Sleeping all day after eating. Am I feeding them too much?

[Wolfie]

So in the inclosure I have a 3 year old male Russian tortoise and a 3 year old female Greek tortoise. I feed them twice a day -morning and night- and I've noticed after they eat they just go to sleep. Right there in their food dish! Are they full?

I give them an entire kale leaf and a romaine lettuce leaf for every meal. Is this too much? Too little? I'm not sure. These are my first tortoises (a homeless man threw them at me, wasn't even planning on getting one) and I'm a little unsure.

They just had a vet appointment and the vet says they're healthy.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Your "sleeping all day" problem might be due to having two tortoises in the same habitat. Two seldom works out. They are territorial and don't want or need other tortoises for companionship. You have a submissive and a dominant. The dominant will keep after the submissive trying to get him to leave the territory. You may not see overt action, it might be totally "mental." Eventually the submissive tortoise stays hidden all the time trying to keep out of the other tortoise's way

Another problem is keeping two species together. In my opinion, mixing species is not a good idea.

To answer your question, as long as the enclosure is big enough that a tortoise can have plenty of room to walk and exercise, you can't feed him too much.

 

[JoesMum]

Hi @Wolfie and welcome

Pictures of the enclosure will help us to help you

I will backup Yvonne is two very important things
1. Mixing species is never a good idea as they all need slightly different care and conditions and what's good for one can make another sick. Also the pathogens tolerated by one species could make another sick.

2. Torts are loners. They don't want, need or like company. In the wild they roam large distances, meet up to mate and move on.

They are expert mental and physical bullies. The subordinate tort goes into decline, gets sick and can die.

Groups of three or more tort, of the same species, can work in a very large enclosure with plenty of sight barriers.

Sorry to seem so negative, but for their health I advise you to separate your two as soon as possible.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Their diet needs much more variety. Please read the care sheets. There are many broad leaved weeds & flowers available outdoors now.

Can you post a picture of the enclosure?

They really do need to live apart.

It's good you're asking for advice.

 

[Lyn W]

So in the inclosure I have a 3 year old male Russian tortoise and a 3 year old female Greek tortoise. I feed them twice a day -morning and night- and I've noticed after they eat they just go to sleep. Right there in their food dish! Are they full?

I give them an entire kale leaf and a romaine lettuce leaf for every meal. Is this too much? Too little? I'm not sure. These are my first tortoises (a homeless man threw them at me, wasn't even planning on getting one) and I'm a little unsure.

They just had a vet appointment and the vet says they're healthy.

Are they warm enough outside or maybe if you don't have shade for them, too hot?

 

[keepergale]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Wolfie]

Thank you all so much for the help! I added some more variety and the torts have perked up. I also take them out of their box to explore the house. Their box is too small, but that's because I wasn't expecting to get a tortoise let alone two. I am making them a bigger habitat (6 square feet, deep enough to burrow). They seem to be settling into the family really well and the other animals in the house have accepted them as pack. Thanks!

 

[Lyn W]

Thank you all so much for the help! I added some more variety and the torts have perked up. I also take them out of their box to explore the house. Their box is too small, but that's because I wasn't expecting to get a tortoise let alone two. I am making them a bigger habitat (6 square feet, deep enough to burrow). They seem to be settling into the family really well and the other animals in the house have accepted them as pack. Thanks!

Glad about the more varied diet for them and the planned bigger home but please be very careful of having them wander the house especially with other animals around that could do them some serious damage or kill torts even if they seem quite placid and unconcerned to you.
Homes have many hazards seen and unseen, and pets can be very unpredictable - if you have cats and dogs do a search to see what could happen - it's not pleasant reading or viewing.

If you can get them outside on a bigger enclosed covered area in the day that would be much safer for them.

 

[Wolfie]

Glad about the more varied diet for them and the planned bigger home but please be very careful of having them wander the house especially with other animals around that could do them some serious damage or kill torts even if they seem quite placid and unconcerned to you.
Homes have many hazards seen and unseen, and pets can be very unpredictable - if you have cats and dogs do a search to see what could happen - it's not pleasant reading or viewing.

If you can get them outside on a bigger enclosed covered area in the day that would be much safer for them.

Don't worry. When they are out and about in the house, I follow right behind them like the over concerned pet parent that I am.

 

[Tom]

Some care sheets for you:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

How do you know they are three years old?

They need to be separated, and no matter how closely you intend to watch them, loose in the house is very dangerous. Many tortoises are killed or injured this way even when people have the best of intentions.