# Hand feeding



## jrholls (Jun 15, 2011)

When we first got our Russian she was a complete pig. I actually had to make a post to see if I was feeding her too much. A few months ago her appetite seemed to have evaporated. We took her to a reptile vet, no problems or parasites. She's still active, but not as much. We've checked the temps in her enclosure and all seems good. We started hand feeding her to encourage her to eat. This worked well for a while, once she would start eating she would just continue eating from her dish. Now it seems she just wont eat without hand feeding at all. When we got her she was about 480 grams. That was November. Now in June she's around 525. She'll eat carrots, squash, hibiscus and dandelion flowers whether we hand feed or not, but spring mix, raddicio, endive, dand. greens, anything we get from the grocery store will sit and go to waste unless we hand feed. The above 'treats' we only feed sparingly (once a week or so). It's not uncommon for her to eat only 4 or five pieces of food (small leaves) in a day, and sometimes less. We bought some mazuri which she pigged out on at first, but now she is totally put off by it. I've heard it said that Russians are one of the easiest torts to care for, but I feel like I'm always worrying about her. I miss the hungry hungry tort which spawned her name. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 15, 2011)

Hi Jared:

I don't remember if you've ever told us where you are? I'm wondering what the weather is like there to answer your question better.

Because of the harsh conditions and scarcity of food in their native land, Russians are hard-wired to wake up in the morning and eat, eat, eat. It's pretty rare to see a Russian that doesn't eat. And in captivity, they become overweight because they eat and don't exercise.

Is your tortoise outside? Does it seem ok otherwise? Bright eyes? moving around the habitat ok?

It might just be that the tortoise isn't hungry because of being too well fed.


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## jrholls (Jun 15, 2011)

Thanks Yvonne  We live in southern Maine, and she is indoors all the time. We built an outdoor enclosure, but she's only been outside a half a dozen times or so for a few hours at a time. Spring is getting ready to turn into summer now, and I expect she'll see a lot more outside time soon. Her eyes are bright and clear, and she moves around well. She also has no other signs of infections or parasites. She gets a lot of excercise trying to escape for hours at a time. Her current table is 4' x 4', but we're making a new one that'll be 7.5ft by 2.5ft. I've heard they like rectangles better because they feel more secure. My wife and I have no children or other pets, so she's doted on quite a lot. We just want her to be as happy and healthy as possible. Her loss of appetite has me concerned more than anything else.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 15, 2011)

Hi Jared:

It sounds to me as if she's depressed. I'll bet you would see a marked improvement if you were to put her outside. This is the time of year they would be wandering around looking to breed. This might be what's wrong with her. At any rate, being in the sun never fails to help with an appetite increase.


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## Terry Allan Hall (Jun 18, 2011)

Try the red tortoise sticks (tortoise chow)...the red color really gets 'em excited. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-JUS-ORDERED-THE-NEW-RED-TORT-STICKS#axzz1PdkfhTTr

And tortoises need sunlight.


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## Tom (Jun 18, 2011)

Its also possible that she's full of eggs. An xray would rule this out.


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## jrholls (Jun 18, 2011)

I was under the impression that she's too young to breed...how big/old do female russians need to be to lay eggs? Our vet thinks she's around 5-7 years old. I'll measure her tonight but I think her SCL is about 5" and she weighs 528 grams. 

I did order the red tortoise sticks already...I'll let you know how she does with them when they arrive.


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## Maggie Cummings (Jun 18, 2011)

Sounds to me like she's just spoiled and wants the attention of being hand fed. She is well fed and not hungry. Have you tried going a few days without offering her any food? Give her some time to get hungry. Does she have a fresh UVB light? Can you put her outside? That's all I can come up with, sorry...

What is that substrate she's on?


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## jrholls (Jun 18, 2011)

That was coco choir and sand...she's currently on coco choir and organic topsoil mix. No, I don't think we've ever missed a day feeding her, but I know there have been a few days where she's not eaten anything we've offered her. We take her outside every chance we get, but I don't get home 'till around 4:30 so she only gets to be out till the sun goes down


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## Jacob (Jun 18, 2011)

If You Were Hand Feeding Her Daily for A Long Period Of Time, She Could Have Got Addictive To it!
Maybe Spoiled, Try Giving Her As Much Natural Sun As Possible and Nice Warm Soaks Daily!
See If That Appetite Gets Bigger


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## dmmj (Jun 18, 2011)

Thy can get spoiled being hand fed, I know of tortoises that will only eat now being hand fed, I would stop the hand feeding and just lay the food there for her and let her eat on her own, I know it is fun to hand feed them, but I personally like to see the being tortoises and eating on their own. Regarding breeding size, 5 inches is a little small for egg laying but as long as she is sexually mature, and has had recent contact with a male she could be pregnant and looking for a place to lay, but like tom said a x ray could rule that out. I personally would stop the hand feeding and give her some outside time m.


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## Livingstone (Jun 18, 2011)

Sounds like she eats all the goodies, but none of the "healthy" stuff. It seems that this lil tort has wrapped around her finger. as Maggie said, cut back a bit. Some tough love will sort it out.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Jun 18, 2011)

jrholls said:


> That was coco choir and sand...she's currently on coco choir and organic topsoil mix. No, I don't think we've ever missed a day feeding her, but I know there have been a few days where she's not eaten anything we've offered her. We take her outside every chance we get, but I don't get home 'till around 4:30 so she only gets to be out till the sun goes down



If she used to be on sand, I have to wonder if she might have incidentally ingested too much sand over time and now has gut impaction. An X-ray at the vet would show if this is the case.


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## Tom (Jun 19, 2011)

GTT is right.

If a few days of low or no food, her usual warm afternoon sun, followed by a warm soak, doesn't "wake up" her appetite, I think you need an x-ray. They can go weeks with eating nothing and survive just fine, so don't be squeamish about skipping food for a day or two. Any tortoise that I hibernate goes at least two weeks with no food BEFORE I start the cooling process for hibernation. So a few days will be NO problem. Does she graze outside during her afternoon sunning sessions?

Oh, one more thing. Are you using a coil type florescent bulb for UV?


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## jrholls (Jun 20, 2011)

We've had LBFF for about 6 months now, so I think its unlikely that she's pregnant. She does graze a little on grass and clover outside, and I use and always have used MVB's. I think I'll withhold all food for a couple days and see how she does after that. If two days doesn't make her hungry I think an xray will be in order. Thank you all very much for your suggestions and help, and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.


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## jrholls (Jul 19, 2011)

Sorry its been so long since I wrote, but I just wanted to let you all know LBFF is doing great and eating well, especially since she gets more outside time lately  She also got a new house and I'll post some pics soon. Thanks for all your help.


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## wrmitchell22 (Jul 19, 2011)

Excited to hear she is doing better and I look forward to the new pics


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## lynnedit (Jul 22, 2011)

Thanks for the update. We do like to hear how things turn out, and we especially love pics!


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