Red footed tortoise not eating greens.

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Kevinmk

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Im recently got a redfooted tortoise. Shes about 4 inches long. She seems to eat her rep-cal tortoise food, and she loves bananas and carrots but i havent seen her eat any romaine lettuce ive given her. Why isnt she eating it? Is she sick? Will she eventually eat it?
 

InvertaHerp

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Mine doesn't eat much either...lettuce, mushroom, strawberry, blueberry, hornworm.
 

mightymizz

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Read up on proper foods and feeding plans for redfoots. This forum has a lot of advice out there.

Needs mostly nice green leafs like collards, dandelion, etc...and teh occasional fruit...with a treat type of protein.
 

mike taylor

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Bananas are a treat you shouldn't feed it often or at all. They will hold out on eating the good foods like a little kid.if you use your search on the forum there are some good advice on the right foods to feed.
 

Kevinmk

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But if all there is is lettuce she wont eat it even if i put it right in front of her
 

Steve_McQueen

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They won't starve themselves to death. Stop offering the bad stuff, and just offer the good. Eventually, they'll eat it.

Search the forum for lists of good options (curly endive, escarole, mustard, collard, etc.). Romaine really isn't very good...
 

Madkins007

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There are a lot of possibilities here...

1. The habitat or environment is not optimal- too hot or cold, or wet or dry, or bright or dark, etc.

2. It chooses to not eat certain foods. Red-footeds are notorious for just deciding to not eat some specific food. My own personal theory is that they are looking for something that the food does not have many times. While Romaine is not a terrible food, it is not high in calcium, fiber or other key nutrients. It may be looking for something more filling.

3. It is full. Tortoises do not need a lot of food in a sitting, especially when they don't get a lot of exercise. I have seen a lot of times when people complained that their tortoise isn't eating, and a photo of a huge pile of food that the tortoise had 'only nibbled on'. Since its metabolism is so different than ours or other mammal pets, it is really easy to overestimate how much food it needs.

4. It just plain don't like lettuce. While red-footeds are pretty easy to offer foods to, there are a lot of people who report that their animals just don't like certain commonly used foods- certain lettuces or greens (mustard is one many don't like) white mushrooms, earthworms, etc.
 

Kevinmk

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Thanks i appreciate the help today i offered her some kale and shes eating it and i read that kales good for them so i guess thats a good alternative.


ImageUploadedByTortoiseForum1364677805.372075.jpg
 
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Steve_McQueen

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The key is to maintain a varied diet. While Kale isn't that bad, you don't want to feed it exclusively. Most grocery stores sell things like endive, escarole, collard, and spring mix. Mix it up; your tortoise will be much healthier for it.
 

Alan RF

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Squash grated mine loves and mushrooms. spring greens, kale and vine or mulberry leaves mmmm loves them! Mixing up the food is great advice this way they can't be fussy :)
 

Michael in MO

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Kevinmk said:
Thanks i appreciate the help today i offered her some kale and shes eating it and i read that kales good for them so i guess thats a good alternative.






what I tell everyone with a new animal is to get a cheap notebook and write for at least one month, preferably 6 months, what you give the tortoise, what it actually eats, and what it rejects... try to go through the lists on-line and try to incrementally go through the produce section at your grocery store. You will have a list of foods that your tortoise will eat, you will have a varried diet for your tortoise and you will know what not to waste your food on..BUT please do keep with the rotation for at least 6 months,, what your tort won't eat today might smell better in a month..
 

mhbgirl

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I found that chopping the food up really tiny( so they can't pick through it) and mixing it with something they like like fruit will help "wean" them back onto greens. My tortoise used to be really picky until I started doing this. Now she will eat pretty much anything.
 

theelectraco

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What's your humidity in that tank? Looks on the dry side from the pic, for a Redfoot.
 

Raymo2477

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Mine loves Hibiscus leaves. You just have to make sure if you buy a Hibiscus plant that you flush out any of the systemic pesticide/fertilize before feeding it to your tort. Usually the systemic is in granules on top of the soil so just remove them, re-pot it, and wait 6 months. That is usually enough time to flush the plant (BTW-I used to manage a greenhouse).
 
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