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My baby leopard tortoise's mouth is turning a dark color. Is this a natural turn or is there something wrong. One thing on his diet is lettue-any suggestions?????

Also-he seems to sleep a lot-is this normal?!?!??!?!?!

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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Do you mind Elaborating a little?

Tortoises have this nasty habit of eating their own feces. Your question is a very common question on this board. I'm not saying that is what it is but the odds are very high that is what you are seeing.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Maybe if it had better food than lettuce in it's diet, it wouldn't resort to eating it's feces?

>>Tortoises have this nasty habit of eating their own feces. Your question is a very common question on this board. I'm not saying that is what it is but the odds are very high that is what you are seeing.
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>> Ed
>>Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
>>Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care
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Mark
http://www.outbacksnakehouse.net

Fact:No matter what the diet... they just like to eat crap.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

That is the grosset thing I have ever heard of! But Thanks for the reply-That makes me feel better (I guess)

I am a new tortoise owner and have tried very hard to find the right thing to feed my tort. I haven't had very good response. I just built a house so I don't have grass yet and my neighbor's yard is sprayed so I can't get that grass. I also feed him dandelions-so any suggestions that you would like to give-FEEL FREE!

If you've only got the one tortoise you can find what you need at the grocery store. They sell these prepackaged salad mixes that give you a good variety. The nutritional requirement for tortoises really has not been determined so many folks use what I call the 'shotgun' method. What this is that you feed it as much variety as you can and you are bound to hit what it needs.
The mixed salads I mentioned have a very good mix if you can't find the weeds in the neighborhood.
I feed broad leaf weeds, dark leafy greens from the grocery, lawn clippings and Mazuri chow (I like using this stuff because it appears to provide some much needed nutrients that are missed based on their growth where it is used) I'll also use fruits like apples and pears and berries on occasion.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Thanks that is best response I got!

oh GAWD... i've heard about how torts can be fecal munchers, and i've assumed that this is why i never find any poo in junior's tank...

i've seen nature shows where some animals eat poo because their digestive systems just don't absorb everything the first time around. also, some young animals eat the poo of older animals in order to establish their own colonies of beneficial digestive bacteria and such (elephants and koalas are two i can think of offhand that do this).

or maybe poo is chocolate for them, who knows.