How much protein is too much?

[Pearly]

This is not about my meal preparation for my two yearling grand-torts. This is about theiroutdoor time. I've noticed that while outdoors they keep munching on snails and bugs almost the whole time they are out. For the most part I tend to attribute it to their natural behavior but there is a another part of me that tend to overthink and overanalyze stuff... Should I be concerned? My garden seems to be infested with small snails this year. Literally! I've not seen this many snails here in 20years and ofcourse I no longer use snail&slug bait tocontrol them... The babies will be spending all day outside soon... Should i worry about them maybe getting more protein than their organs are made to handle???

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I would not worry at all.
They are the vacuum cleaners of the tortoise world.

 

[Pearly]

I would not worry at all.
They are the vacuum cleaners of the tortoise world.

That's what my gut was telling me, but yesyerday evening had them in tort garden while I was working the soil there and weeding the kids watched the babies... Omg! For couple hrs they never stopped! It was reallycool to watch how they raked the soil and moved things out of the way to get to their "prize". So cute!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I suppose mine eat them too. Although I seldom see them eat an insect or worm, the pen is mysteriously free of them.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Hi Pearly, this is not simply neutral, I'd say it is good. Snails are high in calcium. I have indoor tortoises who will "plow" through their substrate to get isopods (rolly pollys). I offer snails to all my indoor hingebacks.

In term of tortoises in the technical phylogeny sense, hingebacks, redfoots, and a few other are more like giant box turtles than say the mindset of traditional tortoises like a Testudo or sulcata.

 

[Anyfoot]

Well said Will.

I've observed my reds on many occasions sieving through soil in search of critters. They usually start at the bottom of an incline of bare soil and work up the hill using their snouts to search. Often taking in actual soil and small stones too. Cool to watch.

 

[Pearly]

I would not worry at all.
They are the vacuum cleaners of the tortoise world.

I know, right?! Tucker has clearly come out of his "picky eating" early "childhood". I'm still watching him closely. He's just so much smaller than Shellie, but still growing, putting on weight. Only, at his own growth rate. They get several different greens and food items twice a day and I always stick around for a while to see what they like most. Tucker always goes for his protein first. No matter what it is. If no protein that day, his first choice is always the soaked pellets that he will pick out of the salad if I don't mash them up. Shelie LOVES her fruit! Yesterday I was working on setting those cinder blocks in their tortgarden and they kept me company forcouple hrs. They were so funny, with their noses to the ground and munching the whole time. Snails for some reason are in overabundance this year and unlike the years prior I've done nothing to keep theirnumbers in check bcs of the torts. Surprisingly there is not that much casualty in the plants either. I probably have enough for everybody to go around

 

[Pearly]

Hi Pearly, this is not simply neutral, I'd say it is good. Snails are high in calcium. I have indoor tortoises who will "plow" through their substrate to get isopods (rolly pollys). I offer snails to all my indoor hingebacks.

In term of tortoises in the technical phylogeny sense, hingebacks, redfoots, and a few other are more like giant box turtles than say the mindset of traditional tortoises like a Testudo or sulcata.

Hi Will, thanks for chiming in. I really don't know why I didn't think about it this way in a first place but it makes perfect sense.

 

[Pearly]

Well said Will.

I've observed my reds on many occasions sieving through soil in search of critters. They usually start at the bottom of an incline of bare soil and work up the hill using their snouts to search. Often taking in actual soil and small stones too. Cool to watch.

The best garden pest control ever!

 

[jockma]

Mine has occasionally ignored food I specifically placed out for him in order to hunt for slugs, insects and...unusual treats (poop).

It's like when cats don't play with the toy you bought them, they play with the box it came in.

 

[TammyJ]

I have snails in my garden too - lots of them! So I can give my baby redfoots baby snails?

 

[MPRC]

I feel that we have fewer snails since I threw all of the reds outside for the summer.

 

[jockma]

I relocate snails when I see them...watching him eat them is horrible. The first time he ate one it was one I caught for him and I have never recovered from the guilt. Slugs he usually swallows whole or in two quick chomps. Sorry Bean. I'm squeamish.

 

[Pearly]

I have snails in my garden too - lots of them! So I can give my baby redfoots baby snails?

Yep! Mine have been eating them since they were tiny hatchlings. The only thing to be careful with is making sure there hasn't been any chemical treatment done to the area, especially pesticides. Just keep in nind that whatever the snails have been fed becaomes your torts' food so if you wouldn't feed it to your tort, don't give it to your snails

 

[Pearly]

I feel that we have fewer snails since I threw all of the reds outside for the summer.

