Fat Russian? Again

[RosemaryDW]

Our tortoise had a checkup before we put her into the fridge this year and the vet said she was overweight. What? "No," I said. "Look at those beautiful fat pads on her rear legs; that's how she's supposed to look."

The vet said she had a duty to tell me and left it at that. Addy is big, over three pounds, but her weight has been steady for almost three years, she's only gained a hundred grams in that time. She's also been to our vet more than once during that time; no other vet ever said she was fat. She's active in our yard. I couldn't get a great picture but her back legs do look a little pudgy when she's laying/sitting down. I understand one of the measures for weight is whether a tortoise can pull their legs entirely into the shell. Unfortunately this tortoise isn't afraid of us enough to snap in! I think she was pretty drawn up during estivation but didn't think to really check on it until after she came out this year.

My question isn't entirely that she's fat, it's how she could be fat when she is moving all the time? We do feed her some but that's because she'll destroy the yard if we don't put something out there. She doesn't eat like a pig the way she did for the first years we had her; I wondered how she didn't explode some days.

How would I get her to lose weight when she can and does free feed in our yard?

Addy at 1,440 grams; 7 1/8 inches long; 5 3/4 inches wide. Not the best picture; she was insistent on trying to get up that door sill and wouldn't walk any other direction. She's letting it all hang out here; this is not how she looks when she's walking!

 

[Yvonne G]

I wouldn't worry about it. It's normal for russians to eat as much as they can during good weather because that's the way they are hard wired. Where they come from food is scarce and the good weather is short in duration. This is how they've evolved. Let her be.

 

[Tom]

I agree with Yvonne. If this tortoise has a yard sized enclosure, is active each day, and is eating a weedy diet, I would not worry about it.

The only time I've seen this be a problem is a lethargic Russian, in a small indoor enclosure, eating a rich grocery store diet that is too low in fiber.

 

[MsBijou]

I think that the vet is right. Most vets don’t have the energy to continue to try to convince people that their pets are overweight because so many owners don’t agree for some reason. Tortoises shouldn’t have fat pads. What is growing in your yard? Weeds and flowers or grass? And do you know what type of grass? Also, what do you feed it? You may want to do a Google search about fat tortoises. It’s very unhealthy for a tortoise to carry extra weight.

 

[TaylorTortoise]

I agree with Yvonne. If this tortoise has a yard sized enclosure, is active each day, and is eating a weedy diet, I would not worry about it.

The only time I've seen this be a problem is a lethargic Russian, in a small indoor enclosure, eating a rich grocery store diet that is too low in fiber.

Tom what are some things that are high in fiber as a staple for russian tortoises?

 

[Tom]

Tom what are some things that are high in fiber as a staple for russian tortoises?

Most weeds. Mulberry, hibiscus and grape leaves. You can soak some ZooMed pellets and mix that in with grocery store foods. Same with horse hay pellets.

 

[RosemaryDW]

I think that the vet is right. Most vets don’t have the energy to continue to try to convince people that their pets are overweight because so many owners don’t agree for some reason. Tortoises shouldn’t have fat pads. What is growing in your yard? Weeds and flowers or grass? And do you know what type of grass? Also, what do you feed it? You may want to do a Google search about fat tortoises. It’s very unhealthy for a tortoise to carry extra weight.

My tortoise gets offered, on average, a hundred different types of food each year and she is closely monitored. About 95% leaves; no grass; and I don't leave many flowers on the ground. Her fiber intake is off the charts. I am extremely lucky in where I live (Southern California) in terms of what I can offer her. Same goes for our yard, which is all native plants for our dry and scrubby landscape; nothing lush.

I am pretty sure a Russian wants some weight on when they go down for the season, as they are out so long? That is my general recollection. She is a very intense wild-caught Russian who plumps up through July or so; then slowly loses a bit as she stops eating before hibernation. Like clockwork.

I will go with my gut and the feedback here. The one and only comment our vet has made previously was when we found her, he said she had "room to grow." Usually they give her an A+ so this was just odd. Pretty sure my chart also says "this owner is perpetually anxious about non issues; pretend she's not crazy and send her home."

 

[MsBijou]

"this owner is perpetually anxious about non issues; pretend she's not crazy and send her home."

Well, that makes two of us! 😂 You have a very lucky tortoise ❤️

 

[mark1]

some find interest in an article like below ....... this claims to be the first , but it certainly wasn't the last . i've seen others done on this same subject , for russians , other tortoise and turtle species ...... one had looked at the nutritional quality of the plants growing in these tortoises habitats ......


Foraging behaviour and diet of an ectothermic herbivore: Testudo horsfieldi

Foraging behaviour and diet of an ectothermic herbivore: Testudo horsfieldi

Fre´de´ric Lagarde, Xavier Bonnet, Johanna Corbin, Brian Henen, Ken Nagy, Baktjior Mardonov and Guy Naulleau Lagarde, F., Bonnet, X., Corbin, J., Henen, B., Nagy, K., Mardonov, B. and Naulleau, G. 2003. Foraging behaviour and diet of an ectothermic herbivore: Testudo horsfieldi. – Ecography 26: 236–242.

