Cherry heads eating too much or too little?

[Jackson7]

Hello,

I have 2 cherry heads Cherry and Berry. They are the same age, about 5.5 in long. about a month ago we moved them to their new enclosures. With the new set up I changed to feeding them everyday and leaving the food in the enclosure all day. It took them a little while to get comfortable in the new enclosure and start acting more normal. These last couple weeks I've noticed that Cherry is eating about twice as much as Berry and I'm trying to figure out if one of them is eating to much or two little.

The feeding schedule was 4 days of Collard Greens, 2 Days of mango, 4 days of Mustard and Turnip greens and today I gave them Yellow squash. Protein day is 2 days form now.
I gave them each 2 big collard green leafs (the leaf is bigger than they are): Cherry ate 2 all the way down to the fibrous stem, Berry ate almost all of the bigger one.
Over the course of 2 days they ate a whole mango. I gave Berry a little extra because I thought maybe he just didn't like collard greens. Cherry did not eat the mango skin, Berry did.
I gave them a similar about of Mustard and Turnip greens. The leafs were a smaller so it hard to tell exactly but berry ate noticeably less.
The days not over yet but Cherry has eaten a little more squash.

(I'm thinking ill switch to 2 days green 1 days fruit cycle in the future)

I know eating less can be a sigh of something wrong so that's what I'm worried about. They both seem alert, I see them walking around, their eyes are clear.
Is Berry eating to little? eating a leaf the size of you seems like a lot, but cherry ate two of them.
Cherry has always like greens more than Berry. Am I feeding them too much fruit, giving Berry the option to eat less greens?
Is Berry actually eating a fine amount and Cherry is eating a lot or too much? Berry is eating, and seems pretty enthusiastic about it when I catch him in the act.
Its winter here and they can see the sun, could 2 different turtles respond differently to the season change. They are separated but there environment is identical.

Thanks ahead of time, let me know if there is any helpful info I forgot to include

 

[wellington]

First, you will have one falling behind always, when kept in pairs. Never keep tortoises in pairs. So you need to change that number one.
Two, if they have a proper sized enclosure, they can't really over eat. They need to be fed enough daily that they can graze off and on all day.

 

[Jackson7]

First, you will have one falling behind always, when kept in pairs. Never keep tortoises in pairs. So you need to change that number one.
Two, if they have a proper sized enclosure, they can't really over eat. They need to be fed enough daily that they can graze off and on all day.

Should have be more specific. They are not kept together. Just in the same room.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Im curious as to why you have such a limited diet for them. They can eat hundreds of things. And they thrive on variety. Try to add more items and don't worry about any sort of food schedule.
They're usually big eaters. I'm thinking that one was just more upset about the move than the other. Are they both drinking water? As long as they're staying hydrated I wouldn't be worried yet

 

[Maggie3fan]

I really do appreciate how orderly you are about feeding...making it harder on yourself. I just have 1 RF but he eats like Sulcata...and I mean anything from boiled eggs to canned mushrooms, many berries, Spring mix to pasture grass. Don't limit him so much...he will and can eat a lot. My guy is 6.5'scl and he grazes off and on all day. Here's some spaghetti squash

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I really do appreciate how orderly you are about feeding...making it harder on yourself. I just have 1 RF but he eats like Sulcata...and I mean anything from boiled eggs to canned mushrooms, many berries, Spring mix to pasture grass. Don't limit him so much...he will and can eat a lot. My guy is 6.5'scl and he grazes off and on all day. Here's some spaghetti squashView attachment 363396

Like my friend @Maggie3fan says. The list of what they won't or can't eat is quite short.
What they CAN eat is damned near anything.
RF are fantastic that way. Take advantage of it.

 

[Jackson7]

I was worried about over feeding them high calorie foods like fruit, which is where the schedule came from. Sounds like I don't have to worry about that?

So when you say that food schedule has low variety do you mean:
That's a low amount of different foods to have over the course of 2 weeks?
1 type of food per day is low?
not enough foods that aren't greens or fruits?
All of the above?

Can it take a tortoise more than a month to adjust to a big change? They have 5 hides of different sizes. Cherry will hangout in a few of them and sleeps in 2 different ones, but Berry really only stays in the one hide I brought over from his old enclosure, so you might be on to something.

They both know where the water is and how to use it. (took Cherry a minute to figure it out but she got there). I can tell by the substrate they drag in they are in there they go in every three or four days. I soak them in the tub every week or so just to make sure.

