HELP! is my tort getting fat am i over feeding?

[Rover15]

I have a baby yellow foot a little over 3" shell length(hatch date in august I believe). I feed 2 times a day first thing in the morning after a 10-30 min soak then in the evening again after a 10-30 min soak

her diet is a mix of kale, romaine lettuce, ice burgee lettuce, carrots, carrot greens, celery stock and leaves, red cabbage, spinach (1 feeding every 2 weeks) tomatoes(one feeding once a week), snails (I feed Mondays and Fridays I put two in morning feeding and at night there is normally just half of one left) I've tried cucumber.

i'm still trying to find a place that sells worms now that it is winter also looking for collard greens, muster greens, and other recommend foods.

I normally put pile about the same size as my yellow foots shell most is gone by the second soak when i'm soaking I clean it out and make a new pile of food.

her belly/under shell seems to be bulging. I've seen the overweight Russian any my yellow foot doesn't seem to have chunky legs yet. and seems like she can go in to her shell normally

any advice plz help i'll upload pictures when I get a chance in advance thank you all for the help

 

[jane_goblin]

Sorry, I'm not really an expert but I do know from lots of research that iceberg lettuce is not great for tortoises. Sorry I couldn't help more.
It is ok to feed them once in a while but it has little nutritional value.

 

[Rover15]

Sorry, I'm not really an expert but I do know from lots of research that iceberg lettuce is not great for tortoises. Sorry I couldn't help more.

I'm sure it. Is in spring mix and I was told spring mix was good :s

I know there is a lot more I can bee feeding I'm just still in the process of finding where to buy it

 

[jane_goblin]

ok. Thank you!

 

[Rover15]

I just took some pictures and I think maybe I'm just being paranoid












If there are any shots that would help tell if she is getting fat let me know

 

[immayo]

Weigh him! There is a calculation on here somewhere to figure out if he is over/under weight. I know I did mine and my guy is 3 inches and weighs 3oz and he was like perfect weight.

 

[FLINTUS]

I will second iceberg lettuce isn't good.

 

[Cheeky monkey]

I have a baby yellow foot a little over 3" shell length(hatch date in august I believe). I feed 2 times a day first thing in the morning after a 10-30 min soak then in the evening again after a 10-30 min soak

her diet is a mix of kale, romaine lettuce, ice burgee lettuce, carrots, carrot greens, celery stock and leaves, red cabbage, spinach (1 feeding every 2 weeks) tomatoes(one feeding once a week), snails (I feed Mondays and Fridays I put two in morning feeding and at night there is normally just half of one left) I've tried cucumber.

i'm still trying to find a place that sells worms now that it is winter also looking for collard greens, muster greens, and other recommend foods.

I normally put pile about the same size as my yellow foots shell most is gone by the second soak when i'm soaking I clean it out and make a new pile of food.

her belly/under shell seems to be bulging. I've seen the overweight Russian any my yellow foot doesn't seem to have chunky legs yet. and seems like she can go in to her shell normally

any advice plz help i'll upload pictures when I get a chance in advance thank you all for the help

I'm no expert!
But DO NOT feed It iceberg lettuce!
I used too but read a book which said it could be fatal, seen as it mucks up the torts difrestive system

 

[diaboliqueturtle]

Ha! You caught the hypochondria by proxy syndrome ;-) Despite my 30 years of experience with turtles and tortoises, after I joined the forum I became paranoid about everything I read. A trip to the vet confirmed I was doing just fine, not even a hint of pyramiding

Your diet is on point, she can't get fat from the fresh stuff. Too much protein or Mazuri promotes fast growth and that's where you have to be careful. I don't see anything you should worry about here, you're doing good

---

I'm no expert!
But DO NOT feed It iceberg lettuce!
I used too but read a book which said it could be fatal, seen as it mucks up the torts difrestive system

A diet of lettuce is bad, very little nutritional value, but some lettuce as part of a varied diet (like spring mix) is good. It's all about variety and nutritional bang for your buck.