Herbivorous vertebrates of arid regions are frequently faced with inadequate food quality, quantity or both. The time and energy devoted to foraging is vital to balancing their energy budgets. For desert ectotherms, a low metabolism should be advantageous, reducing their total energy requirement, but extreme ambient temperatures can strongly constrain these animals’ activity periods. We provide the first data on the activity budgets, foraging behaviour and diet of a highly abundant, desert dwelling, herbivorous ectotherm, the steppe tortoise Testudo horsfieldi. Extreme climatic conditions of Central Asia limit steppe tortoise’s activity to only three months per year. They remain inactive most of their ‘‘active season’’ (90%), and spend very little time foraging (<15 min per day). This suggests that steppe tortoises can satisfy their energy requirements with modest feeding efforts. Interestingly, steppe tortoises avoid feeding on grass species and feed mostly on plant species that are usually highly toxic to mammals. This suggests that steppe tortoises and ungulates do not compete for food.

F. Lagarde ([email protected]), X. Bonnet, J. Corbin and G. Naulleau, Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chize´-CNRS, F-79360 Villiers en Bois, France. – B. Henen, Dept of Zoology, Biodiersity and Conseration Biology, Uni. of Western Cape, Belille 7535, South Africa. – K. Nagy, Dept of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Eolution, 621 Young South Drie, Uni. of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA. – B. Mardono, Samarkand Di. of the Academy of Sciences, 40 Djisakskaya St., Samarkand, 703032, Uzbekistan.

 

[TammyJ]

some find interest in an article like below ....... this claims to be the first , but it certainly wasn't the last . i've seen others done on this same subject , for russians , other tortoise and turtle species ...... one had looked at the nutritional quality of the plants growing in these tortoises habitats ......


Foraging behaviour and diet of an ectothermic herbivore: Testudo horsfieldi

Foraging behaviour and diet of an ectothermic herbivore: Testudo horsfieldi

Fre´de´ric Lagarde, Xavier Bonnet, Johanna Corbin, Brian Henen, Ken Nagy, Baktjior Mardonov and Guy Naulleau Lagarde, F., Bonnet, X., Corbin, J., Henen, B., Nagy, K., Mardonov, B. and Naulleau, G. 2003. Foraging behaviour and diet of an ectothermic herbivore: Testudo horsfieldi. – Ecography 26: 236–242.

Herbivorous vertebrates of arid regions are frequently faced with inadequate food quality, quantity or both. The time and energy devoted to foraging is vital to balancing their energy budgets. For desert ectotherms, a low metabolism should be advantageous, reducing their total energy requirement, but extreme ambient temperatures can strongly constrain these animals’ activity periods. We provide the first data on the activity budgets, foraging behaviour and diet of a highly abundant, desert dwelling, herbivorous ectotherm, the steppe tortoise Testudo horsfieldi. Extreme climatic conditions of Central Asia limit steppe tortoise’s activity to only three months per year. They remain inactive most of their ‘‘active season’’ (90%), and spend very little time foraging (<15 min per day). This suggests that steppe tortoises can satisfy their energy requirements with modest feeding efforts. Interestingly, steppe tortoises avoid feeding on grass species and feed mostly on plant species that are usually highly toxic to mammals. This suggests that steppe tortoises and ungulates do not compete for food.

F. Lagarde ([email protected]), X. Bonnet, J. Corbin and G. Naulleau, Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chize´-CNRS, F-79360 Villiers en Bois, France. – B. Henen, Dept of Zoology, Biodiersity and Conseration Biology, Uni. of Western Cape, Belille 7535, South Africa. – K. Nagy, Dept of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Eolution, 621 Young South Drie, Uni. of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA. – B. Mardono, Samarkand Di. of the Academy of Sciences, 40 Djisakskaya St., Samarkand, 703032, Uzbekistan.

Always learning here!

 

[RosemaryDW]

Our desert tortoises feed on a similar pattern, brief morning and evening periods so that seems a likely pattern for Russians as well.

Someone needs to tell my Russian about this however! She does tend to take a food break in the afternoon, then eating whatever is left before bedtime. Can't say the same for the morning.

Until it gets quite warm she takes a slow loop of the yard every hour or so. Most trips involve plenty of rock climbing and knocking things down. If she finds something of interest out there she'll usually take a bite, or two or three.

Yesterday she got a fair amount of gongura (a type of hibiscus) and some ong choy (water lily—it's related to sweet potatoes and bindweed). Today is squash vines. She goes through at least half a pound of food per week. Much of the yard is still eaten to the ground and/or walled off from her.

She's always been a big eater and active. Otherwise she seems "normal" for a wild caught Russian. Energetic in spring; very intent on hibernating in the fall. Like clockwork.

Perhaps she came from one of the areas where food is more plentiful; there are some habitats with water sources. Who knows.

 

[TammyJ]

You can ensure that she gets maximum exercise by placing the food in widely separated, very small bunches so she really has to walk to get to each one.