How much should Horsefields be fed?

[murple]

Hi,

Would love some guidance on portion size for tortioses. My tortoise is around 400g and about 4-5 inches long.

I was told he was 4 years old and a friend had him for those 4 years.

Thanks

 

[Fernando]

I give my Russians an amount the size of their body. Once in the morning and again in the evening.

 

[murple]

Thanks for the advice. Currently I feed him once a day and give perhaps a little less than that. Mostly he eats it all but sometimes leaves it. I'll up his portions a little.

 

[Fernando]

If you notice that he is leaving a lot behind, you might not need to feed that much of a portion. I do it because my Russians eat everything in sight. They'll even jump at a snail if they had the chance.

 

[murple]

I appreciate the advice. I worry about over feeding as thats not good for them but also don't want the poor little thing to be hungry.

I live by a country park so he gets lots of fresh weed etc

 

[dmmj]

I feed my 3 russians once a day I pick a big bucket of food for them ( grape leaves hibiscus leaves and flowers radish tops) and then give them big handfuls, sometimes they eat it all and other times they leave some behind. I would say a nice handful is a good amount for your guys. FYI they will always act hungry, so be warned they are pretty good at conniving you out of some more food.

 

[River14]

My vet informs me a tortoises tum is more or less the size of twice its head. I good guide to how much it can eat at one sitting?

Hi,

Would love some guidance on portion size for tortioses. My tortoise is around 400g and about 4-5 inches long.

I was told he was 4 years old and a friend had him for those 4 years.

Thanks

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I've read that you should feed a tortoise as much as they can eat in about 20 minutes. Russians are probably a bit more gluttonous that many other species, but it's probably about the same for them, too, so that's the rule of thumb I use. I usually give them about 20-minutes' worth of vegetation in the morning, or I might break it up into about 10-minutes' feeding in the morning, and then 10-minutes' feeding in the late afternoon (to mimic their summer feeding schedule in the wild). However, when they are outside, if they find a nice patch of weeds and feel like pigging out, I let them feed for as long as they like, even if I've already fed them, since they can control it themselves.

BTW - Russians are real little piggies! Sometimes even after I've given them a full breakfast in the morning, they still want more again in the late afternoon! And, since they are so cute and I am all too willing to spoil them, I sometimes give in and let them have a little more to eat. However, sometimes I just let them out, and if they find something to nibble on, then that's fine, and if not, it's no big deal since they already ate that day. As long as they can still comfortably withdraw into their shells and don't have visibly too much pudge behind their neck and limbs, then I would rather they eat a little too much than not quite enough, because I do plan on hibernating them. Even though they probably eat less in the wild, the quality of the food might be different, so I want to make sure they have enough reserves to last them through the winter.