>>Seems to be how my reps always are. Corns won't eat the mice with calcium, so I have to put it in their water. Leos won't eat crickets..tort won't eat anything but crab grass. Bah.

I've noticed that you say your tort won't eat anything except crabgrass. But you also state in another post that he would eat pellets, but you are against that.

Are you trying to make a gradual change in the tort's diet, or are you forcing him to go cold turkey? If the tort has been on a bad or compromised diet for a long time, it may not recognize other items as "food". And I'm a little concerned that the only thing it eats is grass. I've seen russians listed as not eating grass, but mine always consumed a little bit. Thing is it came out in their feces looking undigested, so I'm not sure they were getting anything except fiber from it.

If you haven't already done this, trying mixing something the tortoise likes (crabgrass and/or pellets) with a little bit of something new (greens and weeds). And I mean mix it - don't throw a hunk of romaine in next to a pile of crabgrass. Actually chop the two items together. And make it 95% of the favorite and 5% of the new stuff. The new stuff should be so insignificant and small that the tort won't know the difference. A finely chopped salad.

Feed him this for a week or two. Then slowly increase the percentage of good stuff. 10% for a couple weeks, then 20%, etc. Don't expect a dramatic change in two meals! Or even 20. Show patience.

And don't be a purist and refuse to feed him pellets. Crab grass may not provide him much nutrition since russian torts don't seem to be capable of digesting it. Even the ultra-purists at the Tortoise Trust advocate using Pretty Pets tortoise pellets on a limited basis. Most of these pellets are based on standard grain products with vitamins and minerals. Russians are broad-leafed weed eaters. If the tort won't get away from eating crab grass, try using pellets as the basis of the dietary change. Make a mushy salad of wet pellets with a small amount of greens and work from there. The pellets will provide the basic nutrition and allow you plenty of time to change the tort over to a more varied diet of greens, weeds and maybe a few pellets.

Concerning snakes and mice - I've always heard that an adult mouse provides a complete diet for snakes. No need to add calcium. Supposedly mouse pinks are a little calcium deficient since their skeletons are not fully developed.

Good luck - and be patient!

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