Aha moment?

 

[Pearly]

I relocate snails when I see them...watching him eat them is horrible. The first time he ate one it was one I caught for him and I have never recovered from the guilt. Slugs he usually swallows whole or in two quick chomps. Sorry Bean. I'm squeamish.

Yeaaaaah, but they are your garden pests! And if not the babies eating them, I'd be using snail/slug bait couple times in spring especially and in the fall so... They die anyway. And this way our torties get the good stuff they need and our gardens get to grow free of chemicals. I love it!

 

[jockma]

Yeaaaaah, but they are your garden pests! And if not the babies eating them, I'd be using snail/slug bait couple times in spring especially and in the fall so... They die anyway. And this way our torties get the good stuff they need and our gardens get to grow free of chemicals. I love it!

I think I find 20 slugs for every snail I find and he's free to eat those, but I admit it...I don't really have a "garden". I have a patch of space big enough for a nice garden! But all that grows are mere weeds. So many weeds that I'm always nervous the neighbors will be nosy, climb up to peek over the fence and complain. Bean eats the weeds so I leave them alone. There's a cactus in the corner. He eats that too. The "garden" isn't mine, it's Bean's, it exists for him...and he pays the rent by not terrifying me by crunching on a snail in my presence! I can't forget the horrible sound! I'm sorry, I know it's for the greater good, they're pests, but...the SOUND!

 

[Pearly]

I think I find 20 slugs for every snail I find and he's free to eat those, but I admit it...I don't really have a "garden". I have a patch of space big enough for a nice garden! But all that grows are mere weeds. So many weeds that I'm always nervous the neighbors will be nosy, climb up to peek over the fence and complain. Bean eats the weeds so I leave them alone. There's a cactus in the corner. He eats that too. The "garden" isn't mine, it's Bean's, it exists for him...and he pays the rent by not terrifying me by crunching on a snail in my presence! I can't forget the horrible sound! I'm sorry, I know it's for the greater good, they're pests, but...the SOUND!

I kniw! I know! It makes me cringe too! For me it's probably this same this as me eating meat and not being able to stand the thought of them being killed for their meat. I know I should become vegetarian but I love the taste of meat way too much... To get sround that internal conflict i buy meat in filet forms only, packed on nice little styrofoam trays... I know! I live a big lie!

 

[TammyJ]

The adult snails in my yard are more than half the size of the baby tortoises! And those snails eat my pawpaw, pumpkin, banana plants etc. So I can only give the tortoises the baby snails. So I certainly will! No pesticides.
By the way, I read where I should put cuttlefish bone (for calcium) in the enclosure with the torts. Could I instead, grater a bit of it to fine powder and sprinkle it on their food and if so, how often?

 

[Pearly]

The adult snails in my yard are more than half the size of the baby tortoises! And those snails eat my pawpaw, pumpkin, banana plants etc. So I can only give the tortoises the baby snails. So I certainly will! No pesticides.
By the way, I read where I should put cuttlefish bone (for calcium) in the enclosure with the torts. Could I instead, grater a bit of it to fine powder and sprinkle it on their food and if so, how often?

Oh boy! Those must be some monster snails! Mine are tiny, the biggest I've seen was a size of my thumb fingernail, most are the size of my pinky nail (I have very small hands). I suppose you could ... cut the big ones?... But I know I probably couldn't do it. As for cuttlebone it serves more than 1 purpose. It does provide calcium supplement on ad lib bases and also help the torts keep their beaks filed down. I keep one in the enclosure all the time, they were gnawing on it constantly right after wegpt them (first few weeks of their live) but now I haven't seen them do it in a long time. I use powdered calcium Reptical (or something like that) one without vit D3. Our vet told us soecifically to use one without the vitamin and very little of it and no more then 2-3x week just to fill in the nutrition gaps for picky eating days and stuff like that. I use it once a week or every 2 weeks but we have a very good feeding schedule established which has taken me months. I feel pretty good about what my baby "grand-torts" eat nutrition wise. I would also want to be careful about oversupplementing. Too much calcium can seriously hurt your tortoise. My advise to all new keepers: spend time/money on finding/preparing/serving/making sure they eat (i.e. I often bring the babies to their food fish and watch them while they at least get started) good food & supplement only minimally. Research your species nutritional needs very well, what they live on in their natural environment, what of those you can find in your area, what things are not available and what you can offer instead to cover that spectrum of nutritional value. It's really quite simple? Just takes time to sort all that out with masses of conflicting info out there. But we are lucky to have found this forum, which in my mind is the most reliable resource and I consider myself lucky to be a member.