Food Amounts?

[hunterk997]

Have a Russian tortoise, she is 4 inches long and 3.5 wide. I feed her with a glass bowl, it's maybe three inches deep, I feel it a little over half way, but some nights, she goes back to her food bowl and looks for more food. So is there a certain amount I should feed her? Will she over ear if fed too much?

 

[Tom]

First you need to change that food bowl. 3" is much too deep. Your tortoise could flip over in there and get stuck upside down, and glass is much too slick. Use a terra cotta plant saucer, butter tub lid, or flat piece of slate.

I like to feed my tortoises as much as they want. If they are getting plenty of exercise in a large outdoor pen they will not get fat or grow too fast. Ideally they should have free run of a large outdoor pen that is planted with all sorts of broadleaf weeds, and they can graze all day.

 

[hunterk997]

So I actually measures the dish it's actually only an inch deep if that. I have no perception of length without a ruler or tape measure.

 

[Spn785]

I would still switch to a terra cota plant saucer, they are pretty cheap at a garden store. I think you should give them a pile of food as big as their shell, and if they eat it all, give a little more. Using slate or a terra cota saucer will help keep the beak trimmed down, whereas the glass won't. An inch is probably still a little high.