Feeding amount?

[NormyMommy]

Hey there all, I'm new to this forum and new to Russian tortoise ownership I just had a quick question about how much to feed my tort each day. I've seen people that say a mound of food roughly the size of the tortoise once a day, twice a day, every other day.....I've also seen people say put food down for 20 minutes then take it away, some who have said an hour....etc. Now I'm worried I've been underfeeding my poor boy, but I also don't want to overfeed him.

I also am curious as to what all I can feed him on a daily basis as far as veggies, if any. I have a whole list on my fridge of good and bad items. I know weeds and outdoor grasses are best, but I live in the Pacific Northwest right now in a city that just got 12+ inches of snow so that isn't an option. Also, my local grocery stores don't carry many of the weeds/greens that are most recommended. I saw a list that said berries are good, but they're a fruit and everything I've seen said sugars are bad unless in moderation. I gave him part of a bell pepper, but now I've seen those should be in moderation also. I've been alternating between spring mix, collard greens (which he hates), romaine lettuce and swiss chard. I just feel like his diet contains mostly greens and I feel like it's missing something else. Any suggestions would be great!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings.

Snow...have to love it, but not when you need fresh weeds!

Heres info from the Russian care sheet that Tom has on Russian Tortoises:

Diet:
Russian tortoises need broadleaf weeds. You will need to learn about the weeds near you and which ones are okay to feed or not. Pics can be posted here on the forum in the "Plant ID" section, or you can take samples to a local nursery. Look for dandelion, sow thistle, mallow, filaree, hawksbit, and many more. If you are not 100% sure that your source is free of pesticides and other chemicals, don't feed anything from there.
You can grow your own food too. Here is one of my favorites: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/TestudoMix
I also get lots of seeds here: http://www.groworganic.com

If you must use grocery store foods I like to favor spring mix, endive and escarole heavily. Also add in carrot tops, cilantro, mustard, turnip and collard greens, and lots of other leafy greens.
It is a good idea to add a product called "Salad Style" to grocery store greens to add some fiber: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/salad-style-food-topper/

This is a new food topper and I like it a lot so far: http://www.tortoisesupply.com/HerbalHay
You can also feed them grape, mulberry and hibiscus leaves, tender young spineless opuntia cactus pads, Mazuri tortoise chow and ZooMed Grassland tortoise food. Alternating and mixing up any of these foods will give your russian a good diet and meet its nutritional needs.

Supplements:
I like to have cuttle bone available for them to munch on at will. I also sprinkle some "MinerAll" on the babies food a couple of times a week and a reptile vitamin supplement once a week. I don't think adult males need any supplementation if they are getting a good varied diet, but I like to supplement egg laying females and babies with a pinch of calcium carbonate powder once or twice a week. I usually use either the ZooMed or RepCal brands.l

As far as ur question, i personally Think it's a good idea to keep a good, healthy portion of food out and available at all times, every day, all the time. Thats how torts are in the wild, they have food available most of the time.


Good luck!

 

[NormyMommy]

That helps tremendously, thank you! I've seen some sites say that Russians are notorious overeaters, so it's okay to always have food in their habitat? I don't want to overfeed him but just put more food in his habitat and he ran right back to it so I'm concerned if I keep his plate full he will gorge himself, hah.

 

[144 Grandpa Turtle]

Hello
Russian torts don't eat grass ! They eat broad leaf weeds ! Very very little fruit sugars are not good for them !
Hope this helps !

 

[144 Grandpa Turtle]

Oh yes
You cannt over feed a tort . In the wild all they do is walk and eat !