Just a couple of feeding questions

[Cre]

Alfred has only been with me since Tuesday so I am a beginner at this. I have tried feeding him dandilion leaves, grass, weeds, teeny bit of grated carrot, teeny bit of tomato and 1/4 of a grape, he had not eaten anything except the grape but last night he did eat a flat lettuce leaf...quite quickly so he must have been starving! He has been pooping ok (in his water bowl lol) and is incredibly active . I am going to try shredding the weeds and mixing them with a bit of lettuce and sprinkling it with powder to see if that works.
Have you any other ideas? I dont want a fussy tortoise!
At the moment he is in a large plastic hamster cage with a 160w heat lamp/uv bulb so think I am doing everything right. His new tortoise table should be coming today.

[TortBabe]

Hi Cre, it may take Alfie a little time to settle into his home. A few of mine did not eat for a few weeks after arriving. Hydration is the most important thing, if you bath him in lukewarm water for around 15 minutes twice a day it may encourage himto eat a little. Check out the edible weeds section for a guide on what to feed, grape and tomato are not good for him tbh. There still are a few weeds around. A lot of owners feed crispy florette and baby leaf salad in the winter, another good site is the tortoise table, and the tortoise trust site have a really helpful article on winter feeding. I hope this has helped, don't worry too much he will get there in the end

[Cre]

I read another site know about the tomato/grape not being good for him now....so much bad advice out there! Have finely chopped up some weeds with flat lettuce and fingers crossed it will do the trick. Have found out "He" is a "She" but will still be called Alfred lol, sure she wont mind to much! Never realised how high tortoises can climb, so far she has gotton out of one enclosure so have not put her in one with higher sides and managed to climb up a wooden house that I had bent into a dome and fell off upside down.....I just knew I would get a naughty tort lol
Thanks for your advice, hope you wont mind me asking a million questions over the coming months?

[Neddy]

HI Cre,

I am assuming you mean NUtrobal when you say powder

Be careful with this and just sprinkle a little bit on.

Just keep doing what your doing, as Clare said they do take a while to settle.

Congratulations on your new tortoise

[TortBabe]

Cre, ask any questions you need to We've all been there ourselves
The Tortoise Table is a fab site, I still visit it regularly. The whole what to feed issue is mind spinning, but the more you research,come Spring you will be ready to go out and find a massive variety of weeds which will be welcomed by Alfie. They are wee rascals, you need to keep an eye on the climbing you may need to take his little hut out for a while. i have a 5 yr old Tunisian who has had his hut removed as he climbs on it and falls onto his back

[EquestrianBabe]

Hi Cre
An important part in tortoise care is patience Going to a new home is a very big change for tortoises. He'll just need to settle in a bit

[Cre]

Have been to B and Q today and bought 4 trays of tortoise food 5p a tray, 2 pak choi (is that ok?) 2 baby leaf salad trays also 5p a tray, 1 winter hanging basket full of pansys £2 and another pansy plant 5p...they just need a bit of tlc and will be fine.....I love a bargain lol
been to an elderly neighbour and he has given me some slate, tiles and big pebbles for my tortoise table. Cant wait to get started now!

[TortBabe]

I think pak choi needs to be fed in moderation, ie, once a week. The others are great, though coming from B&Q they have probably been grown with fertilizer, a no no for torts. Its best to take the plants out of the pot, remove any soil around the roots and rinse thoroughly before repotting in unfertilized soil/compost.They would then be best left to weather for about a month. I shop in tesco and they do some great salad mixes, wild rocket salad, babyleaf salad, watercress, florette crispy salad. Romaine is another one, and butternut squash can be fed once a week too. Also checkout the Shelled Warriors shop, Sarah sells a quick growing winter seed mix, and there is instructions on there on how to plant them. Have a look in your neighbours garden too, if there are any weeds growing take a photo of them and post it on the forum, they may well be edible! Good luck, you'll get there!

[Cre]

Thanks for your answer, oh well what ever Alfred cant eat the hamster and guinea pig will lol. Nothing gets wasted in this house! Will go around to my garden and see what else I can scavenge.

[TortBabe]

Haha! We recycle in here too, any left over weeds that the torts don't eat go to my daughters giant african land snails