Question about the 20-minute rule

[ChiKat]

I know that many people say it's a good rule-of-thumb to feed your tort as much as they will eat in 20 minutes.
Well Nelson is a really slow eater! In 20 minutes he will eat one small leaf of spring mix Obviously I don't think that's enough food for him!
It can take him up to an hour to eat what I consider a small portion of food (a few small pieces of spring mix, etc.) Maybe this is partly because I don't cut up his food?

It's just difficult for me to know how much I should be feeding him as I don't want to overfeed...nor do I want to underfeed

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I personally think that most torts stop eating when they get full so you don't overfeed. I think small tortoises eat better if the food is cut up making it easier for them to bite and swallow. I leave the food in the enclosure and sometime during the day I will pick out what is left. Sometimes I just leave it there until the next feeding. So then you look at the amount they have left and that's the amount you don't feed the next day. That's their way of showing you how much to feed.

 

[ChiKat]

Great, thanks Maggie! Occasionally when I've offered Nelson a little more food than usual he will walk away after he's had enough- and then finish it later

 

[Candy]

I just put the food down before I leave for work and when I get home I pick up the plate. They usually will leave a little behind.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

I agree with Maggie. I let them eat as much as they want in one sitting - they will stop when full. After a while you can gauge how much to give them.

 

[Tom]

Some of mine are total pigs and will eat anything and everything. They will eat all day as many times as I feed them and never seem to fill up. Others seem much less concerned about the food. Daisy sounds more like Nelson. I just put a big pile in there and let her nibble at it all day. There is usually some left over at by night time.

If they get plenty of exercise in a big outdoor pen, I think it would be pretty difficult to overfeed them.

I've never used a time limit, I just put in a pile about as big as they are and let them eat it when they want.

 

[DonaTello's-Mom]

I do like Maggie said, I cut my Donnie's food into smaller pieces for him. I drop it off in the morning and let him be. Sometimes he's a piggy, and sometimes he's not. I feed again at night and take out the old food and replace it with fresh stuff. When he's bedded down for the night I remove the old stuff. I did notice he started eating more when I cut it up for him.

 

[Annieski]

I never knew of the 20 minute rule. My rule-of-thumb was to give amount of food equal to the size of the tortoise. If Mortimer could fit in a 3" saucer--- I would cut up food to fit on 3" saucer. As she grew-- so did the saucer. I would remove anything left the next morning. I would find that she would have 3 or 4 small feedings throughout the day after walking what seemed like miles.