Hi, my baby sulcata tortoise won't eat the pellets i serve them, their previous owner has always fed them lettuce, weeds, leaves, etc. i try to feed them the zoomed grassland tortoise pellets and i soak them in water but all they go for are the romain lettuce. I saw another forum that says to stop feeding them lettuce and just serve the soaked pellets, and eventually they will start eating but whats another way to get them to eat these pellets?
Tortoise wont eat new diet
- Thread starter Pro4
- Start date
Hello and welcome to the forum:
The previous owner sounds like they were feeding the right stuff. You ought to go back to that both because its what the tortoise knows and because it is better. Few tortoises will eat the ZooMed pellets plain. I have to mix up a small amount of soaked pellet in with a large amount of greens. Tortoises are creatures of habit and any dietary changes need to be made gradually. Here is a feeding sheet:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
While we are on the subject, appetite is directly related to the housing conditions too, so here are some more tips:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
The previous owner sounds like they were feeding the right stuff. You ought to go back to that both because its what the tortoise knows and because it is better. Few tortoises will eat the ZooMed pellets plain. I have to mix up a small amount of soaked pellet in with a large amount of greens. Tortoises are creatures of habit and any dietary changes need to be made gradually. Here is a feeding sheet:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
While we are on the subject, appetite is directly related to the housing conditions too, so here are some more tips:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
In my opinion, you don't need to feed pellets to give them the right nutrition. I don't feed any sort of processed food to my tortoise. Except the herbal hey and the TNT powder. Both of which are natural. I give this to my tortoise in the winter when weeds are not available to supplement their grocery store greens. Check out Tom's threads about diet and I think he will find a great variety there. You can also buy CD mixes that are specific for your type of tortoise and grow them. I may be wrong but I think people who do feed pellet type foods only do it occasionally as part of a varied diet so don't feel that you have to feed the pellets for the tortoise to get the right nutrition.
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- Aug 27, 2012
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I don't understand why you want to feed processed expensive stuff instead of fresh real food. You must have some underlying assumption here I don't share. Its easy and you don't have to think or plan, so it's less of a burden on a critter sitter if you're away, but for every day, a widely varied diet of fresh greens and flowers is so good.
I would not use romaine. I would use endive, escarole, spring mix, weeds, fresh grass, or any of the things on that list I linked for you.
Whatever greens you use, chop them up super fine and spray them with a little water. Then soak half a ZooMed pellet until its mushy. Then mix the mushy ZooMed pellet thoroughly with your chopped greens. Gradually, over a period of days and weeks, add more of the ZooMed pellets to the mix.
You can use this same procedure to get your tortoise eating any new foods.