 

[Tortus]

Iceberg lettuce is not listed as an ingredient in either brand of spring mix I buy. They do list all the individual plants, but sometimes they give you too much of the same thing. My last batch of spring mix was at least half spinach.

 

[diaboliqueturtle]

Iceberg lettuce is not listed as an ingredient in either brand of spring mix I buy. They do list all the individual plants, but sometimes they give you too much of the same thing. My last batch of spring mix was at least half spinach.

You're right, iceberg is not in spring mix, I just meant that if you have a leaf or two kicking around you can feed it, it's all about moderation. Which brings me to your next point. I TOTALLY agree with the spinach/spring mix ratio you gripe about, I often have to pluck out the spinach from the bin before I serve it :-/

 

[ascott]

Red, green, romaine lettuce are all fine as PART of a diet---also, if you are wanting to bump water/hydration intake then iceberg lettuce from time to time is a good way to do that--however, the risk you take with iceberg is that the tort will become partial to its taste and may snub their nose to other good stuff....

 

[Rover15]

Red, green, romaine lettuce are all fine as PART of a diet---also, if you are wanting to bump water/hydration intake then iceberg lettuce from time to time is a good way to do that--however, the risk you take with iceberg is that the tort will become partial to its taste and may snub their nose to other good stuff....

I do my best not to feed the same thing back to back. And I have yet to see her turn away from any food normally the kale, romaine, red cabage, spinach(when. Feed) are always all gone. The left overs are normally stalks of celery leafs sometimes, half a snail (out of 2 that are feed in the morning and taken out at lights out), carrot shaving/sitcks (greens sometimes), Iceberg lettuce always seems to be shredded but little chunks left over.

Come spring I'll have my own garden to grow what I want. Also this weekend I'll be switching to a tank that is almost double what she is in now. And ill be adding plants that she can eat.

But as mentioned by diaboliqueturtle I just caught a bit of "hypochondria by proxy syndrome" XD but than you all for the help and advice I will limit the iceberg lettuce to maybe 2-3 feedings a week

 

[Irwin4530]

Your tort looks alright to me, I would not worry about her with the diet that you listed. Personally I do not feed iceburg lettuce but others seem to have more experience than I do about that. I like to keep mulberry, fig and hybiscus plants around for their leaves (and flowers....hybiscus) As far as the worms, I get them from the fishing section in walmart....usually I go to a bait shop but in the winter they dont have much....that may help.

I would deffinately get yourself a scale and start keeping track of your little ones weights. I track once a month, unless I have one that I am concerned about or is ill.

 

[whitnaaaaaay]

Try feeding him once a day, for twenty minutes. Only give him as much as he can eat during the time period. He sounds like he eats a yummy meal! Good luck!

 

[african cake queen]

hi, my tort. didnt get chubby until i was giving her too much zoo med grassland tort. food. i only use it mixed with her veggies a couple times a week. she went from a pancake to a hot pocket. she loves food. she looks good now. momo

---

Iceberg lettuce is not listed as an ingredient in either brand of spring mix I buy. They do list all the individual plants, but sometimes they give you too much of the same thing. My last batch of spring mix was at least half spinach.

You're right, iceberg is not in spring mix, I just meant that if you have a leaf or two kicking around you can feed it, it's all about moderation. Which brings me to your next point. I TOTALLY agree with the spinach/spring mix ratio you gripe about, I often have to pluck out the spinach from the bin before I serve it :-/

me too. spinach!

 

[Rover15]

Ty all for the help I was just a bit parinod as this is my fist tortoise and there are many, I mean MANY different opinions of how to keep/raise them and being that I have a yellow foot there seems to be so few that people just redirect me to a red foots care sheet because non has studied yellow foots long enough to have their own care sheet. I know they are very simular but there are many differences as well. But I feel more at easy thank you all again

 

[Yvonne G]

If anything, he looks a little thin to me.

 

[mattgrizzlybear]

I think two times a day is too much. I feed my redfoot only gets fed once a day. The variety is good.