Eat Your Veggies, Ethel

Here are pictures of my new tortoise, Ethel. Ethel is a combination Christmas and Valentines gift from Laura. She is a red-footed tortoise and with good health and nutrition, she could live about 50 years and get to be about a foot long. Right now she is about six inches long.

So far she has been rather shy and mostly just hides in the darkness away from her heat lamp. I'm also having trouble getting her to eat. Thus far, she has barely touched her tortoise food, which is primarily veggies, or any vegetables from my refrigerator I have offered her. When I put food close to her face, she looks away in a regal way as if to say, "We are not amused. Take this tripe away from us. We will not further acknowledge it."

She only has been interested in fruit. In these pictures you can see her eating some apple. She has also eaten some banana and several blueberries. I would not mind feeding her only fruits, but she is supposed to eat only about 20% fruit. The vast majority of her diet should be vegetables and she should occasionally get protein. I am not sure what to do. She has gone all day without eating so I may have to leave her with only veggies for even longer.

Here's hoping for a long and healthy life, Ethel.