Obsessed with dog food?

[Island_of_Misfit_Toys]

My Red Foot now spends all of her time out of her pen searching for stray pieces of dog food, trying to climb into the dog food container, and even challenging the dog through his kennel to try to steal any food in his bowl. Now tonight she wont even look at her "salad," just keeps going to the dog kennel to scrounge around. I've even seen her digging around in her pen like she's looking for food when she has some in her bowl. Any idea what's causing this behavior, and more importantly, is it safe for her to be eating it?
Thanks.

 

[ascott]

I suppose I would initially want to know what "meat" source you give your RF Tortoise? Perhaps the tortoise is missing the protein in their diet? Outside of that, I think that likely it just tastes yummy, however, I believe that eating the dog food should be discouraged and maybe kibble patrol may have to be stepped up so that the taste is no longer fresh in the taste buds....

You may want to wait around a bit and see what the other forum members may suggest as well....

 

[Tony the tank]

My sulcata is the same way.. If out when I feed my dogs..he will push by my dog and stick his head in the bowl and eat with my dogs..absolutely no fear...I know to keep him away from the dog food because once he sees it he will not stop trying to get it....On a plus side I introduced Mazuri and he took to with no problem..eating it dry just like the dog kibble..

 

[Az tortoise compound]

Here is what can happen from feeding dog food:

He is a resuce that came in to us a few years ago. He was fed only dry dog food for the first 4-5 years of his life.

Most dog food is barely acceptable to feed dogs let alone tortoises.

 

[Torty Mom]

Wow, that is wild, never seen anything like that.

 

[Island_of_Misfit_Toys]

Most dog food is barely acceptable to feed dogs let alone tortoises.

That I agree with completely. I try to feed all my animals the best I can, sometimes I even feel they eat better than I do, which is why I was concerned that Isis was turning her nose up at her food and so persistently seeking the dog food. She gets mealworms, slugs, and earthworms in rotation every other week, so I didn't think it was lack of protein. I will just make sure the dog bowls are well out of sight before she has a chance to get to it.

 

[ascott]

well we all know torts are HEAD STRONG so likely just became a thing, ya know.....we are the smarter species, P) you can do it.... LOL

 

[Island_of_Misfit_Toys]

That's for sure! Today I fed the dogs, put all the bowls away and vacuumed out the kennel then let Isis out to explore. Of course she went directly to the dog kennel and rearranged all the bedding looking for food When she struck out she crawled under the dog's bed to pout so I put her back in her pen. Fast forward several hours and several repeat failures and the last two times she came out she didn't even bother to look! Tomorrow will be the real test, but for tonight I'm satisfied with my small victory.

 

[Angi]

I bet she would like Mazuri. If you fed it to her dry she might think it was dog food.