Help with leopard eating. URGENT

gjclews · 01-03-2009, 01:31 PM

I am a little worried about a leopard i have and i wondered if anyone had any help or advice for me.
I recently bought 2 leopard tortoises from someone and they are both about 3 years old. I now have 3 about the same age. The one i had to start with and one of the other ones eats fine, straight away and as soon as you put any food into their enclosure. But one of the ones i have isnt eating at all. I dont know if its the food we are feeding her, the move or something else but i could do with some help. We have been feeding the tortoises grass, dandilion leaves, multileaf apollo lettuce, red batavia, lambs lettuce, wild rocket, fruit but only as a treat and brussel sprout leaves. Is this diet ok or are we going wrong. My original tortoise is doing just fine and is healthy and growing at a good rate and the other one seems to like what we feed it aswell so i am stuck as to why this tortoise wont eat. I have seperated it from the other two at the moment to see if this helps things but i have put some food in for it again and it just seems to ignore it.
We have seen it try to eat something once, it went over to the food, sniffed it like they do, had a bite and walked off as if it wasnt interested in what it had.
There seems to be nothing wrong with it, it is healthy enough looking and has obviously been eating before.

Please help me if you can with some diet tips or anything else you can add. Your help would be great i look forward to hearing from you all.

kellysmith1976 · 01-03-2009, 02:01 PM

It could be where he is taking longer to settle in than the other, One of mine wouldnt eat for a week when i first got her, have long have you had them?..
Did you quarantine the new ones before introducing them to your one?...
Do you know anything about there background.. are they CB ? .. as WC can find it much harder to adjust..
Are you using nutrobol daily?.. And calcium?..
There are some great care sheets on net about what is best to feed, as you know leos are grazers, and need a high percentage of grasses.. I use a variety of grasses, and if i get stuck i buy Florrette crispy salad, which all of my leos love, They seem to love the red leaves, ( raddichio) and lambs lettuce is a favourite.

gjclews · 01-03-2009, 02:30 PM

I want to feed it more grass but i am new to tortoises and am scared of going out onto the back and picking it something it should not be eating. Is any grass ok for them to eat? I have put grass in but it hasnt worked. The other two seem to like the mixed salad bags we get for them. I have looked on the net but i am not quite sure what the stuff is its going on about. A plants name means nothing to me really

**16 shells** · 01-03-2009, 03:03 PM

Have your leopards sufficient heat/ uv. The diet should consist of 70% grass, 30% weeds, no fruit, brussel sprouts, lettuce not realy needed. On a good day they can graze for themselves after warming up under the lights, an hour or so is better than none.
Mines been out for 2 hours today.
Paul

Paulg1 · 01-03-2009, 03:26 PM

paul nailed it for you. Sounds like to me he's taking some time to settle in. Make sure you soak once a day for at least 15 min. Keep up with the heat and he will eat.

kellysmith1976 · 01-03-2009, 05:09 PM

I bought a pack of seeds from the Shelled Warriors shop, They have a batch of seeds especially for Leopards, And they are quick growing, You can also buy Meadow Hay, Timothy Hay, Or Readigrass, Which is available from Pets at home, or another pet store, or equine centre, Word of warning though, when i try to get mine to eat the grass they wouldnt at first, so i squeezed cucumber over it, and mixed it with Salad leaves, they eat it then!... Also i have a cuttlefish bone in my table, which they may eat, Good for calcium and keeping their beaks trim.. I also have a bowl of limestone flour, theygenerally stomp through it though!!
Im Sure hes just settling in, Some are just more sensitive to change than others!
any pics?... I love looking at pics!..

gjclews · 01-03-2009, 06:43 PM

Yeah i will try and get some pics for you tonight and post them tomorrow.

I too have some cuttle fish in my two enclosures. I will keep sticking the food in and they are all booked in at the vets tomorrow night for a check over so fingers crossed she is just settling in.

Might buy a pack of those seeds.

Mrs Frog · 01-03-2009, 06:45 PM

I had terrible trouble with one of mine Grace,she wouldnt eat,she went nearly 3 weeks and wouldnt eat,i got her wormed and that didnt help,although i am glad i got it done,the breeder suggested an extra spot lamp for light and then i started with some florrette crispy lettuce to get her to eat,then mixed the weeds in,now after 8 weeks she is as greedy as the others

**16 shells** · 01-03-2009, 08:24 PM

Most Leopards iv'e seen in pet shops are fed on veg. So they are addicted in a sense, percivere with grass and weeds. Once they settle on there true diet, then they can have substitutes to weeds, when they are scares. Good luck.
Paul

