Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

New to the forum, I adopted a russian Tortoise this weekend. Hes about 4 to 5 inches long, seems healthy, nice full limbs, bright eyes, active during the day, good color and skin, responsive when he sees me (as in he will come take food from my hand). He has already moved his bowels twice from what i caught. He also likes to have a bath.

I have a red ear turtle but never had a tortoise. I just had a quick question on feeding. I have a list of all different reccomended leafy greens for him which I make sure he gets a variety of. I am schedule a vet visit too and am going to have him checked for parasites. Hes gonna be indoors so I just wanted to know how much it too much greens. Right now he gets a mix of vegetables in the morning, hes usually waiting for me under his sun lamp. He first gets a large handful and thats gone before i leave for work. Then i give another large handful spread throughout his enclosure, thats gone by the time i get home from work. Then i give him another smaller handfull about 6-7pm, he eats that and then usually within 30min after he goes in his enclosure and goes to sleep. Its funny cause its almost like clockwork. Sometimes he will leave some leftover from his 3rd feeding (which i remove). The following morning hes ready to eat again.

Am I over feeding? He doesn't seem "plumped" but his legs and face seem healthy and full, he moves very well and does not seem sluggish. The Vet check I just do with ANY animal I adopt. His current enclosure is about 4 feet by 3 feet but it will be bigger soon enough. He has a heat spot and gets Uv lighting as well.

Feedback please?

It's hard to tell you how much to feed or how much is too much. A "handful" isn't a good measure, and the tortoise's needs vary with the season.

I've always fed them more when they are active, and less when they are sluggish. If the animal starts to look so fat that he can't pull his head and legs bag in comfortably, then feed him less.

Grocery greens are OK, but they often don't have much fiber. If the tortoise's stools look soft and runny, even after the vet finds no health problems, you might need to supply more fiber. When I kept my russians outdoors, they always ate a little grass - I could see it in their droppings. And I imagine most weeds have more fiber.

When indoors, I often supply them fiber in the form of pellet foods to go with the greens. Mazuri, RepCal and Pretty Pets tortoise foods have more fiber than grocery greens. I'm currently using a Grassland Tortoise food. Can't recall the brand. Maybe Zoo Med.

Good luck with your tortoise.