Tortoise hates vitamin supplements

Sleepy&Meedy

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image.jpg Hello everyone! I was given 2 tortoises as a gift (I inserted a pic) they’re currently only one year old. I took them to the vet and he said that since they’re extremely picky with their diet (I’ve tried everything but they only eat lettuce) I need to add vitamin supplements. I did that and now they won’t even eat the lettuce! I tried cutting it up into pieces and mixing the vitamin powder with it and still nothing. Any idea what I can do to make them eat the supplements?

image.jpg
 

dmmj

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The smell of the vitamins may be putting them off the food. What type of tortoise are they? Are they being housed together?
 

Sleepy&Meedy

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I think they’re Russian or Greek and yeah they’re housed together. The smell of the vitamin is kinda strong, anything I can do about that?
 

Toddrickfl1

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They're only eating lettuce because they've been spoiled. Your going to have to stand firm. Start offering other foods that are good for them and hold off on the vitamins for now and eventually they'll give in. Might take a few days but they won't starve themselves to death.
 

Tom

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The first step is going to be to separate them. Tortoises should never live as a pair. It is very stressful and dangerous for them.

Next step is to make sure you've got the correct size enclosure along with the right substrate and temperatures.

Third is to begin daily soaks for a while. These guys are probably going to skip a few meals and its important for them to stay hydrated. They soaks also stimulate appetite and keep the GI tract moving. Use a tall sided opaque tub. Use warm water about 1/3 to 1/2 way up their shell. Soak for about 30-60 minutes. Keep the water warm for the entire duration of the soak.

Get some of the new food and chop and mince it up into tiny little pieces. Chop up whatever lettuce they are used to eating, and spray it with water. Then add a tiny tiny amount of the new minced food and mix it all up thoroughly. There should only be a few flecks of the new stuff. Don't worry about it if they skip it the first day or two. The hungrier they get they less picky they will get. You might try a different brand of vitamins, or use the same procedure. Most people try to use too much vitamin powder to start with. Just use a tiny little pinch and mix it up with wet greens. Tis process will take weeks or months, but eventually, they will eat better foods.
 

Changa

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View attachment 274047 Hello everyone! I was given 2 tortoises as a gift (I inserted a pic) they’re currently only one year old. I took them to the vet and he said that since they’re extremely picky with their diet (I’ve tried everything but they only eat lettuce) I need to add vitamin supplements. I did that and now they won’t even eat the lettuce! I tried cutting it up into pieces and mixing the vitamin powder with it and still nothing. Any idea what I can do to make them eat the supplements?
I sprinkle, mix it the calcium on their food(romaine) sometimes I think they like it more
 

Yvonne G

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Have you ever accidentally bitten down on a piece of foil? It sort of sends a shock through your teeth. I'd hate to have to live on a foil floor. Get these tortoises their own separate enclosures with dirt on the floor. Stop offering them lettuce. They won't starve themselves to death. When you put vitamins or calcium dust on food, you only use a small pinch between your thumb and index finger. You don't sprinkle it over the food like seasoning. Go out into the yard and try to find edible weeds. This is what your tortoises eat in the wild. If you're unsure if its edible or not, shoot us a picture, we'll tell you.
 

Zaffy

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Tortoises are wild animals, if possible, better to use nature than resort to vitamins. There will be some plants that they like. Offer them flowers. My tortoise loves flowers and petals, violets, rose petals, honeysuckle, the very softest parts of bears breeches, hawkweed, hawk-bit, knapweed, dandelions (been eating dandelions for more than 60 years before anyone says they are not good for tortoises) clover, trifolium, the list is endless. He also likes the leaves of wild plants. My tortoise also likes lettuce and cucumber. Try to get them outside. Make sure they can't walk off. Give them as large an outside place as possible all the while the weather is mild. It is half past ten at night and my tortoise is still outside. I will find him half hidden under a hedge somewhere in the enclosed patio. The patio has concrete slabs and I allow weeds to go up through the cracks and there is a flower bed full of weeds. Some of which he loves and some he ignores. Before I go to bed, I will bring him in because of predators but first thing in the morning, he will be back outside making the most of the summer. They like the sun on their shell. They also like, after a long sunbathe, to go in the shade. Try putting them in a shallow warm bath in the sun. I have come to think that a tortoise requires a miniature version of what a horse needs: a mini field full of greenery with shelter and water.
 
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