Not feeding every day

[SuzanneZ]

I haven't been able to locate the reasons for not feeding adult tortoises every day. Seems to me in the wild they'd snack all day long every day.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Yes, that's how the do in wild and that's why there is a recommendation to feed them every day and to leave feed dish for the whole day long.

The only reasoning I've seen yet on feeding every other days or every 2-3 days was to prevent obesity. But regular exercising in a large enough enclosure prevents obesity better and with more benefits. And yes, the proper diet of course.

Perhaps adult tortoises do fine with either feeding schedule and in the wild they might have "unlucky days" as well, where occasional nibbles is all they've got.

To check if you need to reduce/increase food amount or feeding frequency you can use Jackson ratio.

 

[zovick]

I haven't been able to locate the reasons for not feeding adult tortoises every day. Seems to me in the wild they'd snack all day long every day.

You should feed your tortoise(s) every day. If they aren't hungry, they won't eat. As Alex said above, in the wild, the tortoise would have an opportunity to eat daily. The same opportunity should be available to it in captivity.

 

[wellington]

There is no reason to not feed every day. Unless of course you have a species that brumates and you actually brumate it.
Otherwise feed every day, enough food that it can graze off and on throughout the day.

 

[SuzanneZ]

Yes, that's how the do in wild and that's why there is a recommendation to feed them every day and to leave feed dish for the whole day long.

The only reasoning I've seen yet on feeding every other days or every 2-3 days was to prevent obesity. But regular exercising in a large enough enclosure prevents obesity better and with more benefits. And yes, the proper diet of course.

Perhaps adult tortoises do fine with either feeding schedule and in the wild they might have "unlucky days" as well, where occasional nibbles is all they've got.

To check if you need to reduce/increase food amount or feeding frequency you can use Jackson ratio.

Thank you. So it's not everybody.

 

[SuzanneZ]

You should feed your tortoise(s) every day. If they aren't hungry, they won't eat. As Alex said above, in the wild, the tortoise would have an opportunity to eat daily. The same opportunity should be available to it in captivity.

Thank you. Out in the world feeding 3 days out of 5 is preached. Glad I asked. (I was feeding every day 🙂)

 

[jsheffield]

I generally feed the tortoise that I live with every day, but I don't worry if they miss a day or three if I'm traveling....

Jamie

 

[Tom]

Thank you. Out in the world feeding 3 days out of 5 is preached. Glad I asked. (I was feeding every day 🙂)

This is exactly the type of erroneous information that we are combating here daily. This is why we say not to get tortoise care advice from any source outside this forum. You will get told the wrong info and sold the wrong products.

This myth comes from two old misconceptions"
1. Food and "fast growth" causes pyramiding, so starve your tortoise several days a week to slow down the growth and the pyramiding. The right info: Food has nothing to do with pyramiding. Pyramiding is caused by growth in conditions that are too dry. Slowing down the growth with food deprivation does not prevent pyramiding if the conditions are too dry.
2. Wild tortoises grow slowly in most cases, so we should grow them slowly in captivity by starving them. The right info: The reason why wild tortoises grow slowly is because the wild is a very harsh place. Drought, disease, predation, weather extremes, etc... In captivity, we protect our animals from these killers, and offer them optimal ideal living conditions to keep them healthy. Of course they will grow faster under ideal conditions with ideal food offered in captive conditions. In the wild, most of them are able to "survive" periods of bad weather and the natural food and water deprivation that happens. That doesn't mean these conditions are "good" for them. I don't want my tortoises to merely survive. I want them to thrive.

 

[SuzanneZ]

This is exactly the type of erroneous information that we are combating here daily. This is why we say not to get tortoise care advice from any source outside this forum. You will get told the wrong info and sold the wrong products.

This myth comes from two old misconceptions"
1. Food and "fast growth" causes pyramiding, so starve your tortoise several days a week to slow down the growth and the pyramiding. The right info: Food has nothing to do with pyramiding. Pyramiding is caused by growth in conditions that are too dry. Slowing down the growth with food deprivation does not prevent pyramiding if the conditions are too dry.
2. Wild tortoises grow slowly in most cases, so we should grow them slowly in captivity by starving them. The right info: The reason why wild tortoises grow slowly is because the wild is a very harsh place. Drought, disease, predation, weather extremes, etc... In captivity, we protect our animals from these killers, and offer them optimal ideal living conditions to keep them healthy. Of course they will grow faster under ideal conditions with ideal food offered in captive conditions. In the wild, most of them are able to "survive" periods of bad weather and the natural food and water deprivation that happens. That doesn't mean these conditions are "good" for them. I don't want my tortoises to merely survive. I want them to thrive.

Thank you. Really sad how many times I read that wrong information. Not everybody finds this forum.

 

[RosemaryDW]

It's just old, outdated advice. There is plenty of it out there, even with people that should be more up to date. In very hot climates a tortoises isn't out all day long but they do forage when it's cooler out.

The only time I don't feed is when my Russian is getting ready to bromate, which is right now. The reality is she's stopped eating on her own; she's emptying out her gut. She doesn't need my help for this but it's still hard when you are in the habit of feeding every day.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Thank you. Really sad how many times I read that wrong information. Not everybody finds this forum.

Wait until you find the advice that says feed apples to dry land tortoises! How someone came up with that I'll never know.

 

[TammyJ]

Thank you. Out in the world feeding 3 days out of 5 is preached. Glad I asked. (I was feeding every day 🙂)

Glad you asked too! Keep feeding the right stuff every day. People who say "oh, every two days or so...!" are either repeating some foolishness they heard or read, or they just don't know and are trying to sound 🦉 wise and knowledgeable.

 

[zovick]

Thank you. Really sad how many times I read that wrong information. Not everybody finds this forum.

As a follow-up to this discussion I would like to add that when I was on the staff of the Bronx Zoo, the tortoises were fed six days weekly, Sunday through Friday, with Saturday being a "Not Fed" day. This was done to give the keepers a break in their routine, not to deprive the tortoises of food.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Feeding everyday. Feeding at about the same time everyday is a good practice.
Your tortoise will get used to it