How much to feed tortoise?

John Franzwa

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I have had my tort for about 3 to 4 months now and I have been feeding her an assortment of lettuce such as red leaf kale radicchio and much more and occasionally strawberry, squash aloe. I also supplement her food with calcium every day. I heard only as much as they will eat in 20 minutes but I put lettuce in before I leave the house. I usually feed her a ton of lettuce but have recently reliised this may be to much. When I get back it's always gone.
 

wellington

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What kinda of tort do you have? I ask cuz fruit is not good for most of them. Calcium, only a pinch a couple times a week, too much can be as bad as too little. Also try to add more variety of greens. I feed my torts enough that they have some left over. The 20 min thing I wouldn't follow, as long as they have a big enough enclosure to get good exercise. In the wild torts would graze and eat most of the day.
 

wellington

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Okay, I seen you have a Russian. They don't need the fruit. If you want to feed a very small strawberry or something, once a month is good enough
 

John Franzwa

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Okay, I seen you have a Russian. They don't need the fruit. If you want to feed a very small strawberry or something, once a month is good enough

I feed straw berries every 2 months, should I only be outing calcium on once or twice a week then.
 

tortadise

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Feeding should always go into relations to size of Enclosure or area allowed to excercise/graze along with sunlight, heat and entire environment. Tortoises and most turtles will not successfully operation there digestive system below an internal 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. That being said, so much more can be at play. Proper UV, humidity and space for the tortoise to roam and activate proper metabolism to utilize the food into energy is a huge factor. So basically setting them up properly(according to species, age and size of whichever species) is relavent to how much can be fed. Tortoises will naturally consume as much you feel free to give them. But as stated before the primary consistencies to achieving a nice healthy and active specimen plays roles in how they are set, what space they are provided to "forage, graze, and walk" plays a large roll. Some species like Sulcata, Russian, leopard and Redfoots will
Literally consume endless amounts of food if within proper thresholds of heat, humidity. And space. But keep in mind if one of many of those elements is elevated higher than others you may still see behavior of consuming just as much.

For instance. If your enclosure for a 4-5" russian tortoise is within 85-95 degree Fahrenheit during day, moderately humid (65-85%) and well lit with UV lights but in a 20 gallon aquarium the animal will forage and consume heavy amounts, almost endless but that space is in no way promperly suitable for that species and can gain large amounts of fat deposits and develop malnutrition life and possible perish in the future.

So each item to husbandry plays a key role. Some more long term than others. But it seems most long term(as we all know tortoises are very long lives animals) are more important than short term needs. So it's best to provide a happy medium or above exemplary conditions of each; space, temperature, humidity, UV, and food source.

Let's talk about food why were at it. Greens, lettuces, and most
Grocery store items at OK. But only
Ok. They're not bad, but they're not the best. Sometimes it's difficult to provide a unique "wild" perfect diet. But it's quite simple to obtain and propogate perfect foods for him. Variety is key. If
Greens are to be fed than alternate the options. Most grocery stores can provide a good variety of items, cactus, escarole, endive, Curley mustards, dandelion, radicchio, mallows, squash, etc. depends on species really as to what the needs are and what's best to feed. MosT weeds can be easily picked and fed from the backyard or grown in a seed tray from seeds purchased online for less than 10 bucks including shipping.
 

John Franzwa

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254
Feeding should always go into relations to size of Enclosure or area allowed to excercise/graze along with sunlight, heat and entire environment. Tortoises and most turtles will not successfully operation there digestive system below an internal 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. That being said, so much more can be at play. Proper UV, humidity and space for the tortoise to roam and activate proper metabolism to utilize the food into energy is a huge factor. So basically setting them up properly(according to species, age and size of whichever species) is relavent to how much can be fed. Tortoises will naturally consume as much you feel free to give them. But as stated before the primary consistencies to achieving a nice healthy and active specimen plays roles in how they are set, what space they are provided to "forage, graze, and walk" plays a large roll. Some species like Sulcata, Russian, leopard and Redfoots will
Literally consume endless amounts of food if within proper thresholds of heat, humidity. And space. But keep in mind if one of many of those elements is elevated higher than others you may still see behavior of consuming just as much.

For instance. If your enclosure for a 4-5" russian tortoise is within 85-95 degree Fahrenheit during day, moderately humid (65-85%) and well lit with UV lights but in a 20 gallon aquarium the animal will forage and consume heavy amounts, almost endless but that space is in no way promperly suitable for that species and can gain large amounts of fat deposits and develop malnutrition life and possible perish in the future.

So each item to husbandry plays a key role. Some more long term than others. But it seems most long term(as we all know tortoises are very long lives animals) are more important than short term needs. So it's best to provide a happy medium or above exemplary conditions of each; space, temperature, humidity, UV, and food source.

Let's talk about food why were at it. Greens, lettuces, and most
Grocery store items at OK. But only
Ok. They're not bad, but they're not the best. Sometimes it's difficult to provide a unique "wild" perfect diet. But it's quite simple to obtain and propogate perfect foods for him. Variety is key. If
Greens are to be fed than alternate the options. Most grocery stores can provide a good variety of items, cactus, escarole, endive, Curley mustards, dandelion, radicchio, mallows, squash, etc. depends on species really as to what the needs are and what's best to feed. MosT weeds can be easily picked and fed from the backyard or grown in a seed tray from seeds purchased online for less than 10 bucks including shipping.

Ok I feed radicchio sometimes and the cage is a 3 by 5 and I soak her once a week and the humidity is now good same with the heat but I can not pick weeds currently because it's to cold outside, I am also growing stuff now, I just started growing it about a week or two ago, I usually feed her food that is as big as she is, sometimes more.
 

Tom

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Ok I feed radicchio sometimes and the cage is a 3 by 5 and I soak her once a week and the humidity is now good same with the heat but I can not pick weeds currently because it's to cold outside, I am also growing stuff now, I just started growing it about a week or two ago, I usually feed her food that is as big as she is, sometimes more.

I let them eat as much as they want every day of the right foods. They need the higher fiber content and higher calcium to phosphorous ratio that they get from weeds and leaves. If you must feed grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole, but use lots of variety. Here is a starter list of things to look for or grow yourself:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food
 

marinab

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Mar 18, 2016
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St. Charles IL
how often and how much do Russians eat in winter/early spring month ? Raynolds can go days without eating, I am worried. Also, when I soak him, how high should water level go ? please help, I am so new to this - thank you
 

John Franzwa

Active Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
254
I let them eat as much as they want every day of the right foods. They need the higher fiber content and higher calcium to phosphorous ratio that they get from weeds and leaves. If you must feed grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole, but use lots of variety. Here is a starter list of things to look for or grow yourself:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

Thanks
 

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