Sounds like I don't have to worry about over feeding them as long as they have enough room to walk around. It also sounds like I don't need to worry about berry eating too little at the moment? For the future how little is too little?

I hear flowers and grasses are common choices, where do people usually get them? Do they grow there own?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Overall diet composition looks like that:
Fruit - 40-60%, vegetables and leafy greens - 40-60%, protein - 20-30% (animal protein 10-15%). That's more than 100%, because you can change the proportions depending on what's available in stores, seasonability and so (e.g. less fruit in the winter, or give them some break after portion of chicken meat). To some extent they can self-regulate their food preference (e.g. leave out fruit and eat more greens), however bananas always win over broccoli and mushrooms win over carrots.

Variety is about providing more different types of food, mostly. No one expects you to chop "tropical flora mix of 150 plants" every day. Just don't stick for mango or strawberries as fruit - papaya, guava, dragonfruit, couple of cherry tomatoes, pumpkin or sweet potato, piece of banana etc. - rotate it when possible. Same for greens. Other food sources are mushrooms, hard boiled eggs, low fat boiled meat, invertebrates, shrimps. And opuntia pads for sure. Almost any food type has it's flaws and good sides (hence they are usually marked as "feed in moderation as a part of varied diet" Greens and grasses are sometimes home-grown or harvested around the neighbourhood, yet there are "ethnical stores" where you can get grape leaves, cactus pads, okra and whatever else. Depending on climate you may have an access to hibiscus leaves and flowers, mulberry leaves, dandelions, plantain, clover and such.

One month to adapt for the new enclosures is usually enough, but it could be more. Tortoises have some "personality traits" (depending on specie, sex, age, hierarchy position, etc.). Red-footed females tend to hide more, males are more active and exploring (and there are exclusions on both sides). Using more hides or prefer only one might depend on scents, temperature, humidity and ambient light in the hides, feeling that hide is "compromised".

About eating too little or too much - start a "weight log" (weight them weekly or two times a week). Losing weight is usually a warning sign. Slow but steady grow - is okay.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I was worried about over feeding them high calorie foods like fruit, which is where the schedule came from. Sounds like I don't have to worry about that?

So when you say that food schedule has low variety do you mean:
That's a low amount of different foods to have over the course of 2 weeks?
1 type of food per day is low?
not enough foods that aren't greens or fruits?
All of the above?

Can it take a tortoise more than a month to adjust to a big change? They have 5 hides of different sizes. Cherry will hangout in a few of them and sleeps in 2 different ones, but Berry really only stays in the one hide I brought over from his old enclosure, so you might be on to something.

They both know where the water is and how to use it. (took Cherry a minute to figure it out but she got there). I can tell by the substrate they drag in they are in there they go in every three or four days. I soak them in the tub every week or so just to make sure.

Sounds like I don't have to worry about over feeding them as long as they have enough room to walk around. It also sounds like I don't need to worry about berry eating too little at the moment? For the future how little is too little?

I hear flowers and grasses are common choices, where do people usually get them? Do they grow there own?

Fruit can make up to 60% of the diet. Don't load up on any one thing and just let them eat.
Yesterday I fed my four RF a pile of hibiscus leaves and flowers. Some white mushrooms and some sliced zucchini. Today was all Fruit. Banana, papaya, mango and blackberries. Even I don't know what they're getting fed some days.
I just rotate the menu.
There's no need to do a list or a schedule unless that's something that you like to do.
I agree on weighing tortoises periodically as a good way of determining overall health. But I'd only do so once a month. Because there are just too many day to day fluctuations that would mean nothing. But scare you if you were not as experienced. Such as just the tortoises level of hydration or if they pooped recently. Etc. You'd be looking for constant weight gains in a still growing RF. Or consistent weight in an adult.
I weigh and give mine a physical exam about every two months unless I have reason to suspect that one is ill.

 

[Jackson7]

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate the in depth responses. It really helps build a knowledge base. More foods it is.

I had taken their weights a couple times already and so I took them again. Steady growth, and they are both the same weight and size, so I'm not worried about that any more.

 

[Jennpaints]

I like the names Cherry and Berry.

Like other people have posted, variety is the spice of life with RFs. Mine will practically eat anything. I grow a lot of different things for them and always hit up new grocery stores/produce stands when I can. They will eat about any fruit and we discovered ours loves canary melon. I’m also lucky because they’ve never turned down anything green or weeds.

 

[Tom]

Should have be more specific. They are not kept together. Just in the same room.

Oh this is great news. Thank you.