I don't plan on hibernating my rt. Here in Hawaii it doesn't get much lower than 60's at the most. However, I am afraid that he may overeat and become obese. I'm afraid that he is eating to muh. I feed him a romain lettuce leaf and he is still hungary. He also eats some hibiscus leaves. Am i over feeding him? Thanks!
hibernation
- Thread starter GmasterFJ
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In the wild, Russians have a pretty short period of time when they are not hibernating, and because of this, they tend to eat as much food as they can find. However, in the wild, they have to wander great distances to find their food, getting quite a bit of exercise in the process. You would think that being a small tortoise a Russian can be kept in a small container...wrong! They need a large habitat so they can get plenty of exercise. If you can't set them up outside, then you need to get the largest container you possibly can.
Romaine lettuce with the occasional hibiscus is NOT a good diet for a Russian tortoise. They require a great variety of foods in their diet. Here is just a sample of the things you can feed:
Clover, Coreopsis, Daisy, Dandelion, endive, escarole, gazania, geranium, grape leaves, hibiscus, holly hocks, honeysuckle, kale, mallow, nasturtium, netle, opuntia, petunia, roses, sedum, spider plant, violet, pansy, wandering jew, watercress, zinnia, mustard greens, bell pepper, parsley, turnip greens, collards, etc.
There is also a product sold in grocery stores called "Spring Mix." It is a mixture of the young leaves of dark, leafy greens. It is in the packaged salad part of the produce section.
Yvonne
Romaine lettuce with the occasional hibiscus is NOT a good diet for a Russian tortoise. They require a great variety of foods in their diet. Here is just a sample of the things you can feed:
Clover, Coreopsis, Daisy, Dandelion, endive, escarole, gazania, geranium, grape leaves, hibiscus, holly hocks, honeysuckle, kale, mallow, nasturtium, netle, opuntia, petunia, roses, sedum, spider plant, violet, pansy, wandering jew, watercress, zinnia, mustard greens, bell pepper, parsley, turnip greens, collards, etc.
There is also a product sold in grocery stores called "Spring Mix." It is a mixture of the young leaves of dark, leafy greens. It is in the packaged salad part of the produce section.
Yvonne
Agree! The question to overfeeding can be answered with his weight and Straight Carapace Length vs. other torts, how he fits in the shell, how smooth and healthy the growth is, etc. With lots of exercise and a healthy balanced diet it's hard to overfeed, but that is rare in captivity unless you have a large outdoor enclosure with lots of weeds and greens. I track my tort's growth weekly (for an adult tort you'd do this monthly) and compare his growth to the McIntryre growth chart for Russians. How much do you feed that he is still hungry? How do you know he is still hungry? Can you provide pictures as well as a current weight in grams and his shell length (SCL)?
just feed him every other 3 days or even every 4 days, I fed my russians 2x a week, they will over eat, but its also really hard to starve a russian tortoise... i would just cut back the feeding of an adult russian to every other day or ever 3 days. i also never track my tortoise, growth, never weighed them or measure them. I just let them do there thing... only time i ever really weighed them was my box turtles when they were gravid to see if she dropped the eggs yet, lol..
I personally diagree with this approach but to each his own. I would rather feed a small amount daily--makes me and the tort happy. I think my tort would gorge if he didn't get fed daily.
Miller-Do your torts ever "beg" on the off food days, or did they at first when you got them or started this routine?
Miller-Do your torts ever "beg" on the off food days, or did they at first when you got them or started this routine?
they never really begged, they were kept outdoors so if they wanted to eat they ate the weeds which were all through the enclosure, I had two enclosure and would switch it off because they would eat it almost bold. But with all my tortoises i feed them every other day, no matter what breed, My mountain tortoises feed every other day and they are only a year old. They get use to getting fed every other day, and don't even expect to get food on the day off. But there are many ways to tortoises, its hard to starve any type of tortoise, and even when i feed them every other day they dont even eat all the food i give them, I've done this with leopards, Sulcatas, Russians, stars, box turtles, greeks, hermanns tortoises and now my mt. tortoises.
I would have stated they have graze of weeds! That is a whole different story than an indoor enclosure. What do you recommend for feeding schedule for a tort who does not graze? I feed my tort once a day, sometimes an afternoon snack, and he cleans his plate about 90% of the time recently.
when my russians were outside they i would feed them 2x a week, The rest would be indoors or not grazing because they were young or didnt graze for some reason, then i would feed every other day. I go every other day with all the russians always seem like they are hungry and will eat a whole plate every day if given the chance. Like Yvonne stated they are only active 3-4 months out of the year if that in the wild. Within those months they eat a lot and pack on a bunch of wait for the long hibernation. In captivity they don't hibernate that long, and some dont even hibernate, and its really easy to over feed a russian tortoise, they will eat as much as you give them by instinct, thats why there are a lot of fat russians. If you feed your russian every other day or every 3 days even they wont starve. the person who started the thread is scared he will feed him to much, i'm just saying cutting back the feeding to every other day will help with it.. and the tortoise wont get mad, he wont even expect anything on the day off. Russians go long periods of time without food. But there is not one way at rasing a tortoise either.. if you plan to feed everyday like most do, feed less,
so over all every day but less food would be alright, every other day would also be fine.. With my russians i would go even every 3 days without grazing..
so over all every day but less food would be alright, every other day would also be fine.. With my russians i would go even every 3 days without grazing..
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