Am i feeding too much?

[VickiC]

I have 3 red foot tortoise hatchlings and have been following the recommended diet. Today I fed them romaine, a few mazuri pellets, red bell peppers, a small amount of fresh pumpkin, one black berry and 2 raspberries. They ate like little piggies but not as many green leafy veggies today as I usually feed. Attached are pics of food I put down and food left. Am I over feeding? Underfeeding?

 

[mojo_1]

I by no means am an expert but my understanding is they eat a pile of food roughly the size of their bodies. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[wellington]

It looks like your feeding just enough. Maybe a hair under. You want to feed enough where there is some left over for later in the day from the feeding time, so they can graze all day long off and on when they want. Specially growing babies.

 

[wellington]

I by no means am an expert but my understanding is they eat a pile of food roughly the size of their bodies. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken.

Somewhat true. There should always be fed enough to graze off and on thru the day like they would in the wild. Starting with a pile the size of them is a good starting point, but if they eat it all, it's not enough.

 

[VickiC]

It looks like your feeding just enough. Maybe a hair under. You want to feed enough where there is some left over for later in the day from the feeding time, so they can graze all day long off and on when they want. Specially growing babies.

Should I feed more than once a day. I hand feed them greens in the evenings before bedtime 😁

 

[VickiC]

Somewhat true. There should always be fed enough to graze off and on thru the day like they would in the wild. Starting with a pile the size of them is a good starting point, but if they eat it all, it's not enough.

So I should have food always available. I started doing that but they sleep so much....

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

They are really cute little piggies and have great appetite. Probably, they just ate what was more attractive first and then laid the greens on top of that. You might try to give them more greens next time... Or to give greens and leaves first and "treats" a bit later, if you have time for that.

 

[VickiC]

They are really cute little piggies and have great appetite. Probably, they just ate what was more attractive first and then laid the greens on top of that. You might try to give them more greens next time... Or to give greens and leaves first and "treats" a bit later, if you have time for that.

Today was their treat day...I definitely feed more greens on most days. Apparently blackberries and fresh pumpkins are like chocolate to me lol. All in moderation

 

[mojo_1]

Somewhat true. There should always be fed enough to graze off and on thru the day like they would in the wild. Starting with a pile the size of them is a good starting point, but if they eat it all, it's not enough.

Thank you for correcting me. My little tort has extra food all day so I've been doing it right.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

So I guess you are on the right track Food should be available through the day, but if they sleep most of the time you just offer it twice a day.
Underfed or overfed is hard to tell now. There is a size/weight formula but it doesn't work well for hatchlings. One thing to watch for is if one of them would become tinier/smaller than other two, it could be sign of "tortoise silent bullying".

 

[VickiC]

So I guess you are on the right track Food should be available through the day, but if they sleep most of the time you just offer it twice a day.
Underfed or overfed is hard to tell now. There is a size/weight formula but it doesn't work well for hatchlings. One thing to watch for is if one of them would become tinier/smaller than other two, it could be sign of "tortoise silent bullying".

Thank you. I will watch for bullying. So far all 3 are eating well. I do tend to move them around while they are eating so that they all get some of the treats. Anything else I should look for...