Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a hatchling leopard (2-3months old). so far all she will eat is store bought greens I.E. kale, endive, escarole. i have allways had timothy hay and bermuda grass in her cage but she has never even tried to eat any grass or hay. leopards are supossed to eat mainly grasses. I am afraid to try taking her other food away. especially as young as she is. she always has an appetite for store bought greens. .............any suggestions?

I also have two two year old redfoots who have never grazed. although their diet is not supposed to comprise of maily grasses.

I was in a similar situation with my Black Tortoise. The store that I bought him from was only feeding him lettuce and endive. I talked to a few people and decided to try the following, which worked perfectly for my little tortoise, and wild caught Chuckwallas (Which are the most selective eaters I've ever seen).

Take his regular food and chop it up very fine, as well as what you want him to eat. I use a mixture of collard greens, forest and grassland tortoise food, dandelions, and prickly pears. Mix all of this up and serve a bit damp.

It may take a while to wean him over to what you want him to eat, but it will happen. The key, in my opinion is to stay firm with what you offer. And also reduce the bad stuff each feeding.

I was very surprised that it took only a few weeks to completely eliminate the bad stuff from my little torts diet... Also his favorites.

The grassland tortoise food that I use has a good amount of Timothy Hay in it, along with other nice healthy ingredients. When wet / damp it puts off quite a strong aroma. It is also finely chopped and sticks to other food quite well.

You might also try blending his normal diet with some hay in a blender. Of course you would want to squeeze or strain the excess water out. But that might be another approach.

Good luck,
-Kory

good suggestion. it worked with my redfoots. my loepard, however, will nose around at the peice of kale, and if it has to much hay on it she will either scrake it off with her foot or just not eat it. on time i snuck a piece of hay into hey mouth while she was eating. she spit it out, i couldnt believe it.

I've had luck growing different grasses in a tub or cat-litter pan & keeping the baby tortoises in that + supplementing with other foods. I usually have 2 or 3 pans that I rotate, so that they don't mow down all the grass & so that the grass can have natural sunlight. Be sure to find a soil without additives like fertilizers & Styrofoam!
Most tortoises will only eat hay (dried grass) as a last resort - they like it fresh.
For my larger tortoises, I have a bagger on my mower & dump the fresh clippings in with them.
Cheers,
James