Can a tortoise be fat?

[Yelloweyed]

@Carol S, is this normal for a Russian tort? The plastron seems as rounded as the carapace.

Am I feeding her too much? I feed her a handful as big as she is; she usually can't eat it all.

 

[Rue]

If I had to guess...and I'm still well in the guessing phase...looks a little overweight to me...

How old?

 

[wellington]

Yes, tortoises can get fat. I only have one male and he is smaller and flatter plastron then yours, but that could be the difference between the sexes.
@Tom might be able to help here or @Yvonne G

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, and Russians are one of the ones that do get too fat. BUT!!! It's not the shell that gets fat, it's the tissue poking out of the leg holes. Because Russian tortoises have evolved to roam over great distances searching for food, when we keep them in small containers and feed them a lot, they don't get enough exercise and they get fat.

 

[Carol S]

How do her legs look; does she have fat thighs?

 

[tortadise]

@Carol S, is this normal for a Russian tort? The plastron seems as rounded as the carapace.

Am I feeding her too much? I feed her a handful as big as she is; she usually can't eat it all.

View attachment 167813

I covered this in a mother thread with a member asking of proper amounts to feed. In a nutshell, as that post was quite lengthy.

3 things to consider.
Space(room, area, size, and availability)
Temperature/Humidity
Food

These 3 items are rather pertinant to tortoises or turtles. Of course it can vary from specie to species. But all in all in a nutshell those matter most. If you overfeed, which can be relevant to size of enclosure along with heat and humidity and the specimen has not enough space to "excercise" or roam properly than yes they can obtain obese conditions.

With Russian tortoises they are extremely limited to activity levels in their natural behavioral and anatomical conditions of being "awake" and out of hibernation. This of course can vary greatly depending on locality. Russians are found in a very large range that varies from extreme snow/ice winters to dry/warm winters. Anyways they(Russian tortoises)all coincide with a similar unique behavior. That behavior hinges on spring activation into being awake and ready to breed, eat and survive.

Naturally the Russian tortoise (whichever locale) has a large mapping range., and short lived timeframe to breed before the next winter. So this makes this species extremely "aggressive" in finding, searching, and wondering where they will Find a mate and they forage or consume on the path or route to define there need to "survive". So they naturally have a very high strung metabolism and desire to keep moving as quickly they can provide.

So this would enable a need to keep Russians in a much larger enclosed keeping perimeter than others. Heat/humidity is quite simple with these guys really. So no real need to touch on that. Main issue with these guys is feeding large, and very large variety of weeds, flowers and grasses and offering a much larger (than most desire or have room for really) space to keep this species in. If kept awake during winter or cooler temps feed much smaller portions and always allow as large of an enclosure as possible.

 

[Yelloweyed]

Thanks @tortadise

Her new outdoor enclosure is 9'x5' with varying elevations (4" to 2'), three hides, two terra cotta water dishes and plants everywhere. She only goes out for about two hours a day. Her inside enclosure is only 4'x2'. Should I make it larger?