How often to feed?

[jensen]

I have a salcata hatchling and I was wondering how often should I let her eat?i let her eat clovers outside and lettuce inside whenever she wants...can't this lead to pyramiding？

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I let all my tortoises have unlimited access to food. They are housed in large outdoor pens that are heavily planted. They eat a lot but also are active.

Dehydration is what will cause pyramiding in your tort. You want to raise him in an environment that will mimic the environment he would hatch into. Hot and humid. Give him daily soaks in warm water, provide a water dish at all times and research the humid way to raise a sulcata.

Heather
Sent from my Android TFO app

 

[Greg T]

You should feed him twice a day with foods you know. Not sure how long you are keeping him outside but he probably won't get enough food while he's out there. I feed my hatchlings twice a day and then let them eat while they are out in the sunshine for a short while.

Food type doesn't cause pyramiding. Like Heather said, it has more to do with water and humidity. You should read some of the threads on here from guys like Tom and Neal who have spent a lot of time trying to figure out pyramiding. It will help you understand it all much better.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's not a very good diet for a hatchling sulcata. Only clover and lettuce will not help him to grow strong bones and shell. Take a look at this thread for more food ideas:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-5823.html

 

[Tom]

They should have free access to food, you need much more variety, and you need to be simulating the African rainy season for him.

Pyramiding is not caused by food. It's caused by growth in conditions that are too dry.

 

[yltneb]

I have a salcata hatchling and I was wondering how often should I let her eat?i let her eat clovers outside and lettuce inside whenever she wants...can't this lead to pyramiding？

I've only raised two hatchlings, but have some advice. Let them eat grass in your yard as soon as possible. We kept ours in a enclosure far too long and probably stunted their growth because of it. Once we let them loose on our yard, they grew much more quickly (size permitting). Lettuce and such is not going to cut it, even in a cage. Yes they like it better than grass, but it's not really what they need to thrive. Use tough love and feed them grass until they eat it. They will eventually.