How often should I feed

[Stella Redfoot]

I have a cherry head who is about 3 years old and I feed her about 1/2 a cup of food every day (you can see her and the average amount in the picture). What I’m wondering is should I be transitioning to feeding every day? I know I’m feeding her less than what she needs, but I don’t know if feeding her every single day makes up for that deficit. Is there any real benefit (other than saving time) to feeding more food every other day versus less every day? I also checked other threads and they’re several years old, but if this question is answered there feel free to link it

 

[RandyTortoise]

I have a cherry head who is about 3 years old and I feed her about 1/2 a cup of food every day (you can see her and the average amount in the picture). What I’m wondering is should I be transitioning to feeding every day? I know I’m feeding her less than what she needs, but I don’t know if feeding her every single day makes up for that deficit. Is there any real benefit (other than saving time) to feeding more food every other day versus less every day? I also checked other threads and they’re several years old, but if this question is answered there feel free to link it

Does she finish all the food you give her?
If so, then give her more later in the day.

I personally wouldn’t, as a practice, feed only every other day. I feed mine every day and if you are busy or traveling and skip a day, it is perfectly fine if they have water.

I keep fresh food available as much as they want but never more than they can eat.

I would try to stick to escarole or endive lettuces vs the one you are using. Just a suggestion

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I have a cherry head who is about 3 years old and I feed her about 1/2 a cup of food every day (you can see her and the average amount in the picture). What I’m wondering is should I be transitioning to feeding every day? I know I’m feeding her less than what she needs, but I don’t know if feeding her every single day makes up for that deficit. Is there any real benefit (other than saving time) to feeding more food every other day versus less every day? I also checked other threads and they’re several years old, but if this question is answered there feel free to link it

I would feed more than what’s pictured daily, essentially enough for her to graze on throughout the day, if she doesn’t eat it all, you can reduce the feed the next day.

As mentioned above, if you’re away for a night, a skipped day won’t cause harm, but don’t make it a habit, a tortoise should be eating daily like they would in the wild, they’d be doing it all day, every day, keeps their digestion moving

 

[Stella Redfoot]

Thanks for the input, I’ll try feeding her more tomorrow! Also, what I gave her was labeled endive at the stores, so how can I tell the difference between that and endive lettuce?

 

[Megatron's Mom]

I was told to put a pile the size of their shell. I fed that amount every time the pile was gone up to about 4pm. It seemed that mine never wanted to eat past 4pm.

 

[COmtnLady]

I feed my RedFoot a pile the size of her shell. Think of the shell like a bowl, and offer that much salad, or half that much then add more later in the day. Also, I feed every day. As noted above, if you can't help it and have to be gone for a day, the tortoise will survive just fine, but feeding daily is better.

They go through phases where they'll eat all of it like they're starving, and then will leave some for a few days or weeks. They also get tired of the same foods all the time, and will leave whatever they're tired of, so offer different kinds of greens and fruit to keep it interesting.

Also, the seasons and amount of light or exercise affect how much they want to eat.

I leave it in the enclosure until the next feeding. Mine likes to eat her favorite items, walk away for a while, come back and eat something else, go take a nap, come back and graze a bit, wander off, all day and night long. By the next day's feeding-time most or all of it will be gone. If you take it away because its almost your bedtime or you want to wash the dish, then your tortoise might try eating substrate or decorations - which is not good.

I keep a cuttlebone available in the enclosure at all times. Ditto a dish of water big enough for my tortoise to sit in, turn around in, so she can self-soak or get a drink whenever she wants to, also.

Every two or three days I give her some soaked Mazuri 5m21. (One size does not fit all. Its important to get the formula of Mazuri pellets that is tailored to your tort's species. 5m21 is for tropical types like RedFoots, and has a picture of a Star Tortoise on the package. RF won't eat the kind of Mazuri for grassland types like Sulcatas, which is a good thing because they don't deal with that tortoise's type of diet very well anyhow. ) I haven't found it in any of the stores around here so always end up ordering the 5m21 online.

'Hope that helps. Its like anything else - at first its confusing and seems difficult, but once you get comfortable with paying attention to how much and what it consists of, it becomes very easy.
.