Fat Russian tortoise?

[Britnigilbert]

My tortoise rover is a pig and he bulges out of his shell can they be fat? I feed him a regular diet but he is so pudgy literally if he is wandering around on the floor I have to vacuum first because he will try to eat anything on the ground if I don't watch he eats carpet he will even try to get in to the cat food I have to turtle proof my house! He is a little issue is he missing something in his diet or just a piggy? I have other tortoises and they do not do this I have had him since he was a baby he's 3 and he has always eaten anything he can fit in his mouth!

 

[Tom]

He needs a larger enclosure and a better diet. It is not easy to make them fat, but it can be done. In the warmer months you ought to have a very large, but safe, enclosure outdoors for him so he can burn off the excess calories.

Sometimes they eat abnormal non-food items to compensate for a deficiency. What do you feed him? What is your supplement routine? What do you use for UV?

I would not let a tortoise run around loose like that. Its just a question of time before it ends in disaster.

Can we see a pic of the enclosure? And the tortoise?

 

[Britnigilbert]

I feed him at night and I soak him when I get home then he runs around til I go to bed he has a UVB hood light and he is in a 20 long aquarium but my boyfriend and I are building a huge turtle table he will be in in a few weeks hopfully he's only 3 inches and I can attach pics later I'm at school

 

[Yvonne G]

It would be much better if you put the food down first thing in the morning. That way he has all day to walk around and not get fat. They need a lot of exercise or else not a lot of food.

 

[Tom]

Here is a care sheet for russians. There might be some tips in there that will help you.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-80698.html


Here is a site for more diet info:
http://russiantortoise.net/russiantortoisediet.htm

 

[T33's Torts]

Why is this under adoptions? Maybe a mod could move it, so it'd get more views.