Feeding portions

[kaija2012]

Maybe a fairly obvious newbie-type question...who wants it?

My recently rescued yearling female t.h.b has slight pyramiding and is most active when I take her outdoors each day. However she has a decent appetite....yay! But I'm wondering what is an appropriately sized daily portion for a tort her age and size. She gets a varied blend consisting mostly of greens like endive, escarole, raddichio, dandelion greens, and romaine with rotating finely chopped approved veggies and cactus pads. (Going to work on planting suitable edible plants in an outdoor enclosure once we get it done, but she is indoors and on grocery store greens for now). She is usually finishing up all the food I give her each day. Makes me wonder if I'm feeding enough! I've tried adding some additional fiber to snack on in the form of a bit of moistened timothy/orchard hay in her dish but she largely ignores that. I recently transplanted some young bermuda grass from our untreated lawn into her enclosure and she ignores that too. She seeks out and mows down moss rose when I have her outdoors though.

Placing her on top of a measuring tape she is just a smidge under 3 inches from the front center tip of her shell to the back center tip, 98grams today. Thoughts on a guideline for her total daily portion? Thanks all.

(Her temporary indoor set-up details: 50 gal rubbermaid tub, 30/70 play sand and coco coir misted daily, multiple hides. Cool side/nighttime temp 72F, warm side 89, basking area 97 using MVB ZooMed PowerSun 100 watt for 14 hrs a day.)

 

[6speedtitaniumr/t]

Maybe a fairly obvious newbie-type question...who wants it?

My recently rescued yearling female t.h.b has slight pyramiding and is most active when I take her outdoors each day. However she has a decent appetite....yay! But I'm wondering what is an appropriately sized daily portion for a tort her age and size. She gets a varied blend consisting mostly of greens like endive, escarole, raddichio, dandelion greens, and romaine with rotating finely chopped approved veggies and cactus pads. (Going to work on planting suitable edible plants in an outdoor enclosure once we get it done, but she is indoors and on grocery store greens for now). She is usually finishing up all the food I give her each day. Makes me wonder if I'm feeding enough! I've tried adding some additional fiber to snack on in the form of a bit of moistened timothy/orchard hay in her dish but she largely ignores that. I recently transplanted some young bermuda grass from our untreated lawn into her enclosure and she ignores that too. She seeks out and mows down moss rose when I have her outdoors though.

Placing her on top of a measuring tape she is just a smidge under 3 inches from the front center tip of her shell to the back center tip, 98grams today. Thoughts on a guideline for her total daily portion? Thanks all.

(Her temporary indoor set-up details: 50 gal rubbermaid tub, 30/70 play sand and coco coir misted daily, multiple hides. Cool side/nighttime temp 72F, warm side 89, basking area 97 using MVB ZooMed PowerSun 100 watt for 14 hrs a day.)

Hello, Your setup sounds good, From what i have read most opinion is to feed an amount equal to the size to cover the shell. My Django from what i was told hatched in March of this year and he is 2 inches 6 months old. Others have said to feed babies all they want. I follow the latter as he is still young and growing. I leave food around all the time and he eats when he wants and as much as he wants. For him that is usually a large leaf of spring mix per sitting but i put out three and then he's off back to bed. he comes out several times a day and roams his enclosure, gets a drink and eats some more. From what i'm told this is normal for a young tortoise.

When i feed Mazuri he usually eats only 1/3 to 1/2 of a pellet and he is back to bed.

As long as she is moving actively i wouldn't worry to much as she is still young. As i said i would use the shell as a base line and adjust as necessary some torts over eat and some don't but i think most here that have their torts in outdoor permanent enclosures graze at will with the constant food sources.

Hope this helps, and maybe some one else will chime in as well.

later, Ryan

 

[kaija2012]

Thanks Ryan. Sounds reasonable.

 

[ascott]

Ditto....with one little thing that I do, I feed the babies twice a day...in the am if I place food in with them it will remain for a few hours (as they seem to gorge first them pick a bit a little later) in the pm I will offer the food and what ever they do not eat by about an hour after lights out will then get removed.....and I like the size amount offered based on the shell size...good gauge...

 

[kaija2012]

Is that the general consensus...that a yearling is still considered a baby by most standards? When approximately do they transition into juvenile, subadult, and adult status then? I will def consider adding an evening ration since she seems so voracious about breakfast.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Many believe that you can't over-feed a youngster, as they'll just grow faster. Also, any tortoise living outside, in a sufficient large enough enclosure, as they'll get plenty of exercise and burn it off.

In the wild, if a tortoise finds more food than it can eat in one sitting, it'll hang around until the food is gone, only then moving on...they're practcal about such things!

Mine get a pile about the size of the 4 of them close together, and there's almost never left-overs.

BTW, mine love St. Augustine grass in a BIG way...might plant some in the outside pen.

---

Is that the general consensus...that a yearling is still considered a baby by most standards? When approximately do they transition into juvenile, subadult, and adult status then?

Really more a growth thing than an age thing...a yearling that is allowed to eat as much quality food as it wants and lives outside could be 3" long or even a little bigger, while a 3" in an indoor enclosure and not fed as well could be 5 yoa.

4" is generally considered a subadult, but could be a small adult male, w/ love on it's mind...otoh, 5" would be a small-medium adult male, while 6-7" could be a small-medium adult female. Generally, a large adult male is about 6", while a large adult female could be 9".

Alsao, it's going to depend on species...Westerns are generally smaller than equivalent Eastern/Dalmations.

 

[kaija2012]

Ok, that's basically what I was thinking too. I'd rather err on the side of giving her more than she needs and allow her instincts to decide. Nature is great at naturally balancing things when allowed to. She already has developed a taste for St. Augustine grass when I take her outside. I will be generous with her portions, get her outdoors for plenty of extra foraging opportunities, and keep track of her growth via size and weight charting. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Ok, that's basically what I was thinking too. I'd rather err on the side of giving her more than she needs and allow her instincts to decide. Nature is great at naturally balancing things when allowed to. She already has developed a taste for St. Augustine grass when I take her outside. I will be generous with her portions, get her outdoors for plenty of extra foraging opportunities, and keep track of her growth via size and weight charting. Thanks for your thoughts.

Good plan...you'll quickly figure out how much she'll eat, so you won't waste much.

I measure/weigh my four on the 1st of each month, after a good soak...usually, they'll "poop", so that becomes their base size that month.

Got a nice little digital kitchen scale, like this one, off of Ebay, and they've learned to sit still on it long enough to get an accurate reading:

Also handy for weighing their food, if that's important to you.

Measure them with a industrial yardstick (goes down to 1/64"...that's accurate enough for me).