Let him hide or make him eat?

[13Fox150]

Ok, so I have a new Redfoot that apparently would love to hide under the substrate all day every day if I let him. I know that hiding is common among tortoises, espescially the young ones. But I also know that getting nourishment is important for the youngsters. If I just put his food in with him it will sit there untouched for 24 hours. If I put it in and then put him in front of it he eats it up.

Should I just let him get hungry and hopefully come out on his own or do I pull him out to make sure he eats?

 

[Defiant]

Im no expert and am new to shelled ones myself. But I always pull mine up for feeding. The logic I have placed behind that is he eats, he gets used to me (knowing I'm not here to hurt him) and recognizes me as a food source. Thats what I do. It will be interesting to hear seasoned handlers opinions.

 

[Yvonne G]

You're going to get two answers to this question. I'm of the school that wakes up the tortoises and puts them in front of the food...sometimes with babies, several times a day. Others say leave them alone to acclimate to their new surroundings for a while. Really, I think its up to you.

 

[Chewbecca]

Terry K. teases me ALL THE TIME about this, but I used to hand feed Stagger Lee, AND put him in front of his food.
He NEVER told me that Stagger wouldn't eat on his own, he just would tease me and tell me that I didn't NEED to do that.
But, I did it anyway. I couldn't help it. He's too cute not to hand feed.

But you know what???
He started eating on his own.
And it started by me tapping on his dish with his food in it. I'd hold a piece in front of him, and then I'd lure him to the dish, then I'd tap on his food dish.

Now, I can either tap in front of his dish and he comes on out to eat, OR, I just put the food on his dish, and he finds it immediately.

In my personal opinion, I am pretty sure that if you put him in front of his food, and he eats that way, that's fine.
I am of the belief that he'll "get it" eventually.
Mine's a little piggy now. I cannot get him to STOP expecting food. hahahaha.

 

[sachmn]

I, also, don't have much experience either. When I got mine all he did was bury himself and I was quite worried. I put new food out every day and he didn't eat anything for a number of days.
I tried taking him out and putting him in front of the food but he just turned around to find a better hiding spot. So I just let him be and now he eats a lot.
Like some others said, I'm pretty sure either way would be fine...if there is food and he can find and reach it, he's not going to starve himself.

 

[cordell]

I have had Dots for about 2 weeks now. He is a hatchling from October. The way we feed is greens 2 days fruit 1 day, repeat. Upon placing food in his vivarium I tap on the side and or dish. He hasn't came out on his own yet but I notice him starting to lift his head up when I am doing this. He has a huge leaf he has dug a little hole underneath that he stays in 24/7. He eats every time, he has even eaten strawberries from my hand, he bit my palm making sure to get it all! lol After he eats he will take a stroll in the vivarium, but right after he is back to the leaf. I say pick him up and place him at his food....


cordell

 

[-ryan-]

I avoid pulling my tortoises out to eat at all costs. If you give them their space they will not starve themselves, and I generally notice that the ones I mess with the least end up eating better and being healthier in the long run. Just imagine that you are a young tortoise and there is a scary beast about 10,000 times your size watching you and bugging you.

Just from the tortoises that I have raised at this point (6 from hatchlings and 4 more that were already mostly grown when I got them) I can tell you basically how this tends to pan out. When a tortoise digs into the ground it is looking for security. The second you dig the tortoise up you start making it insecure. The more you dig the tortoise up the more insecure it will get. In terms of a time line I would say that the couple of hatchlings that I raised by 'digging them up to eat' took about a month to get acclimated and eat on their own. The ones that I left completely alone, never touched, stayed away from, etc. all took less than a week before they were eating well and running around their enclosures, and they were straight from the egg. I attribute this to the fact that these tortoises likely figured out after the first couple of days that they could hide and be secure, and they could get to their food without being disturbed. The ones that took a month (or more) likely kept hiding because of the fact that I was harassing them on a daily basis, and to be honest, they only started eating on their own when I decided at that point just to leave them alone and let them do their thing.

Check your temperatures, make sure the little guy/girl is overtly healthy, and then give him time to adjust. That is just my 2 cents.

 

[Chewbecca]

I avoid pulling my tortoises out to eat at all costs. If you give them their space they will not starve themselves, and I generally notice that the ones I mess with the least end up eating better and being healthier in the long run. Just imagine that you are a young tortoise and there is a scary beast about 10,000 times your size watching you and bugging you.

