Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, I have a weirdish issue here. I got a baby redfoot in Daytona in August. I have a 9 year old already that I had raised from a hatchling so I know what I am doing and the direction I wanted to go in on diet. Soooo, everything was peachy. Said animal was eating what I wanted him to eat... until I went out of town for about 5 days and left someone else in charge of my animals. This person is VERY GOOD with iguana diets and such. Very very very good. BUT in my absence she fed this particular tortoise way too much of what I would call "treat food", a mixture of things that should be used as a supplement as opposed to the entire diet. She put so much of this "topping" on the greens that is all the tort ate as they think it is simply delicious. This was in November and I still cannot get this animal to eat what I want him to on a daily basis. I have tried the tough love route and just fed greens and a bit of fruit for days on end and he touches nothing. At some point days later I will mix in a couple of mazuri pellets and all the food disappears. What am I to do? I cant believe he was "ruined" in 5 days. All my other torts eat what I give them (balanced diet high in greens). Should I just wait him out and not offer the mazuri at all? Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,
Carole

PS the aforementioned mix consists of fiber cereal, beans (mixed kidney etc), squashes, pumpkin, multigrain cereal, frozen mixed veggies etc. Is very high in protein and should not (in my opinion) make up a huge portion of the diet.
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www.reptilecare.com

Carole it sounds like your guy has developed a real sweet-tooth for the molasses in the Mazuri???

I'm a real advocate of "better-to-keep-them-hungry" than feed TOO much! Or a FEW basic 'staples' is better than trying to cover the whole "variety" thing. Mine have done well on a hand-ful of high calcium/fiber greens and fruit.. than all the grains and beans - which might be a bit TOO much. I'm of the opinion that in the wild.. fungi and feces is a good source for their protein and D needs. And I'm sure they would 'camp-out' under a plum tree during harvest time before they would ravage a 'bean-patch'.. trying to be funny.

You can see the very slight growth 'spirt' [ space between scutes? ] on my '05 keeper here -

Or this March '05 Brazilian raised as noted -

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Terry E. Kilgore
Turtletary.com

Hi, I am well aware of not feeding too many beans and things. I like to concentrate on lots of good greens etc. The problem is this one now has a strong preference for these treat type foods. Today he made a liar out of me and ate all the greens in there which were doctored up with 2 pieces of soaked proplan cat food. (Mostly greens) so maybe its not an issue at all...

Thanks

Carole
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www.reptilecare.com

I have a large male adult redfoot who is quite a character and I find that he will do the same thing, but I only give him greens on the weekdays and fruit/mazuri/pinkies/other treats on the weekends, so if he does try to hold out and avoid his greens it will usually only last until tuesday before he decides to start digging in again.

They are very interesting creatures in their eating habits. A friend of mine who used to keep a 'herd' of redfoots said that they would sit out underneath his rose of sharon trees and look up, waiting for the flowers to fall so they could eat them. Another person who also kept a herd of redfoots (in a barn) said that the large males would hunt, kill, and eat mice (using their heavy shells as their weapon of choice).

Most of the time a tortoise that understands that greens are a food source will only allow the hunger pangs for a few days before they decide to eat what you are offering.

Hi, thanks for the reply. I have 2 rose of sharon bushes in the tort pens and I think you are right. My redfoot and hermanns torts both look around for those flowers to fall in late summer! (They are separated but the bushes drop flowers on both sides of the barrier).

The baby in question seems to be back on track to some extent here. I have been going the tough love routine and also chopping up greens small and squishing a bit of fruit in there so that it is mostly greens with the flavoring of fruit. I think I can wean him back this way.

This is Rocky who is good about eating whatever I put in front of her!

Thank you so much!
Carole

PS I have a plan to thwart the problem of too much of the wrong foods when I am on vacation. I will be sending them off to my mom or bro's house with strict instructions and frozen chunks of the food of my choice. Frozen wont kill them for a week or two!

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www.reptilecare.com

A quick few of their outside pen.. planted with Rose of Sharon as an 'automatic' feeding system. They're only 4' - 5' in these pics.. so you can imagine in a few more years - counting on it anyway!

Mid-summer.. the 'grass' is "eatin'-up" and the Hibiscus are starting to bloom! They will bloom until the first frost here.

Earlier in the season the 'fences' around the smaller plants are supposed to protect them.. right!!!

Terry