feeding my tort
- Thread starter Sandieh5
- Start date
Daily. A big pile so there might even be a small amount left over. Be sure she has a proper size enclosure. An adult should have a minimum of a 4x8 foot larger if possible and also an indoor and outdoor enclosure for exercise so she does just sit and eat and become over weight. A tortoise that has the proper size enclosure will not become over weight.
Put in the food in the morning.
If there is food left in the evening it was enough. If not put more in the next day.
If your set up is right, the tortoise should eat.
Read http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
If there is food left in the evening it was enough. If not put more in the next day.
If your set up is right, the tortoise should eat.
Read http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2013
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- 10,876
Hi Sandie
Aeva
Member
Welcome! To be honest, I don't feed mine daily. They are not very active and sleep a lot. So once a week is the average for me... Sometimes more, but I can't do a lot... And they are fine.
you're only feeding once a week?
saginawhxc
Well-Known Member
I couldn't imagine not feeding my tortoise every day.
@Sandieh5, as others have, so long as the setup is right, your Russian should eat and walk a bunch!
Give her access to food all day. If there is some leftover, put out a little less next day. I'd rather have a bit too much than too little.
The size of the pile is relative to your own tortoise and how active she is. My outdoor Russian eats a lot more in the spring than she does in the fall; she doesn't need the exact same amount every day.
Give her access to food all day. If there is some leftover, put out a little less next day. I'd rather have a bit too much than too little.
The size of the pile is relative to your own tortoise and how active she is. My outdoor Russian eats a lot more in the spring than she does in the fall; she doesn't need the exact same amount every day.
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2013
- Messages
- 10,876
How can you be that mean to your torts? I wouldn't feed a person once a week ! Even people need to be feed everyday !
Maybe if your tortoises were actually fed enough they would be more active. They also need a large enough enclosure, the right temperatures etc. If you can't afford to feed your tortoises more than once a week it may be time to find them a new home. You can also grow stuff inside for them during the winter, a package of tortoise specific weed seeds is not very expensive. Are you need is a grow light and a bin.
Aeva
Member
Calm down everyone please. Let me clear the situation. My torts ate pyxis, coming from a desert in Madagascar, where the temperatures are very rude and where there's almost no vegetation. Since I had them (I rescued them), I have them live outside in a 13ftx6.5ft enclosure. They spend almost their time hiding and sleeping. They have clover and strawberries growing, and I leave food for them everyday. But they don't wake up more than once a week to eat and drink, and it's been 2 years. Sometimes I wake them up when I see they're sleeping to much, but they rarely eat when I do so. They have sun every day, and the temperatures are fair, around 28degrees Celcius. In about 1 month, it will be the rainy season, and then, they will be very active and eat more. So please, don't blame me, I really love my torts, they just have a different life. Here is a picture of their enclosure.
Aeva
Member
*my torts are pyxis brygooi
Did you "rescue" them from the wild?
Aeva
Member
I rescued them from being eaten. Many people still eat them cause of an ancestral medicine. I'm in a country that still live centuries ago. No one in my village knows I have them. If so, there will be many tentative to stole them. I really love this way everybody is sarcastic without knowing anything.
There is no sarcasm here. Just a group of people concerned with the well being of the torts. Your description is not one of a healthy animal/situation.
I was not sarcastic. Sorry you took it that way. If you would have explained your situation before just saying that you feed them once a week and they're fine, then people wouldn't react the way they did. Including myself. When people are new at owning tortoises they don't know what information to pay attention to and what information to ignore. Everybody's situation is different, you can't just make a blanket statement without explaining your situation for most cases. If the OP would follow your advice there would be some serious issues for their tortoise. Different species, different climates, different situations in general all require different information. All we can go on is what you tell us.
Aeva
Member
I'm sorry I took it that way. You were saying "rescue"... Like you didn't believe me. It's ok. I'm sorry.
How many tortoises are you keeping in that enclosure? In your enclosure I see two heads of what look to be Romain lettuce. The average number of calories in a head of Romaine lettuce is 108. Muliply that by two, and you get 216 calories of food per week. 216 calories would scarcely be enough calories to nourish ONE tortoise for a week let alone several.
Why are you feeding your tortoises lettuce? You live in there native habitat, so you should feed them weeds that grow there. Is there lettuce sprouting up in abundance in Madagascar? Lettuce provides very little nutritional value compared to the things that they would likely be eating in the wild.
Aeva
Member
I'm sorry. I was just telling my situation with my torts. I didn't mean giving advice to anyone.
