stressing about weight

[ziggy's owner]

same stuff u use for chicken lol, still learning u see.... how can i make ziggy gain weight.... can you feed fruit too

[TortBabe]

I don't think fruit is advised...it causes bad gut flora, just as an occasional treat, try not to worry too much, my little horsfield is a little underweight too, but is slowly gaining, and very healthy, I think slowly is best!

[ziggy's owner]

ello all i am feeling a tad better.... ziggy male weighs in @ 75grams and is 62mm hatched 2008..... startdust female... weighs in @ 100 grams and is 71mm hatched 2008.... do you think these are good weights..... guess i was doing it all wrong lol......... silly me

[Steph37]

I dont think age is of that much relavance as long as the length and weight tally. I dont think you said what species you have? Or maybe I am just too tired!! Steph

[yuna1971]

Ziggy - are you feeding much weeds - you mentioned salad stuff just now. The weeds are beginning to come up now - especially Dandilion, jack by the hedge, ribwort plantain - as examples. There are also many plants and flowers that they can have too. So salad leaves should only be a "mixer" really

[ziggy's owner]

they go in my garden and that has weeds in, i walk down woods and been looking but not found much as of yet, starting to come up better, i also grow my own

btw my torts are spur thighs, meds if that helps

[yuna1971]

Ziggy, I have a spur thighed med - my Lily is an Ibera. Going back about to about Aug last year I was in a similar predicament. What i fed was seemingly easy, I thought it was all ok - until I came on here and was well,...re-educated. And that is what you have to try and do to do right by your tort. I am learning still even now, dont claim to know everything - but I can say that the easiest things to feed are the ones we see and think are alright - without the looking or the gaining of knowledge.
Hell, the stupid pet shop where Lily came from when he was a hatchling said little gem lettuce was fine. I then was told that cabbage was fine. And Kale. I then fed creeping buttercup - Lily loved it - LITTLE did I KNOW that this was on the toxic plant list!
I will never forgive myself for not reading up more THEN. I then changed everything, no more of ANY of that.
Now, I do give Lily a varied diet - and that does mean getting to know different weeds - and what they look like and where I can get them. They are not growing on my doorstep. I have to go out walking to footpaths, lanes, fields. But gradually knowledge came this way - i took pics, posted them on here before I fed them. Some were duds but others were fine. And its only then that things clicked into place.
Hell, this year I will look for other weeds and do the same thing, take pics and post on here if I am not sure and find out that way. Or look on the internet.
But it might be too easy to just feed salad leaves. It can be fed, sometimes you got no choice but I can tell you that weeds now are coming up thick and fast. Temps outside have been milder, there has been some nice sunshine these last few weeks and this then helps with some rainfall after.
Dandilions have been sprouting up everywhere and jack by the hedge (going back a few months I could hardly find ANY) - now its all over the place again. Soon I will have bindweed in my garden and then there are the 2 plantains - probably the staple diet of a tortoise. Ribwort plantain is the long one, the broadleaf or greater plantain is the rounded one. If you look at pics you will see these plantains all about you.
I did try growing my own but nothing much came up - its been nearly 6months since i planted - havent had a lot of growth. Some people do this no problem with different equipment, i just find it easier to go out for a Sunday walk and by the time I get back - ii have half a bag full.
Hope this helps but honestly, try to go get some weeds to mix in with your salad. It is better for your tort.
I would suppliment a couple or few times per week. Why not grate some cucumber rind or cucumber juice on the weeds/salad and this might entice him to eat it. Honestly, Lily was the same but is fine now.
It might be that you put too much on, it only needs a dusting of the suppliment - no more no less.
xx Good luck

[ziggy's owner]

thats all i do....... and i have been looking for weeds every day i walk my dog, my weeds are growing find in the bath room, and i dont just feed salad i fed alot of diff stuff

kale cabbage little gems as treats, crispy salad, water cress, rocket, chickweed, some fruit, cucumber toms pellets, and i supplement only a little.

but thanks for the advice, its more when they go out i will worry more, his grown since i had him and gained weight, was 55mm in november and is now 62mm