How much should I feed my tortoise?

[RosemaryDW]

New owners often ask “How much should I feed my tortoise?” We sometimes suggest an amount that would fill their upturned shell. Others suggest making food available all day; if a tortoise has a decent sized enclosure, they will walk it off.

I’m in the second group.

I threw this down for my Russian late in the day—during which she’d been eating other foods non stop—but she still made good progress on it before bedtime. There is no forced perspective in the photo; this weed was close to four foot high.

Not pictured, but she ate most of the remaining stem the next day.

If she ate hot dogs I’d enter her in a competition.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Me too, that later camp.

Sometimes in a pinch for time I don't feed in the morning, and when I get home I feed everyone. They will come out of hides just from the sound of me in the area, and sit and wait for the food to appear. Any food from the previous day is gone. I try to alway get a few % more than they are likely to eat, based on the past. Often even before the light come on in the morning or the sun hits the yard, they are out getting first crack at the few % from the day before.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It all depends how busy I am or what I'm feeding that day.
If it's anything that'll attract ants, I only toss in what my tortoises will eat right away.
If it's leafy stuff or flowers, I toss in a lot more.
Since Redfoot actually LOVE old, wilted things. Having it sit around for a while isn't an issue.
Ants are the factor in how much food and what I feed.

 

[RosemaryDW]

That makes sense. The Argentine ants we have here aren’t interested but we do usually pick up leftover food at night because it attracts sowbugs. They aren’t harmful but I’d just as soon not have them right outside the door.