Russian Tortoise Picky Eater or Sick?

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Hello,

We are very new and excited owners of a Russian Tortoise, and have her/him for 3 weeks now. Petsmart told us she/he(not fully sure) is 6 months but I think she is 1-3 years old based on its size. Apprximately 4-5 inches from head to shell end.
She has been relatively quite, mild tortoise who loves to just bask/sleep and eat sometimes. She poops once in 2 days if not everyday, usually its a mix of white watery and pellets. We give her bath once a week in the tub.
What I need help with is, initially she would dig into any greens I give her and almost finish 2 small bowls a day. One day I added carrot, since then she only wants to eat carrots or other crunchy veggies I give her like squashes, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, etc and not the leaves/greens. I had given her kale in the beginning, and have not been able to get kale again to give her but there is a lot of variety like raddiochi, chards, collard greens, spinach, lettuce, diff types of lettuce(very lil in quantity as I read lettuce is not very good for them). She just does not eat if I give her only greens. She goes a day or two even sometimes, eating a leaf here or there or if I give in and give her some carrot. Is she being stubborn and picky? Or am I doing something wrong? If its okay can I continue to give her more veggies and less greens?
I am trying to be tough and give her only greens, as I said she gives in once in a while and eat few of them after going hungry for a day or day and a half.
Should I be worried? Any strategies? should I continue, I have a 17 month daughter so I can show some tough love and be strict with the tort as well, but jsut want to know its good for her.
Thanks in advance!
Soumya
 

wellington

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Hello and Welcome:). Your correct on the age of your tort being older then what they said. It is most likely 3-5 years and probably not the sex they said either. They are bad at sexing torts. Stop feeding the carrots until she eats the others that she now refuses. Or. You can chop up the other greens small, along with finely chopped carrot, spritz with water. Then she has to eat the greens in order to eat the carrots.
 

Tom

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Hello and welcome.

Your tortoise is wild caught and probably somewhere between 4 and 40 years old. As the days get shorter and cooler, they prepare themselves for hibernation in the wild. This is what your tortoise has been doing every year since it hatched. NOW is that time of year. Warm up your temps a bit, increase the time on your light timer to 14 hours a day or so, and warm water soak every day or every other day for a while to see if you can snap him/her out of it.

What are your four temps, warm side, cool side, basking spot and night, and what size and type is your enclosure?
 

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@Wellington: That is a good idea to chop up greens small enough to go along with carrots and other veggies they eat. I will try that. She has 2 bowls in her enclosure, and she goes back and forth between them, digging the leaves to see if she can find something else apart from greens, I had no idea they can be so picky and smart :)
Its amusing to see her do that but at the same time concerning that she is not eating enough.

@Tom: I think you are also right on the temp part cause I see that she is relatively more active when the temp in genral outside is not cold/gloomy. I will try what you said and see. I have a 40 gallon reptile tank, the temps are 90-100 basking, around55-60% humidity, and 73-76F on the cool side. We do have the UVB light and the infrared light at night as well.
 

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