Question about feeding

[Emmy104]

I have read a lot of articles about the diet of the Russian Tortoise, but one thing I really haven't found a definitive answer on is, how many times does a tortoise need to be fed? Is it once a day? Or twice a day?

And also, do they need a pellet to go along with their veggie diet? I guess I should mention how big she is too. Lol, she is about four inches long.

I'm a new owner to my girl, and I want her to have the best care possible. Thank you.

 

[GBtortoises]

Opinions on how much to feed a tortoise and how often vary greatly. I believe that it should be based somewhat on the general activity of the tortoise. Russians tortoises, if given a large enough enclosure and kept at active level temperatures are typically a very active species of tortoise. Outdoors my Russians are very active, particularly males which constantly patrol their territory. Indoors mine become much more seditary and are only on the go a couple hours of the day normally. It's during this time that they can easily be overfed and become obese rather quickly. When outdoors mine are fed huge amounts of wild greens every other day, which they will browse on almost constantly. Even so, there is always "leftovers" to replace with new every other day. Indoors mine are also fed every other day because of their lack of constant activity. Here, because it is actually smaller amounts of food at each feeding they will usually consume everything fed to them. I regulate how much I feed them by how soon they consume it all. If by the end of the day there is some left, I begin to reduce the amount at each feeding until, by the end of that day, it has all been consumed, when that happens I begin to increase the amount a bit again. There really is no exact science involved and most tortoise's food consumption will depend upon and vary with their amount of activity. Their activity level is directly related to the temperatures that they are exposed to along with the duration and intensity of light that they sense.

I think more importantly than amount is quality. Russians should be fed a good quality, varied diet consisting of several types of greens. Not so much on the vegetables and no fruits. Mine are fed a diet that consists of about 80% quality greens & 20% variety of vegetables for additional vitamins and minerals.

If you haven't already checked it out, a very informative site on Russian care is: www.russiantortoise.org

 

[zoogrl]

I worry that I feed Betty too much, she is much bigger than her brother who lives with a friend of mine. I feed her everyday but she eats all that I give her in about 20 minutes, then she goes for a nap! She's still a baby, only 7 months old so not sure if I should feed her every other day. I do get a variety of greens, usually 2 different types each week and I plant the russian seed mix from carolina pet supply in her enclosure too.

 

[montana]

Would frozen veggies work ??

 

[Yvonne G]

You can use them as an occasional fill in, but the corn, beans and peas aren't the best things to feed tortoises.

 

[Emmy104]

I've been feeding her a mixture of red leaf lettuce, endive, spring mix, occasionally kale, and mustard greens. I put grated carrots on her food once. She seemed to enjoy them too. But I won't be doing that again for a long time. I read that should be given sparingly. I've been feeding her every day and I know they beg a lot, but she seems like she's starved when I give them to her. So that was my main reason for wondering about how many times she should be fed. Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

[jeffbens0n]

You could try mixing in a few pellets of Mazuri tortoise diet in with her greens a couple times a week too. My Russian wont eat the mazuri by itself, but when I put it on the greens, he ends up eating most of it by default.

 

[Kristina]

How much a tortoise eats varies from tortoise to tortoise. I generally give them enough food that they clean it up in about 20 minutes of steady eating.

Pellets are not required. Wild tortoises don't get pellets

For some ideas on how to create a good diet for your tortoise, check out the article that I wrote - http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread...ions-for-Tortoises-The-Balanced-Diet-Revealed