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I don't know what else to try to feed this guy. I've tried lettuce, radichio, endive, escarole, mustard, baby carrots..I mixed it with the exact pelets they were feeding him at the pet store, 10-90 like said, nothing. He just looks at it, and bolts. Now he has started to look chalky around the nose, which I would assume means it's not humid enough for him.

So, how do I make it more humid.

How do I get him to eat?

>>How do I get him to eat?

Now what did I say at the end of my big posting on switching your tortoise over to good foods?

Patience!

And here you are posting a couple days later saying nothing worked!

Now you yourself said the tortoise didn't like the pellets. So why would he start eating them now?

If I understand you correctly, the only thing the tortoise eats is crabgrass. So you must use the crabgrass as the source of the switch over.

Start with 95% crab grass and 5% greens. Chop it all up real fine. I'm talking quarter to half inch pieces. So small he can't tell there's anything but crabgrass in there.

Feed him that.

If he won't eat the crabgrass that finely chopped, throw in a few blades of the full-sized stuff. You'll have to figure out the details to get him going, I can only provide a general framework of what I've used on my torts.

But whatever you do, don't come back in a couple days saying it didn't work. And if he starts eating the grass/greens mix, work slowly, very slowly, toward increasing the percentage of greens.

And make sure the conditions are right for him to eat in the first place. If the weather is cool and cloudy, he won't eat anything.

And be patient!

My 5 year old male Russian's appitite has slowed down in recent days. I think this is due to the shortening days & cooler temps. I feed him every other day & yesterday he didn't finish the 5 chunks of Mazuri I gave him. He's slowing down, getting ready to hibernate.

Since you don't know the history of your tortoise, it could be that it's slowing down also.

you could trick him if you have to just to get the feeding process started. Let's assume for a second he would go for banana or applesauce (i know it's bad but go with me on this), you could put a little on your finger and when he goes to bite it you could sneak in some dandelion or grocery greens instead. Now if he won't take the bait then forget what I just mentioned. Or maybe you could do this trick with the crabgrass as bait.

And like others have mentioned, keep him well hydrated by soaking in warm water if you have to and get that boy some heat!

Fred

The only problem I have with this method is that it forces the tort to interact with a human, and it causes unnecessary stress. If it works, then that's good, but I wouldn't try it more than once or twice, because have food forced into your mouth isn't always a happy situation.

Russian torts do not need it humid. Nix the pellets and feed only greens veggies and plants. Like someone else mentioned smash some banana with the food. Not really good for them, but can sometimes kickstart the appetite. Keep him hydrated with good soaks.

So is the chalky white-ness dehydration? I'm soaking him weekly for about a half hour, and he has a spot in his pen he can easily soak in. Do I just need to soak him more? He's been digging an awful lot in the sand/dirt solution, so could that be drying him out more? Thanks!

I don't know what to tell you about the white chalky stuff around his snout. I know with uromastyx white stuff around the snout is usually salt they excrete, but torts are a totally different matter, so hopefully someone else can help you. Are you sure it isn't supplements from the food?

As far as soaking. Right now soaking is going to be your enemy. All that means to the tort is more stress. Just leave him alone for a while and then see what he does. I don't soak my torts on a regular basis, because I let them decide. They dig into the dirt because there's moisture and security when they are buried (assuming the dirt is moist).

Don't misunderstand another post here though. No, russians don't need it humid, but that's if you think humid means tropical rainforest. They need ambient humidity, just not a ton of it. I'd say 'moderate' humidity.

Soaking your tort at least twice a week is HIGHLY recommended. Soaking in lukewarm water has never stressed any tort I've had. Including new imports. A lot of them do not drink from dishes in their enclosure, so the soaking is doubly important. Can you post a pic of your tort? Face shot would be great.

Misting the sand/dirt with a spray bottle is fine. Just keep it damp to help with burrowing. Not wet. Russians also like to hide in hay so you can add a little pile on one side.

Well, opinions are opinions. I was just stating that if the tort isn't eating, it's usually best not to touch it at all unless you feel the need for veterinary intervention.

Then again, we all seem to have different approaches to keeping torts. Some people are more 'hands-on'. I feel that if you give them everything they need they simply don't need to be bothered. Of course they don't drink out of a dish. Few reptiles do. They also don't soak. Very rarely would they do something like that in the wild. I am not saying there aren't health benefits in it (as there certainly are in some cases), just that in the wild they tend to utilize different resources. Burrowing, burying themselves, hiding under moist leaf litter, hiding in the root systems of trees. Pretty much going somewhere to help conserve moisture. Most non-tropical tortoises in captivity tend to be kept in enclosures that don't offer that kind of microclimate.