Brand new to all of this

[Dizzybird]

Hi everyone, i am brand new to tortoise ownership, but after many years of dropping hints, i have finally got a Horsfield tortoise he is only a few months old, but is very active and loves his food, we have named him Tortellini, and i adore him . I really want to make sure that i am doing things right, and currently he is in a table top enclosure, with a daylight lamp, which he seems to love. (I am saying 'he' but im not sure lol)
I look forward to popping on here for advice, and meeting other tortoise owners.

 

[Crazy1]

Dizzybird, welcome to the forum to you and Tortellini. When asking questions remember a pic is worth a 1000 words and we love our pics. Congratulations on becoming owned by a tort Russians have such great personalities.

 

[terryo]

Welcome Dizzybird...This forum offers a world of information...and has lots of friendly people to help..

 

[Isa]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new family member

 

[jlyoncc1]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Dizzybird:

to the forum!!

Yvonne

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the forum! We would love more pictures and more information about how you keep your Tortellini. Cute name! Does the lamp give off UVB?

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum

Danny

 

[Dizzybird]

Welcome to the forum! We would love more pictures and more information about how you keep your Tortellini. Cute name! Does the lamp give off UVB?

Hi Kate,
Yeah his lamp does give off UVB. He loves a bath in the morning and he adores his food, he is quite friendly and walks up to the side of the enclosure when we go and look in lol!!, having a good old nosey at us humans lol. He does seem to eat alot, and i was wonderining should i be providing fresh food whenever his food is finished? How often do you feed a tortoise? I am demand feeding at the moment, as he seems to graze all day.
I will post some photos on here shortly

 

[tortoisenerd]

Most people feed their tortoise once a day, such as much as they can eat in 20 minutes. I give my tortoise a loose pile of food a little less in volume than he is, if that makes sense. He's slow so 20 minutes won't work for him, but if he leaves food after one time at the pile I fed too much, and if he stands there waiting for more I fed too little. I also weight and measure his shell length (SCL) weekly, recommended monthly for adult tortoises, to track that his growth is steady and he's not getting chubby, or losing weight (which can come with health problems which they may not yet show symptoms).

If a tortoise gets a lot of exercise (such as free graze of a large yard) the amount of food isn't something to worry about much. If they are in a "small" indoor enclosure the tendency is to overfeed. Russians especially are susceptible to being chubby in captivity. If you keep feeding when they finish the food, most tortoises will eat and eat and eat. This is because in the wild they are hibernating more months of the year than awake. When they are awake they will gorge on anything they can find. Also, foods in the wild are of lower nutrition/calories than what we typically feed.

What have you been feeding him? If you keep putting out food, is it guaranteed that it will be gone, or does he sometimes leave food?

The only time I would recommend always leaving food out is if the tortoise is underweight, sick and not eating regularly, or very young (less than a year). I'm no expert though. Just my opinion. I'm sure you'll get some other answers. You can also search the forum to see what everyone else does. Some are even more adamant on the overfeeding than I am, and may like to leave their tortoise hungry, or only feed every 2-3 days. It really varies and is a personal choice.

Looking forward to pictures! Russians are known for being friendly. My little guy will crane his neck up at us looking for food every time!

 

[Dizzybird]

Most people feed their tortoise once a day, such as much as they can eat in 20 minutes. I give my tortoise a loose pile of food a little less in volume than he is, if that makes sense. He's slow so 20 minutes won't work for him, but if he leaves food after one time at the pile I fed too much, and if he stands there waiting for more I fed too little. I also weight and measure his shell length (SCL) weekly, recommended monthly for adult tortoises, to track that his growth is steady and he's not getting chubby, or losing weight (which can come with health problems which they may not yet show symptoms).

If a tortoise gets a lot of exercise (such as free graze of a large yard) the amount of food isn't something to worry about much. If they are in a "small" indoor enclosure the tendency is to overfeed. Russians especially are susceptible to being chubby in captivity. If you keep feeding when they finish the food, most tortoises will eat and eat and eat. This is because in the wild they are hibernating more months of the year than awake. When they are awake they will gorge on anything they can find. Also, foods in the wild are of lower nutrition/calories than what we typically feed.

What have you been feeding him? If you keep putting out food, is it guaranteed that it will be gone, or does he sometimes leave food?

The only time I would recommend always leaving food out is if the tortoise is underweight, sick and not eating regularly, or very young (less than a year). I'm no expert though. Just my opinion. I'm sure you'll get some other answers. You can also search the forum to see what everyone else does. Some are even more adamant on the overfeeding than I am, and may like to leave their tortoise hungry, or only feed every 2-3 days. It really varies and is a personal choice.

Looking forward to pictures! Russians are known for being friendly. My little guy will crane his neck up at us looking for food every time!

Hi Kate
Thanks for that info, i am feeding him daily at the moment, he is only a few months old (not exactly sure how old though) i have been advised to weigh him weekly, to see if he is growing, so i will do that. I am currently feeding him endive, radicihio, water cress and some apple or strawberry, he also loves rose petals, so he's had some of those. Can i ask, does your tortoise pulsate when near his daylight lamp?? i have noticed that when i bath him he does it also, is this normal... i hope you know what i mean lol. All information is really helpful, i have been looking at how people dress their enclosures too, and have taken some ideas that i will use this weekend this site is proving to be very helpful to me .. thankyou

 

[tortoisenerd]

My personal opinion is no fruit, ever. Others disagree. For my tort there are enough very healthy foods he loves that they can be the treat foods. The sugars can be harmful as well as once the tort gets the taste for it, they crave it. Your choice as an owner though. The other variety sounds good. Do you have mixed salad greens like spring mix at grocery stores where you live? Are the rose petals without pesticides? Planning to grow anything else?

Do you mean pulsate like some heavy breathing with arms and head bobbing a bit? They do that when scared, such as around us. Over time it could lessen. I just try to handle my little guy the least I can. Stick my hand in the enclosure and let him get used to it. Make slow movements. Now he knows me and will crane his head up to say hello! It's not anything specific to the light for me.

We'd love to see any enclosure updates you make! Mine is still a work in progress too.

 

[Gulf Coast]