Do redfoots know when to stop eating?

[TwoSixSided]

He's 4 and a half inches or so long so not a baby, I put some pet store bought freeze dried fruit in his bowl and he munched it all, then I put some of the colorful little pellets in there expecting him to pick at them in a few hours, munched all those too.. I've never seen him eat like this usually he'd only munch a few then leave.

Does he know when to stop? I don't want to hurt him with food.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I've never met a tortoise or box turtle that didn't know when to stop eating. Sure, they may pig out, but they do have a proper stomach, so it should signal their brain when it's stretched, like ours does (albeit slowly - again, like ours!). As long as your guy isn't too fat to withdraw into his shell, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Nixxy]

Agreed, with Geo.

Overfeeding can be an issue, but it doesn't sound like you have to worry about it.

He's a growing tort! He'll have a healthy appetite. It's a good sign, don't worry.


Mine is 8 and she still has a huge appetite.

 

[N2TORTS]

I Hope not ...... I’m opening up a Jenny Craig For Torts!....Complete with a lean cuisine menu.....

Of course they do ......:shy:

 

[TwoSixSided]

Alright cool thanks a lot guys. D

 

[Madkins007]

EDITED 9-13 for grammar and some structural erros-

Ummmm... a few things to consider about this.

They are not getting a natural diet in a natural setting- where their entire instincts on what and how much to eat were formed. It has been well documented that captive red-footed tortoises eat differently than wild ones do.

A wild tortoise has to move a long distance to forage for basic nutrition. The foods it will find will almost all be higher in fiber and calcium, and lower in moisture and carbohydrates than what they are fed. When the DO find a big pile of food, they pig out- then sleep for several days. When was the last time your tortoise did this?

We all know and have talked about how tortoises will eat absolutely inappropriate things- dog poo, dust bunnies, vermiculite, cigarette butts, crappy dog chow, hamburger, etc. If they had a better instinctive nutritional intelligence, they would not be doing this.

It has also been well-documented that tortoises can grow too quickly and get organ problems and/or become obese (usually the first during the rapid growth years, and the latter when the growth slows down.) I know some will argue against this, but it is hard to argue against the autopsy evidence of dead tortoises in vet labs.

The thing is... these are living animals. They respond to calories, nutrients, exercise, etc. like other animals do- but at about 1/2 of the metabolic rate. It takes a lot fewer calories to be 'too many', and they will burn it off much more slowly- assuming we give them space and motivation to do it (which we rarely do.)

We even know the formulas for daily caloric needs (https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/nutrition/guidelines-and-dosages ) Offer too many calories, they convert it to rapid growth or obesity- which both seem to affect the animal in the same way.

[By the way- this all applies to humans as well. We instinctively know what to eat, etc- in our natural state. The over-availability of fats, sugars, and salts as well as so many chemicals screws up our instincts. If the OP was had asked "Does MY KID know when to stop? I don't want to hurt him with food.", we all would have yelled at him that he needs to exercise restraint, wouldn't we have?]

The BIG QUESTION is: Do they show any signs of self-regulating this? The answer is obviously NO. After all- they are programmed by nature to pig out when there is lots of food available. Lots of posts talk about tortoises eating everything the keeper serves, and apparently wanting more.

Geo is right, though- their stomach is a limitation (but remember that like ours, tortoise stomachs are pretty stretchy). I also would bet he is right that his torts know when to stop eating and are not fat- because I will bet that their diet is pretty good.

The SOLUTION is to impose some sort of moderation on the tortoise, just as you would for your own kids. We have several options for this- limiting portions, fasting days, etc. My own solution is to offer all the 'good stuff' they want, but limit the other stuff. The tortoise can pretty much have all the greens, mushrooms, low-calorie veggies, and so on they want, but limit the high calorie veggies, fruits, chows, etc. rather tightly.