Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey i have had my baby sulcata for about a week now.ive been trying to get him to eat grass but he wont eat any.i use timothy hay as his substrate.ive tried making him salads consisting of dandelions,endives,and timothy hay but he'll juss pick out the greens and wont eat the grass.he's about 3 inches now.can anyone give me some tips?any help is much appreciated.thanks

I think it's normal for torts to go after sald type mixtures first rather than grass so I would keep adding more and more grass and reduce some of salad mixtures that your giving him/her. Just make sure he is still eating though.
You may want to try putting some hay and grass in a blender together to help chop it up some...If you let him outside in a grassy area they will more than likely start chowing down on whatever is green and whatever is in front of them. They natural sunlight does a lot of stimulating with appetite and movement--he/she may start looking for some weeds or clovers.
Sometimes they get picky and will not eat for a few days but when they get hungry they will eventually eat.
It could also be the grass that you are feeding..what type is it?
I feed mine a Tortoise Grassland Mixture that is a combo of Bermuda, Timothy, Kentucky, etc. In fact I've now resorted to growing some grass in portable containers since my older one completly mowed down and depleted his enclosure of anything green that pops up.

im using timothy hay with a mix of bermuda.hes started to eat more hay now.ive caught him twice nibbling on some grass.thanks a lot.

Timothy hay is a good mixture to use, it's more of a sweet tasting hay..Alfalfa has a lot of protein and can be more stemmy sometimes..and good ole Bermuda is just plain grassy!! LOL
You can mix them all up give a little of each, I like to use Orchard and Brome hay as well. Just keep adding more and more fresh greens (clovers, weeds, hibiscus flowers leaves, fig tree leaves etc) and he'll eat more and more. I treat mine to some baby spring salad mixes but only once every couple of weeks...oh and the watermelon I gave them last weekend.
I think hibiscus is an all time favorite for my torts..oh and clovers.