New Russian won't eat

[jerrybrowne]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, and just received a Russian tortoise. I've had he/she for 3-4 days and it hasn't eaten anything except the sphangnum moss it lives on! I've tried collard green, carrots, celery, mazzuri, hibiscus and apples. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Here is an image of his enclosure. It is kept at 80/90 during the day and 60/70 at night.

Thanks

 

[jeffbens0n]

Your tort could just be stressed from his recent move. I would start with some leafy greens though, they would probably be easiest to get him to eat. Red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, turnip greens, endive, excarole...all good choices and readily available.

 

[jerrybrowne]

Your tort could just be stressed from his recent move. I would start with some leafy greens though, they would probably be easiest to get him to eat. Red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, turnip greens, endive, excarole...all good choices and readily available.

Great. Thanks for the advice. I'll try that.

Cheers

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi jerrybrowne:

Welcome to the forum!! Is your name Jerry? And may we know where you are?

What a cute little baby Russian tortoise. He looks captive bred. Like was said above, he may just need a little time to get used to his new environment. Also the leafy greens that were suggested above would probably entice him to eat.

 

[Kristina]

Welcome to the forum!

The above advice is excellent. Just give him time. Also make sure not to handle him, unless it is for soaking. Give him time to settle in. Babies are "prey" and they know it, and he could be feeling very vulnerable right now. You can also try putting his food dish right next to his hide.

 

[ChiKat]

Here is good information on Russian tortoise diet: http://www.russiantortoise.org/russiantortoisediet.htm

Celery, carrots, and apples are not suitable for a Russian. My Russian eats spring mix, curly endive, escarole, turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, radicchio, cactus, pumpkin, etc. In the summer he eats weeds such as dandelion, clover, plantain, garlic mustard, and mulberry or grape leaves.

Oh and welcome to the forum! Your little one looks great! Do you know how old he is?

 

[Laura]

what did they feed him where he came from?

 

[jerrybrowne]

what did they feed him where he came from?

Hi,
Thanks for all of the great replies. I'm from Boston and the little Russian is captive bred from "the turtle source". They fed him spring mix and romaine. I'm going to try that as per your and their advice.

I do think you are all correct- he seems stressed out. At first I thought the temp was off, but the thermometer and temp gun read spot on. I've also been soaking him every day. The odd thing is he never drinks when he is soaking, but seems thirsty b/c whenever I put water out he drinks. Is this normal?

Oh, I think he's around 15 weeks old.

TIA

 

[Kristina]

It is completely normal for them to drink whenever water is available. In the wild, they drink from puddles whenever it rains, and it is instinct for them to take advantage of water because they never know when it will rain again. It is important to keep him well hydrated, so keep offering water daily.

 

[jerrybrowne]

Hi,
I "caught" him eating! He ate quite a bit of the aloe plant I put in his enclosure for decoration, and some romaine. I guess he's shy about eating in front of me. Hope that goes away.

Thanks again.

 

[zoogrl]

Yay! Glad he is eating! It does sound like he was just stressed from the new environment. There's some good advice posted here for you, best wishes for a happy healthy tort from here on out!