Constantly searching for food

[Island_of_Misfit_Toys]

How often should I be offering food to my 2.5 year old Redfoot? She was malnourished when we got her, and the vet had suggested we offer her small portions of greens throughout the day and one main "meal" in the evening-alternating veggies and fruit and a small amount of protein every seventh day.

Now that she's good and healthy I've cut it back to a small amount of greens in the morning and her main course in the evening. From all the reading I've done it seems I should only be feeding her once daily, but even at her current schedule she is constantly checking her food bowl and digging around looking for food. As I've scaled her back she seemed to have anxiety issues and would tear her cage apart searching. It has gotten a little better now that she's in a bigger (yet still temporary) cage but she spends a lot of time pacing and checking her bowl. If I'm the slightest bit late on her meals she is flipping her bowls and climbing the walls.

How do I alleviate her food issues while maintaining a healthy feeding schedule? What am I doing right/wrong? How much should she ideally be eating in a day?

Thanks

 

[ascott]

How often should I be offering food to my 2.5 year old Redfoot? She was malnourished when we got her, and the vet had suggested we offer her small portions of greens throughout the day and one main "meal" in the evening-alternating veggies and fruit and a small amount of protein every seventh day.

Now that she's good and healthy I've cut it back to a small amount of greens in the morning and her main course in the evening. From all the reading I've done it seems I should only be feeding her once daily, but even at her current schedule she is constantly checking her food bowl and digging around looking for food. As I've scaled her back she seemed to have anxiety issues and would tear her cage apart searching. It has gotten a little better now that she's in a bigger (yet still temporary) cage but she spends a lot of time pacing and checking her bowl. If I'm the slightest bit late on her meals she is flipping her bowls and climbing the walls.

How do I alleviate her food issues while maintaining a healthy feeding schedule? What am I doing right/wrong? How much should she ideally be eating in a day?

Thanks

I may get some disagreements on this, however, given that you say your tortoise was previously fed poorly, it is important to give her food....I would say that if your tort wants food then give her some..perhaps even dropping in some seeds to let sprouts grow so that she can graze some as well....perhaps put some additional plants in her enclosure to give her something to munch on and to also break up her line of sight in her enclosure....I have not ever ran into a tortoise that was "fat"...so if she is moving and eating then she should be fine...again, if you wait around some ..the others will give you their great opinions as well

 

[Madkins007]

Wild tortoises graze all day on rather low-quality foods- they are programmed to do this. In captivity, we tend to offer a big, nutrient-rich meal and confuse the poor bairns.

Try offering the nutrient-rich stuff once a day, then offering lower-nutrient things the rest of the day. Lettuces, greens, cabbages, kale, flowers, edible tree and plant leaves, mushrooms, and things like celery and other edible stalks would work for this. Even Iceberg and Romaine lettuces can be used as long other parts of the diet are rich in calcium, fiber, etc.

 

[Island_of_Misfit_Toys]

Wild tortoises graze all day on rather low-quality foods- they are programmed to do this. In captivity, we tend to offer a big, nutrient-rich meal and confuse the poor bairns.

Try offering the nutrient-rich stuff once a day, then offering lower-nutrient things the rest of the day. Lettuces, greens, cabbages, kale, flowers, edible tree and plant leaves, mushrooms, and things like celery and other edible stalks would work for this. Even Iceberg and Romaine lettuces can be used as long other parts of the diet are rich in calcium, fiber, etc.

Great, sounds like we're on the right track then! Once we get her enclosure built she will have a grazing area available and I won't worry so much, but for now I've been giving greens in the morning and veggies or fruit and the occasional protein at night.

 

[Tony the tank]

I don't know if hatchlings are different than sub adults... But my boys never actually sit still and eat... They take a few bites walk the enclosure and go back take a few bites.. And this goes on throughout the day..and I believe it's like others have said they are programmed to graze throughout the day..always looking for food...

I believe an animal that always gets use to having food available is more prone to free feed without over eating..Than an animal that has to worry if food will be available later on and tries to load up when it's available.... Again this is just my opinion and what I have noticed with my animals...