Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:11 am
Have you tried a variety of greens? A lot of times, it just takes that one kind of green to get them started on loving them. For my turtle, it was dark green leaf lettuce when she was about 2.5" and she just chows down almost anything. Mind you, we have our list of foods she won't eat, but she eats the basics: lettuce, berries, and carrots, so we are all good.
Try out a variety of lettuces, my suggestion, go to the grocery store and find the salad bar. A lot of the big grocers have them. Get a little bit of everything, literally, and just try it all out, though not all at once. You want to see what he likes and what he doesn't like. So, get: green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, dark romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, basil, carrots, apple, mango, tomatoes, strawberry, blueberry, and sweet potato. That's the list of standard foods. The carrots, apple, and mango should be cut into thin strips that look like worms, it kind of incites a hunting response. The lettuce, I recommend giving it in no bigger than shell-sized pieces, so it's not overwhelming. The sweet potato should be boiled/cooked and cooled before giving that.
Hopefully one of those will get him eating the good stuff. Also, prior to doing this, don't feed him ANYTHING for about 4-7 days. He'll be so hungry, he won't care what's going in his belly. They can easily make it a week without food, so you aren't starving him. During the no-protein period, you can start at any point with the greens, but often they'll hold out the whole week expecting that eventually you'll give in.
JAX
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Baby Boy - January 9th, 2011! (3 months old)
1 RES - 7" long - Umi (3.5 years old)
1 black lab/hound mix - Josie (1.5 year old)
2 cats - Mysti and Molly (6.5 years old)
