switching to new food

[knolan16]

So im pretty new to being a tortoise mommy, i got my baby boy when i moved into my aunts house in july because i was lonely. I feed him only veggies, not the stuff he couldnt have of course like the iceberg lettuce and everything. i spent days searching up foods he could have and i always make sure he has a variety of foods. Well he ran out of food and i decided to switch to a new food. Its a tortoise food that my small town family owned pet store sells and it has pellets and little veggie pieces and dried hibiscus flower petals in it. Your supposed absorb water into it for 3-5 minutes to make it soft. I think it smells fantastic and would be interesting to him but he refuses to touch it and i dont have any more of his old food to mix it together and his mixing his old food in with it would be difficult and awkward due to his old foods texture and size. How can i get him to eat it?

 

[saginawhxc]

First off and most importantly, what kind of tortoise do you have? We cant help you until we know this.

Do you know what brand of food you bought?

What exactly was his diet before this?

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. The new food isn't enough. He needs more variety like the old diet you were feeding. Mixing the two off and on is okay. To get him eating the new stuff, use some of his old diet stuff, chop it up fine, mix it all together.

 

[Yvonne G]

Russian tortoises should be fed a nice variety of weeds, greens and plants. If you use a manufactured food, it should be only used as a top dressing or treat. Here's a list of foods to choose from:


Red and green leaf lettuce (fed on occasion)
Endive
Escarole
Radicchio
Chicory
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)
cabbage (fed on occasion)

With the above veggies one can develop a good diet. Once again (and I can't stress this enough) variety is the key!
Don't feed the same food day in and day out. Mix varieties and choose a different green as the basis every few days.

OTHER GOOD CHOICES
Some other favorites of my tortoises that are available:
Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Plantain (not the banana type fruit....the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves....make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
Californian Poppy escholzia
Chia Salvia hispanica