How often should my Russian box tortoise eat??

[lscheres]

So for the past month i've had him, we've been feeding him every morning, but now that hes figured out we are the food people, every time i walk into the room he goes to the end of the bin (under bed storage container) and sticks his head over and then walk over to his food dish and sits there and looks back and stuff like hes hungry, so i occasionally feed him at other times during the day also( i feel bad when hes sitting there starting at an empty food dish, i dont give him alot just like a good snack). But sometimes i think he'd eat all day long if i let him lol. Should i stick to the morning feeding and just ignore his cute little hungry face or ???? I give him a generous portion of spring mix with carrots, and Italian, and other red leaf and green leaf lettuce, i try to mix it up a lot ( i hear thats good ) my plan is to plant a bunch a edible plants for him and plant them in a Storage bin like hes in right now and connect the two so him can go eat on his own when he wants. I got him from petco ( i know i know but so far hes healthy and very active) well i rescued him from petco anyway, after the first week he warmed up to us. But back to my original question how much should i feed him? Like right now i give him a pile of lettuce and stuff that the size of him basically. Thanks for the advice, i definitely plan to sick around and become an great tortoise owner, i plan on getting more torts once i have a house and not an appt, sulcutas are on the top of my list. ill post some pictures of my current torts setup tomorrow

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Ischeres:

Welcome to the forum!! We're glad to have another Russian owner here with us. I think a nice pile of greens about the size of the tortoise, once a day would be fine. Maybe your little guy needs something else to think about besides food. They should have a nice big habitat with visual barriers. Think of how boring it would be to wake up in the morning, look out of your house and be able to see your whole world. Put some stuff in there so he can't see the whole thing and then he has to walk around to explore....rocks, plants, etc. Can't wait to see your pictures.

 

[GBtortoises]

Basically, most tortoises, Russians being one of the most notorious, will usually eat everytime food is in front of them. Many tortoise species have a natural instinct to eat when food is available in order to "bulk up" for lean times when food isn't as abundant. That instinct is necessary in the wild, not so much in captivity where their life is much easier in every aspect. Tortoises also quickly learn to associate people with their source of food. Feeding once daily is probably more than enough in most situations. Russian tortoises are have a tendency to consume to much food to the point where they become very noticeably obese. This can be avoided by constantly monitoring and adjusting the amount of food you feed, the content of the food and suppling lots of room for physical activity. Along with that big space be sure to keep your tortoise well hydrated and as Yvonne mentions above, provide lots of barriers and resting spots for the tortoise to keep it interested in exploring and on the move.