How much food does a 20 pound leopard tortoise need per day

julietteq

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Hello,

I have a 20 pound leopard tortoise. She is now almost 4 years old and doing well. In summer she eats the grass outside, but in winter I feed her hay. Can anybody tell me how much hay she would need?

Regards

JulietteIMG_3647.JPG
 

Levi the Leopard

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Wow, 20lbs at 4. Big girl.

Have you seen her eat the hay?

I have a >10lb 4 year old male that also eats the grass outside. It's hard to say how much he eats though because I can't really monitor it. I'd say keep food available at all times and you can't go wrong. If she eats it all, offer more.
 

julietteq

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Thank you for your response !
Yes, she eats the hay but I add dried rose, dandelion, plantain, etc to it. However I do soak everything in very hot water for about 10 min so the smell returns and it becomes nice and juicy. And I supplement with calcium, fresh endive, kale etc.they key is variation for my tortoise.
I just wonder if you can overfeed tortoises?
 

MPRC

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Like @Team Gomberg says, you can't over feed on a healthy diet. I feed my Redfoots a pile of staple foods in the morning (weeds, clover, greens, etc) and if they finish it all off I'll give them a second meal with mazuri or other fruits and veggies added in the afternoon.

Over time you will get a feel for how much your tortoise eats. I have one who only eats every other day, no matter how much I offer daily so I have started giving him a regular meal on even days and a 1/4 sized meal the next day which almost always gets tossed to the other tortoises at the end of the day.
 

Yvonne G

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The only time you see an overweight tortoise is if he doesn't have enough room to walk a lot and exercise.
 

GingerLove

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BTW, I think the little log hide is a tad too small. ;) What a pretty girl.
 

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