Just from the tortoises that I have raised at this point (6 from hatchlings and 4 more that were already mostly grown when I got them) I can tell you basically how this tends to pan out. When a tortoise digs into the ground it is looking for security. The second you dig the tortoise up you start making it insecure. The more you dig the tortoise up the more insecure it will get. In terms of a time line I would say that the couple of hatchlings that I raised by 'digging them up to eat' took about a month to get acclimated and eat on their own. The ones that I left completely alone, never touched, stayed away from, etc. all took less than a week before they were eating well and running around their enclosures, and they were straight from the egg. I attribute this to the fact that these tortoises likely figured out after the first couple of days that they could hide and be secure, and they could get to their food without being disturbed. The ones that took a month (or more) likely kept hiding because of the fact that I was harassing them on a daily basis, and to be honest, they only started eating on their own when I decided at that point just to leave them alone and let them do their thing.

Check your temperatures, make sure the little guy/girl is overtly healthy, and then give him time to adjust. That is just my 2 cents.

I agree to check temps and make sure that your tortoise is healthy.
And I only have ONE redfoot, and maybe I'm off on this, but I am of the belief that as long as you start a tortoise correctly (make sure the breeder has started them correctly and they are eating, absorbed yolk sac, and come from the proper environment, then they really are bullet-proof.

If the tortoise is eating when the OP puts him in front of his food, then what's the issue?
Mine was the same way.
I put him in front of his food when he was a baby. He ate.
Eventually, he ate on his own.
As I said, now, I cannot get him to STOP eating.
He'd eat whenever I put food in front of him.
He's well adjusted.

And why?
Well, besides the fact that his temps are correct and his humidity must be good (his environment is good), but he was STARTED right.
His breeder made sure he was eating and well adjusted before he shipped him to me.
As long as they are started well, they tend to be pretty resilient.

 

[t_mclellan]

I have produced some Redfoots over the years & can attest to the fact that when "Started right" they do very well providing the new owner follows a good husbandry regimen.

I my self would not consider sending out a hatchling that was not eating on its own.
I want to know that it is healthy stable well before sale.
3 months is when I consider selling.

As for putting them in front of the food or letting them find it their self?
I have had no problem ether way.
I have found that some hatchlings seem to use up their yoke sack faster than others.
Thereby feeding on the provided food sooner.

 

[fifthdawn]

I stay on campus majority of the time. I usually don't get home till 11PM-1AM then I'm out again at 6AM. I have no choice really but to wake up my tortoise to feed them. I feed them mainly Mazuri so I can't prep it in morning before I head out since itll be too mushy. I also scatter greens around for them to snack on till I get back. They never come out to eat though so I stopped after awhile. Though if I'm gone for 2-3 days, they will come out to pick at the greens.

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

I pick up my younger tort and put them by the food, but mostly to make sure that she gets a good spot and that the older, faster one, doesn't eat everything (they share well once they are both munching). So I don't see a problem with putting them in front of the food. Sometimes one of them will be sleeping and the other up when I put the food in... so I wake the other one up. I'm cruel like that ... But none of that guarantees they will eat anyways... Sometimes time is what it takes....

 

[fifthdawn]

I started out letting them eat on their own and I noticed the same thing. One would usually be up and eat all the food. It was soooo sad when I caught the other guy come out of the hide to find half a leaf left for dinner lol. Sometimes there would be nothing left but crumbs. Even if they're both awake, one chomps his food and the other nibble. So at the end, one ears 80% and other 20%. then I started putting so much food that but had enough to eat no matter what, but then they started to gain alot of leg fat so I started separating during feeding.

 

[Neohippy]

I typically pull my smaller ones out if they aren't already romping out to the food. The bigger ones tend to leave nothing behind but unruly large pieces of food that the lil'uns have a real tough time chasing around, if they leave anything at all.

If they seem scared and stay tucked into their shell for quite a time after putting them in front of the food, it could be putting undue stress on them. But if your tort(s) tend to stay hanging out of shell or are already reaching out with eager tongues before they are even placed on solid ground, I think it's safe to say they aren't getting much stress from your handling.

The debate will rage on as long as people have hatchlings, bottom line is: It's up to you.

They will eat hen they get hungry, and much of the time... well... they recycle their food too. Food and poop are the same thing to torts. But, inevitably they will crave the greens soon, and romp forth to salad goodness.