Giving my tort snacks?

[Kiracynthia]

I’m new to the tortoise world. I give my guy his meal in the morning and just a few pieces of greens throughout the day. How many snacks is too many? I don’t want my tortoise to become obese. But hand feeding him a few pieces of greens throughout the day helps us bond. But how many snacks is too many? Btw I have a Russian.

 

[MichaelL]

If he has a large enough enclosure and is fed the right foods, there is absolutely no worry of him becoming obese. I would give a large pile of greens in the morning that he is able to continue snacking on throughout the day whenever he feels like, and then the last scraps that he hasn't eaten should be discarded at the end of each day. Don't give too little that there is nothing left at the end of the day, but also don't give so much that there is a huge pile left and wasted.

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

Agree.. let him eat as much as he wants.. dont forget to get out in ur yard and pick some nice weeds for him

 

[MichaelL]

Also, weeds are very, very important as mentioned above. If you're able, a diet of mainly outdoor weeds would be awesome for your russian.

 

[Kiracynthia]

If he has a large enough enclosure and is fed the right foods, there is absolutely no worry of him becoming obese. I would give a large pile of greens in the morning that he is able to continue snacking on throughout the day whenever he feels like, and then the last scraps that he hasn't eaten should be discarded at the end of each day. Don't give too little that there is nothing left at the end of the day, but also don't give so much that there is a huge pile left and wasted.

I feed him lots of greens like collards, dandelion greens and mustard greens in the morning and he is done eating them within 2-3 hours. So I should give him more I’m the morning and maybe a snack once a day? Also his enclosure is 4ft by 6ft indoors. And he will spend lots of time outside once it’s warm enough. I have planted a few pots of dandelion greens and clovers indoors also. Thank you all for answering. I love this forum!!!

 

[MichaelL]

I feed him lots of greens like collards, dandelion greens and mustard greens in the morning and he is done eating them within 2-3 hours. So I should give him more I’m the morning and maybe a snack once a day? Also his enclosure is 4ft by 6ft indoors. And he will spend lots of time outside once it’s warm enough. I have planted a few pots of dandelion greens and clovers indoors also. Thank you all for answering. I love this forum!!!

That's great, I personally think there is no need for a snack if you just add more food to the morning meal. You can give snacks if you want but the first thing to do is make sure he doesn't run out of food on his food dish. That's a nice sized enclosure, and awesome he'll spend time outside.

 

[Tom]

Tortoises are grazers. He should be able to graze all day every day, on the right foods. Grocery store greens are not the right foods. Grocery store greens lack fiber, lack calcium, have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, and some of them have deleterious compounds in them. I realize that up there in the frozen north, weeds and leaves aren't an option for most of the year, so you'll need to add amendments to the grocery store greens to make them more suitable. First, favor endive and escarole as your main staples. Use the other ones you mentioned, along with arugula, cilantro and more for some variety. You can use Mazuri tortoise chow, soaked ZooMed grassland pellets, herbal hay from tortoisesupply.com, sprouted wheat grass, or Will @Kapidolo Farms has all sorts of dried leaves you can mix in. Using all of the above would be the best option. Be prepared for a lengthy introduction process for these new foods. Most tortoises don't take to new stuff very quickly. Start slow with very small amounts, and be persistent. Don't give up after trying a new food once or twice. It may take weeks to get them eating something new.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

No disrespect to Tom, but my whole house with lot would fit into one of his tortoise enclosures, I have more tortoises than my backyard will support, frankly it's not large enough to support a group of leopards. I have found ways to make grocery store greens work. Most zoos (take them or leave them) do not have sufficient space for tortoises to graze, they get browse and grocery greens and commercial diets. Of coarse it is much less expensive to maintain a large grazing yard than buying grocery greens as well.

It's not so complicated to harvest weeds and dry them when there is an abundance, or to get them off season from my store or elsewhere. Dried pelleted horse foods are also a good way to increase fiber and nutrient density, a less expensive alternative to ZooMed. I avoid Mazuri.

From the grocery store are many good greens that provide the base for a salad. Escarole (an endive) which are all domestic chicories, are a best grocery green, but romaine, green leaf, red leaf, spring mix (even with spinach in the mix), kales*, collards, dandelion greens, and others are all good choices.

My salad making has about 20 heads of greens, so keep in mind that scaling it down for one tortoise would be easier and harder at the same time.

I use organic chicken layer crumbles, ZooMed pellets and mix in any one or two dried organic "weeds", my base of grocery greens is romaine, colored kales, endives, and spring mix.

* No evidence anywhere (prove me wrong) that kales are goitrogenic in tortoises.

 

[jsheffield - In Memoriam]

If you're feeding your tortoise the right things in the right amounts, there's no such thing as too much....

Jamie

 

[RosemaryDW]

Agreed, let them walk around in a big enough enclosure and they’ll burn it off. Let him eat all day.

I do give my Russian a couple of “treats” once or twice a month, although they are actually more for nutrients I think aren’t in greens. Examples include a one-inch chunk of yam; the very top of a large carrot; a one inch chunk of pumpkin, something orange. A small mushroom; a couple of inches of any summer squash, such as zucchini; a few inches of red pepper; a couple of inches of cucumber. Foods that are higher in protein, such as a green bean. She also gets foods that are higher in protein regularly in her greens: fenugreek, the seed heads that are forming on wild mallow and any of the dandelion relatives (she loves these); pea shoots.

She also gets foods higher in sugar, as she can graze flowers from our garden most of the year.

To me, this is what meant as the varied diet we so often mention. Mostly, but not entirely greens.

 

[RosemaryDW]

On a different note, if you are looking for something wild near you, I think you might find yarrow? My Russian loves to graze on it much of the year.

Plenty of other weeds, if you are anywhere near an open area. They may not be the foods we regularly mention here but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good to feed. If you aren’t sure of something, post it in the diet thread; one of us should know if it’s safe.

Also, I forgot to say “Welcome!”

 

[Kiracynthia]

On a different note, if you are looking for something wild near you, I think you might find yarrow? My Russian loves to graze on it much of the year.

Plenty of other weeds, if you are anywhere near an open area. They may not be the foods we regularly mention here but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good to feed. If you aren’t sure of something, post it in the diet thread; one of us should know if it’s safe.

Also, I forgot to say “Welcome!”

My backyard is all natural so it’s fillef with yarrow, dandelions, clovers etc. and we have never used weed killer in the 24 years we have had the house. I do live in Alaska so I am waiting for the snow to melt. We are on the way to spring and it’s starting to rain this week. By end of May it will me 65 degrees. And hopefully by June I can start taking my guy outside! Thank you for everything!!