# How long to leave food?



## Abdulla6169 (Jul 13, 2014)

Does anyone know how long to leave food out? I think if I leave it for 20 min. the tortoise will just take a few nibbles... Any suggestions? He eats but it's only a small amount, will this affect his health? It kinda annoying, I have a Greek that has UVA/UVB/Heat bulb. He had a URI from a while bit it shows a lot less  Thanks in advance !


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## Dizisdalife (Jul 13, 2014)

I have never kept Greeks, but my sulcata baby liked to "graze". He would nibble from the food and then walk around his enclosure, maybe bask for a while, and then return to the pile of food. I left the food until it was all eaten or wilted beyond recognition. Sometimes he would sit and munch on the food until it was mostly gone. If your tortoise has had an URI he may still be suffering although there are no visible signs, like a runny nose. This may cause him to be less interested in eating than he would be otherwise.


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## Abdulla6169 (Jul 13, 2014)

Dizisdalife said:


> I have never kept Greeks, but my sulcata baby liked to "graze". He would nibble from the food and then walk around his enclosure, maybe bask for a while, and then return to the pile of food. I left the food until it was all eaten or wilted beyond recognition. Sometimes he would sit and munch on the food until it was mostly gone. If your tortoise has had an URI he may still be suffering although there are no visible signs, like a runny nose. This may cause him to be less interested in eating than he would be otherwise.


Thanks a lot! I leave the food until it starts wilting, I feel like he eats on his on pace! I give soaks and try my best, thinking of giving a baby food soak


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## Dizisdalife (Jul 13, 2014)

AbdullaAli said:


> Thanks a lot! I leave the food until it starts wilting, I feel like he eats on his on pace! I give soaks and try my best, thinking of giving a baby food soak


I have used baby food soaks only when my tortoise was sick and not eating anything at all. It probably doesn't hurt anything to give him soaks at other times.


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## Abdulla6169 (Jul 13, 2014)

Dizisdalife said:


> I have used baby food soaks only when my tortoise was sick and not eating anything at all. It probably doesn't hurt anything to give him soaks at other times.


Does it have to be pumpkin or carrots, I found some other types?


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## Dizisdalife (Jul 13, 2014)

Those are the only two that I have used. Is this for maintenance or is your tortoise ill?


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## Abdulla6169 (Jul 13, 2014)

Dizisdalife said:


> Those are the only two that I have used. Is this for maintenance or is your tortoise ill?


He's recovering, he used to have a URI.... He was in bad care a while ago


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## Yvonne G (Jul 13, 2014)

You only use baby food soaks when you have a youngster that is not eating. And then you use the 'red' ones - carrots, squash, etc. This is for the vitamin A content, not for the veggies themselves.


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## Yvonne G (Jul 13, 2014)

I leave the food out all day long. By the end of the day it's usually all gone.


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## wellington (Jul 13, 2014)

I leave food out all day long and until the next day. Then I will dump it and give fresh. You could take it up at night, but some torts have been known to get up at night and go eat some food, in captivity, members torts, don't know if they would do this in the wild.


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## Abdulla6169 (Jul 13, 2014)

Thanks  this is helpful!


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Jul 13, 2014)

I feed my tort in the morning, and he eats (almost ) everything throughout the day!


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