun, I heard from a long time leopard breeder whose friend is a leopard tortoise field researcher that a primary food of wild leopard tortoise babies is mammal feces. He said mostly herbivore, ungulates to be specific, but also occasional carnivore feces too. Guess what soaked Mazuri resembles and smells like?

heheheeh Funny you should mention this, because I just changed Eros and Gaia over to the new outdoor enclosure and it only took 10 min for Eros to find a piece of Dog poo (Surge is a very small dog) and a couple of minits later Gaia found another. The new enclosure is almost 3X the land mass as the last one and has shaded area in it but has also been a "dumping" ground for Surge and Squirrel. I cleaned it well but sometimes its hard to tell the differance between a small clod of dirt and a small clod of poo.... Tortoises can sure tell the differance!:D
 

Tom

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Zamric, you may know this, but not everyone does, so it should be mentioned. If your dog is on certain heartworm or other systemic meds, the poop could be toxic to your tortoises. We all know it happens, but it was NOT my intention to encourage poop feeding to young leopards. :)

I know you know... I'm just putting in the disclaimer for any of the new folks who don't know us all yet... :D
 

Zamric

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Accually, I did not know! I dont use any heartworm meds for my animals, so is not an issue for me but Thanks all the same! VERY GOOD info to have!
 

Neal

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Baby leopards will rarely eat dry hay, and adding different food items usually takes time for a new tortoise to get used to. Looking at your posts, it seems like you have only had your leopard for about ten days? The dark leafy greens he is eating are well enough to sustain him as long as you continually offer a variety of good food.

I have found that the WAY food items are offered often make the biggest difference to help a tortoise eat different foods. About a year ago, I came across the same study you referenced and immediately tried to get the tortoises to eat a bunch of succulents and other things. To my dismay, they didn't even sniff it...it was just like trying to feed them grass, every time I trimmed some fresh clippings and placed it in front of them, they would just run away. So, we changed our enclosures and planted fresh grass and a variety of succulents, and now I am having a hard time keeping the plants alive long enough to grow anything because the tortoises eat it so quickly. Tortoises are grazers and foragers, if you put plants in there that they have access to at all times, they will eventually come into contact with that plant and test it out. Whereas if you just place it in their food dish and it shrivels up and dries shortly thereafter, they will be less likely to eat it. If you are looking to add more succulents and different "fresh" foods in your tortoises diet, I would suggest placing plants throughout your enclosure so the tortoise can nibble at them at their leisure.

Tom has a good point about leopards and animal feces...I came across this in another study and from speaking with people who have done research over there, it seems tortoises will eat feces any chance they can get...although I seem to remember it was carnivore poop that they were most interested in. Our tortoises at one point, shared a backyard with a couple of dogs (out of necessity). I tried my best to clean up the dog poop as quick as I could, but the tortoises quickly learned where the dog poop came from, so anytime they saw the dogs getting ready to go, they would run out there and try to eat it up quickly.
 

The_Wagners

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Thank you for your replies. We were apparently working ourselves up a little over his diet. Being this the first tortoise in our care, we just want to do everything in our power to do things correctly.

He likes his spring mix(everything except spinach), escarole, and highly likes collard greens. We do manage to get a sneaked bite of mazuri every once in a while, but only if we disguise it behind a favorite green.

We've had him for three weeks now and he's now started to burrow slightly in his cypress substrate and his appetite and overall activity has been increasing. We cannot wait to get him into an outdoor enclosure next month. :)
 

Greg T

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Tom and Neal's experience may be better than any paper that has been written. I think you are worrying too much about diet. I primarily feed mine a big pile of spring mix each morning and a few times a week mix in a bunch of mazuri. They are thriving and growing like weeds. I tried hay and dry store foods, but they prefer the lettuces and wet mazuri best. Just keep feeding like you are for now and mix some mazuri in and you'll be fine.
 
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