01-03-2009, 01:31 PM	#1
gjclews Junior Member Egg Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3	Help with leopard eating. URGENT I am a little worried about a leopard i have and i wondered if anyone had any help or advice for me. I recently bought 2 leopard tortoises from someone and they are both about 3 years old. I now have 3 about the same age. The one i had to start with and one of the other ones eats fine, straight away and as soon as you put any food into their enclosure. But one of the ones i have isnt eating at all. I dont know if its the food we are feeding her, the move or something else but i could do with some help. We have been feeding the tortoises grass, dandilion leaves, multileaf apollo lettuce, red batavia, lambs lettuce, wild rocket, fruit but only as a treat and brussel sprout leaves. Is this diet ok or are we going wrong. My original tortoise is doing just fine and is healthy and growing at a good rate and the other one seems to like what we feed it aswell so i am stuck as to why this tortoise wont eat. I have seperated it from the other two at the moment to see if this helps things but i have put some food in for it again and it just seems to ignore it. We have seen it try to eat something once, it went over to the food, sniffed it like they do, had a bite and walked off as if it wasnt interested in what it had. There seems to be nothing wrong with it, it is healthy enough looking and has obviously been eating before. Please help me if you can with some diet tips or anything else you can add. Your help would be great i look forward to hearing from you all.

01-03-2009, 03:26 PM	#5
Paulg1 Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 2,116	paul nailed it for you. Sounds like to me he's taking some time to settle in. Make sure you soak once a day for at least 15 min. Keep up with the heat and he will eat. __________________ 0.1.0 G. sulcata/Larry 0.1.0 G. pardalis babcocki/Leo 1.0.0 G. pardalis pardalis/Tino "Stop the world, I want to get off!"

01-03-2009, 06:45 PM	#8
Mrs Frog Senior Member Adult Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 4,419	I had terrible trouble with one of mine Grace,she wouldnt eat,she went nearly 3 weeks and wouldnt eat,i got her wormed and that didnt help,although i am glad i got it done,the breeder suggested an extra spot lamp for light and then i started with some florrette crispy lettuce to get her to eat,then mixed the weeds in,now after 8 weeks she is as greedy as the others __________________ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1442...06053/?fref=nf

01-03-2009, 02:01 PM	#2
kellysmith1976 Junior Member Egg Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kent Posts: 24	It could be where he is taking longer to settle in than the other, One of mine wouldnt eat for a week when i first got her, have long have you had them?.. Did you quarantine the new ones before introducing them to your one?... Do you know anything about there background.. are they CB ? .. as WC can find it much harder to adjust.. Are you using nutrobol daily?.. And calcium?.. There are some great care sheets on net about what is best to feed, as you know leos are grazers, and need a high percentage of grasses.. I use a variety of grasses, and if i get stuck i buy Florrette crispy salad, which all of my leos love, They seem to love the red leaves, ( raddichio) and lambs lettuce is a favourite.

01-03-2009, 02:30 PM	#3
gjclews Junior Member Egg Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3	I want to feed it more grass but i am new to tortoises and am scared of going out onto the back and picking it something it should not be eating. Is any grass ok for them to eat? I have put grass in but it hasnt worked. The other two seem to like the mixed salad bags we get for them. I have looked on the net but i am not quite sure what the stuff is its going on about. A plants name means nothing to me really

01-03-2009, 03:03 PM	#4
16 shells Super Moderator Adult Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hull Posts: 7,286	Have your leopards sufficient heat/ uv. The diet should consist of 70% grass, 30% weeds, no fruit, brussel sprouts, lettuce not realy needed. On a good day they can graze for themselves after warming up under the lights, an hour or so is better than none. Mines been out for 2 hours today. Paul

01-03-2009, 05:09 PM	#6
kellysmith1976 Junior Member Egg Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kent Posts: 24	I bought a pack of seeds from the Shelled Warriors shop, They have a batch of seeds especially for Leopards, And they are quick growing, You can also buy Meadow Hay, Timothy Hay, Or Readigrass, Which is available from Pets at home, or another pet store, or equine centre, Word of warning though, when i try to get mine to eat the grass they wouldnt at first, so i squeezed cucumber over it, and mixed it with Salad leaves, they eat it then!... Also i have a cuttlefish bone in my table, which they may eat, Good for calcium and keeping their beaks trim.. I also have a bowl of limestone flour, theygenerally stomp through it though!! Im Sure hes just settling in, Some are just more sensitive to change than others! any pics?... I love looking at pics!..

01-03-2009, 06:43 PM	#7
gjclews Junior Member Egg Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3	Yeah i will try and get some pics for you tonight and post them tomorrow. I too have some cuttle fish in my two enclosures. I will keep sticking the food in and they are all booked in at the vets tomorrow night for a check over so fingers crossed she is just settling in. Might buy a pack of those seeds.

01-03-2009, 08:24 PM	#9
16 shells Super Moderator Adult Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hull Posts: 7,286	Most Leopards iv'e seen in pet shops are fed on veg. So they are addicted in a sense, percivere with grass and weeds. Once they settle on there true diet, then they can have substitutes to weeds, when they are scares. Good luck. Paul

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