good size?

[Konza]

Hey there! I have an 8 month old redfooted tortoise that I bought when he was 3 months old. He is now 3 inches long and weighs 87 g. Does that seem like an appropriate size and weight? It took me a while to get him to eat consistently, and for a while he wasn't gaining any weight at all. I can post his diet if anyone wants to critique it. Thanks guys!

 

[Momof4]

I just looked at my records and my RF was 123 at 10months and 2 3/4". You can't really compare because they do grow at different rates but yours isn't to far from mine. Everyone will ask what your feeding. Have you tried Mazuri?

Some of the things I feed are a variety of dark leafy greens, bell peppers, mushrooms, kiwi, banana, apples, hibiscus, shredded carrot, squashes and mazuri 3x a week. Plus, weeds that I grew from tortoise grazing seeds.

 

[RedfootsRule]

It varies a lot. One of the hatchlings I have currently is right about the same. So yes, it is an OK weight. Wouldn't be a bad idea to post your diet, however.

 

[immayo]

Mine is about the same age as yours and about the same length although mine is a bit heavier. Still pretty close though so I'd assume you are doing alright!

 

[Konza]

Ok whew, at least he's not starving I guess. Here is my diet, I'm sure it's not perfect but I live in a small town and my grocery store isn't the best for fresh produce.

Every day he gets a mixture of mixed greens and shredded carrot that I chop in my cuisinart (95% greens, 5% carrot). Bok choy is his favorite, he goes nuts for it. Every other day he gets something different as a treat (a small piece no bigger than his head). Things I've used include red or orange bell pepper, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, honeydew, and pumpkin. I live in Kansas and there is snow on the ground so I can't use dandelion or things from the yard, which I was doing when it was warmer. So for fiber now he gets a few of the ZooMed forest tortoise food pellets mixed in with his greens (the first 6 ingredients in these pellets are types of chopped hay). I sprinkle calcium powder on his food twice a week (no phosphorus or vit D, he has a lamp for the D3). Recently I started giving him a small pinkie every other week, which he absolutely devours. He also gets 3-4 mealworms about once a month, just for enrichment because he loves to hunt them in his dish.

Thanks for your input!

 

[RedfootsRule]

Sounds pretty good, but what greens exactly do you use? Turnips, collards, mustard greens, radicchio, dandelion greens, are all good choices...And it would be safe and nutritious to add more fruits. all of the fruits you mentioned are very good, along with kiwi, mango, fig, peach, plum, and a couple others. I feed fruit 30-40% of my red foots diet.
Also, I would add more vegetables instead of just carrot. Butternut, acorn, yellow, green squash are all good. Mushrooms such as portabella and oyster are good, and can be used every other feeding safely and nutritiously.
Other then that, your doing pretty good.

 

[Konza]

Whew, I was nervous posting my diet so glad I'm on the right track.

As for greens, I usually buy the spring mix boxed salad at the grocery store, but those wilt pretty fast. I tried collard greens but he won't touch them. He loves dandelion but I can't find it at the store, and it's all dead in my yard now. Is parsley ok to feed? The selection of "dark leafy greens" at my local store is sadly lacking, but I will look for those other foods you suggested. Thank you so much!

 

[RedfootsRule]

You should try hard to add collards to his diet. Mince them very, very small and mix them with the rest so he has to eat it. Its a good way to get it into them. Spring mix is OK, but I would not rely on it to heavily. Parsley can be fed possibly monthly, but other then that no. If you can, I would suggest growing purslane, plantago, chicory, malabar spinach, hibiscus and flowering maple in your yard. The flowers and leaves of all mentioned are very nutritious foods. They can all be purchased in seeds from (carolinapetsupply.com).